Monday, April 04, 2005

Sunday Evening Baseball!

Sunday was an absoluetly gorgeous day that begged for us to come out doors. So, after standing around in the parking lot after church talking for awhile, we invited everyone who was still there to come back to our house for the evening. The Webbs, Carlsons, VonHoltens, Yens and Mrs. VanDellen drove the 5 miles back to our house for an enjoyable evening of good ol' fashioned fun and fellowship. The moms and very little ones stayed home and sat around in the livingroom to engage in some conversation - just what they discussed, nobody knows, but they seemed to have had a wonderful time!

The rest of everyone drove over to Milky Way Park. (Harvard used to be called the "Milk Capitol of the World" so things are VERY milky around here.) The baseball game that ensued was slated: Boys vs. Dads & Daughters - though only two of the daughters played!

The D&D team is up to bat - Boys in the field. BTW, since we came straight from church and nobody brought clothing for baseball, several of the guys are wearing Josh & Jonathan's clothes! :)

The girls made a strong cheering section for the D&D team!

Joseph took the mound for the Boys team.

Finding themselves trailing after the first inning the boys called a conference on the mound.


With Jonathan as umpire, Dustin Webb catching, and Luke VonHolten warming up, Josh comes up to the plate. (My compliments to photographers who cover baseball games - the guys are constantly moving!! How does one get a good shot?)


After taking photos for the first inning of the game, I headed over to the playground with (l-r) Gracie, Emma, & Seth Webb. I soon became the "best friend" to a dozen love-starved and unsupervised children who were playing there. Several of them didn't speak English so we relied on smiles, hand motions, and what little practical Spanish I could bring back from several years ago when we studied the language. I came away half angry at the neglect these children have suffered that made them just adore someone who simply smiled at them and cried "Wheee!" and "Yeah! it's Rebecca coming next!" as they came down a slide. The other half of me just wanted to cry and scoop them all up and take them home with me (I did have to purposely lose one little boy who followed me when we left the playground!).

Oh, and one funny thing that I just have to relate: After taking the above photo, one little girl came up to me and asked if I was their Grandma! I was entirely flattered, but obliged to reply truthfully that I was not. :)

The Dads & Daughters ended up winning the game and most of us headed back home while Mr. Webb and boys played another game. After sunset they joined us back at home for snacks, leftovers, and whatever other food was around - and more talking, laughter, and fun. All in all, the whole day formed a perfect Sabbath spent in delightful and encouraging fellowship with fun and likeminded friends.

4 comments:

Ryan Kelly said...

The BOYS team LOST?!?!?!?!

Guys, you'd better start looking at bringing someone up from the minor leagues!

If you need a replacement fielder, just have your team scouts give me a call...

The Clerk said...

Ryan,

Yeah, it's embarassing, but take a look at the infield. It was tilled up (and still slightly moist) clay, which meant that anything hit on the ground was completely impossible to field (in the first inning, the Dads hit almost nothing but hard ground balls).

BTW. In the picture of the conference on the mound, Josh is telling us to keep all of our balls on the ground in the next inning. So, if you are good at hitting ground balls, you're on the team! :-)

Let us know when you'll be in the area, and we'll schedule a game.
:-)

Jonathan

Justin Kelly said...

oh, ME TOO!!!

I will also submit my name for a chance on the team - of course, Josh must be on my team (lest one of us dies by the hand of the other :)

But, until we get up in your neck of the woods, we will just have to watch the Cubs games!

The Clerk said...

Justin, if it's Fathers & Daughters vs. Sons, we better be on the same team. :-) You are more then welcome to join the team, as long as you don't strike out or pop out and will just put the ball in play and run! I'm sorry, but I saw too many teammates strike out with a big homerun swing, or get thrown out at first from left field.

BTW, after the game the Fathers were joking about their "Defensive Runs" meaning that they would take the field with 8 runs and start the next inning with 10. But I guess that's what we get for letting the girls that didn't want to play keep the score.