Oaks Park

Saturday was Paul’s company picnic. Funny thing is that Paul had to work and wasn’t able to go with us.

With Paul working I really wasn’t in the mood to go to an amusement park, but I did think that the kids would have fun. So when Paul left for work, the kids and I took off to the picnic.

Tucked away in Southeast Portland near the Sellwood Bridge is Oaks Amusement Park, one of the oldest continuously operated amusement parks in the United States. A modest operation, the park currently includes about two dozen rides that operate seasonally, a skating rink that is open year-'round, and picnic grounds.




We started are day at Oaks Park by checking in and eating lunch. We then noticed that there was a “face painter”. Both kids wanted to get something painted, so we waited in line. Paityn decided on getting a softball on her arm and Maddux decided on getting a clown face.






After lunch we went into the amusement park to ride some rides. Paityn was so nice and rode almost all the rides with Maddux. I even rode the Farris wheel with both kids!!!

The Little “Water Bugs”…..

Maddux and Lillee are taking a little ice cream break from swimming.



Kylee stopped by the other day and asked if Maddux could come by and go swimming with Lillee and Gracee. It was a “little kids swimming day”…..Maddux was so excited that he was able to be included in their day, plus he was able to go swimming with his “girlfriend”!!!

Back At It!!!!

So our “down week” is now over and with a Fall Ball softball team decided on, we are “Back At It”!!!!

Paityn has decided on playing Fall Ball with The Oregon Silver Bullets. I know it was a tough decision for her, but with everything considered into her decision, both Paul and I believe she has made the best decision.



Now that part is over, practice starts. Her first practice with her new team is Wednesday and the first tournament is this weekend. I am actually looking forward to seeing practice and seeing how the girls gel. The first few practices are always interesting to watch.

Paityn will be playing a new position also. They want to have her play “short-stop”. We are ALL very excited about that, but know that will take a lot of work to get her up-to-speed in the new position. We have all the confidence in her and I personally know that Paul and Tracy (Paityn’s hitting instructor-mentor) will both be helping her along the way.

After Fall Ball, Paityn will be completing “Winter workouts” with her old Panther team. They work very hard all Winter long and that will help her get ready for Spring and Summer ball.

Finally A Week Off!!!

I can’t believe that we finally have a week off from softball.

I’m not going to know what to do with myself with a hole week off. I have been able to catch up on laundry, house cleaning, back to school shopping, and even able to go to the grocery store for more that the bare necessities. (my family is happy for that!!!)

Paityn will probably have practice next week since they will be in a tournament that weekend already. So our busy schedule will start up again soon.

I was seriously thinking about enrolling Maddux in soccer. I have held off on that idea, but I do still have a little time to do so. His games would be mainly on Saturday’s and Paityn’s softball will be on Sunday’s.

I hope everyone has a great week, we will!!!!

Tryouts….

I think we are finally done with softball tryouts.

Paityn is not old enough to move up with the team she was on last year which meant we had to go and find her a team to play with this next year. She will play “Fall Ball”, Winter workouts, and then play the Spring and Summer with the new team.

She went to 2 different tryouts and 1 just for visibility for next year. Paityn received offers from both 12A teams the same night as the tryouts. So now we are trying to decide where the best fit for her will be. Both teams want her to play “shortstop” which is a new position for her. She normally plays 2nd base.

We will have to make a decision soon and let everyone know!!!!

Maddux in Eugene!!!

While Paityn and I were in Indiana and Paul was working, Maddux was having a great time with my mom and dad in Eugene.

My mom and dad kept Maddux very busy all week long. They went to the movies, went on bike rides, and swimming. It is so nice having my parents so close to us that they can watch the kids grow up and help us with Maddux as Paityn and I travel for softball.




His day will come soon enough!!!!

While he was in Eugene he also competed in a little track meet.. He threw the softball, competed in the long jump, and ran.





Maddux is so very proud of his ribbons he won!!!

2010 USA/ASA Girls' Class A 12-Under Fast Pitch National Softball Tournament - Day #9 (Sunday)

Travel Day….

Today we are finally going home. All of us are ready to go back to Oregon and be with our family. I miss Paul so much and I know it killed him having to stay at home while I went with Paityn ¾’s across the United States.

We left Cincinnati at 4:30 PM (eastern time), flew into Salt Lake City, and then finally home. Paul was able to pick us up at the airport.

I’m so happy to see my sweetheart!!!!

2010 USA/ASA Girls' Class A 12-Under Fast Pitch National Softball Tournament - Day #8 (Saturday)

Day of Fun for the girls….

We all woke up early Saturday morning and left for Ohio. Since our flight left from Cincinnati we decided to take the girls to an amusement park in Ohio. The parents did some research and found there were several amusement parks around the Ohio area, but finally decided on King’s Island because that park was an amusement as well as a water park.











We arrived at the park about 11:00 AM and the girls were off…..

2010 USA/ASA Girls' Class A 12-Under Fast Pitch National Softball Tournament - Day #7 (Friday)

A Day of rest

Today we all had a day of rest and fun. Last night we had 9 girls sleeping in our room….
Paityn, Kennan, Kinsey, Kimi, Conner, Krysta, Tabby, Lauren, and Kiana…plus us three mothers. Our room was busting at the seems, but it was fun. The girls were cracking us until 2:00 AM. All of a sudden we had a loud knock at the door…All the girls squealed and jumped into the beds. When Jill (one of the moms) got up and looked to see who it was, the person was gone. I think it was a neighbor that was getting a little frustrated since it was late. The girls were actually being very good and not jumping around they might have been a little loud here and there, but they were funny!!! We finally woke up at 9:30 AM (too late for breakfast), so Jill and I went to pick up donuts for everyone.

We all had a “team meeting” at 11:00 AM. All players, all coaches, and all parents were there. Terry spoke to all of us about the season and how much he loves the girls. He spoke about Fall ball, tryouts, and each of the girls.

Once we finished all the girls went swimming.

2010 USA/ASA Girls' Class A 12-Under Fast Pitch National Softball Tournament - Day #6 (Thursday)

2 Bracket Games and a horrible lose.





This morning was our 2nd Bracket game. The Panther’s played Lady Magic another California team from the Bay area. This team had previously been ranked 5th in the nation. We didn’t have our best game, made errors and didn’t hit well. They ended up losing 12-0. Since we lost to Lady Magic that meant that we needed to play our 3rd Bracket game at 6:00 PM tonight. They were scheduled to play Gainesville Gold.




Everyone decided to go back to the hotel for a couple hours to get something small to eat, and get a little rest.

The afternoon game went much worse than the morning game. The girls did not show up to play AT ALL… They only got 1 hit and had many errors. The team was not very good, and we should have beaten them. Just wasn’t our day…

The Panther’s season is complete…

2010 USA/ASA Girls' Class A 12-Under Fast Pitch National Softball Tournament - Day #5 (Wednesday)

2nd Pool Game, 1st Bracket Game, and Lightening Today was a busy day!!!

I started off by going to the ballfileds with Lisa this morning. The line was so long yesterday after the girls game for shirts and souvenirs so instead of waiting hours, we went early this morning and waited about 20 minutes. Paityn wanted a hoodie sweatshirt and they actually ran out of them the day before. They had also run out of the “team names”. So I wanted to make sure that I was able to get something as a memento.

Then we were off to the ball fields. We were headed to Twin Oaks today. The weather was horrible even at 9:00 AM. I drove by a store thermostat and it said that it was 92 degrees with 70% humidity. Today was supposed to be one of the hottest days all summer. I honestly felt sorry for the girls!!!

The Panther’s were playing The Sorcerers from California. I talked with one of the parents of one of the team members and he was saying that their pitcher consistently pitched 63 mph (game time). She was supposedly 1 of the top 10 pitchers in the Nation at 12U. Our girls were able to get a couple of hits off of her and even some foul, but we were able to hold their hitters to only 3 runs. The Panther’s ended up losing 3-0, respectfully.

Since they lost that game that meant that “Bracket Play” started for them tonight also.

We all went back to the hotel to take showers and cool off.

The next game was at 8:00PM (1st Bracket game). The weather was still horrible…humid, hot, sticky…YUCK!!!!

The next game they played was against the Illinois Outlaws. They were a second year team also. The girls ended up playing a great game and ended up winning 14-4. Paityn was able to get in and run for Conner after Conner walked. She stole second be successfully completing a “hook slide”, got to 3rd on a pass ball, and slid home again with a “hook slide” and was safe. She has really been working on the “hook slides”.



They play the Lady Magic tomorrow at 12:00 PM…….wish us luck!!!

On the way home the lightening started...........

2010 USA/ASA Girls' Class A 12-Under Fast Pitch National Softball Tournament - Day #4 (Tuesday)

Player check-in and 1st "Pool Play" game today



This morning The Panther's played their first game at National’s. The game was against TPS from Deer Park, Texas.

The girls started off by being “home team”. Shawna struck the first 3 batters out. It was our turn to hit…

Kinsey came up and hit a double, Kimi came up and slapped for a single and Krysta was the first out, Kiana sacrificed and that allowed Kinsey to score and Kimi move to third. Maddy came up and hit to the pitcher and was the third out of the inning. 1-0 top of 2!!!!

The next inning there was only 1 base runner for them, three outs later that half of the inning was completed. Bottom of 2!!!!

Sam came up and struck out, Shawna walked (Lauren came in to run for Shawna), Alyx sacrificed and Lauren was able to move to second. Conner came up and hit a shot to center and Lauren was able to score. A few more batters and then the 2nd inning was complete and the score was 2-0.

Paityn was able to get in and run and score…



The game was a little stressful towards the end, but The Panther’s ended up ahead at the end. Final score was 6-5.