Soccer Fun

Tommy started AYSO soccer last week (only to find this week that all of our friends are in another league... boo!).  It's a parent participation kind of thing where they practice for a little while and then scrimmage against each other.  I should note that there are twice as many kids on his team.  Those picture above were the only suckers who showed up at 7:45am for the Soccer Fest Parade.

His is the Under 5 team so you can imagine how both cute and chaotic it is.  You'd never know it from Papa Tom's awesome photos.  Tommy looks semi-pro!

Game face!

The girls on the sidelines were pretty cute too.

Soccer Mom says, "Let's get back in the minivan, kids!"

Oh, one more thing....

Would anyone like to buy a bar of chocolate?

Making a Splash

Lucy and Grandma are taking swim lessons this fall.  Because their class is during the morning, the only photos can be taken before and after.  I hear Nana may stop by this week to watch and take action shots!  I may skip out at lunch one day myself... we'll see.

Anyway, it's a pretty cute sight:

Grandma reports:

Lucy must have paid close attention during T's lessons because she was enthusiastic about trying everything.  She leaned down (while in my arms) to blow bubbles on her own about 5xs.

In the phone message I received, Lucy was also described as "buoyant."  After her second lesson yesterday, Grandma writes: 

Two penguin dives for Lucy!   She volunteered for the second one, but may have taken in a bit of water--not bad, just a sour face afterward--so we'll see what happens next time. I thought she was too 'experienced' for the baby's, so put her in the older class.  I think it will be good for her.  She proved herself on Tuesday. She tried the ladder.  Loves Humpty Dumpty.  Follows the teachers lead and tries to use her hands for some of the songs.  (Kind of hard when holding a yellow fish...) Practiced climbing out of the pool and then jumping in.

It sounds like they're having a great time!  Thanks Grandma!

Giants Game #3 - In a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Sunday, September 4th was the very first Star Wars Day at the Giants.  Finally, not a school night and with Lucy packed off to Nana's for the day, we got to enjoy a game during day light and totally dork out. We started the day at 10:30 with a pregame Star Wars fan gathering in the parking lot.  Jen got there early and waited in line for the giveaway.  Brian Wilson and Han Solo in carbonite.  We arrived in time to see the beginning of the costumed people showing up.  We weren't sure how Tommy would react to adults in Star Wars costumes but he was into it!

I tweeted this photo and the SFGiants twitter account retweeted it, causing me to get several responses from strangers asking where we got his tshirt (HardWear Store, Irving & 25th Ave).

He clearly had such a good experience with the Storm Troopers, he even chased down one other costumed person at the game... and I mean we chased him down!

 Our seats may have been as high as Game #1 but the view of the field was much improved.  This is a shot of the Storm Troopers who escorted the umpires on the field with the Imperial March playing over the stadium sound system.  The Giants did an excellent job tying Star Wars themes and references into the whole game.

The game was fine, but again the Giants lost!  But since it was Sunday afternoon, and we were sticking around after the game, Tommy got to run the bases!

The boys show off the AT&T dirt on their shoes

The most fun may have come after the game was over.  We got to move down from our upper deck seats to the field level and watch Empire Strikes Back on the big screen at the ball park.

On the way back to the car, 8 hours after our arrival, we still had a smiling happy boy and we noticed that Nana's plaque needs to be cleaned!

I don't think I'm going back to any more games, so whoever does should bring some Windex!

That concludes our Giants game trilogy.  We didn't do them any favors, but we did have a good time!

Next up, hockey season!

Giants Game #2 - The (Free) Fancy Seats

A few days after the last game, our neighbor asked Tom if we'd like his company's four seats to the Giants game.  These are the fancy seats on the club level.  Uh... yes please.  So on another school night, off we ventured to a night Giants game.  This time we were able to bring Nana.  As we settled into our fancy club level seats, we found ourselves in the last row of the section with a brick wall behind us.  Above that brick wall, of course, were all the announcer boxes.

We weren't leaving these seats early.....

So a little cotton candy was in order

Here Tom lifts Tommy up to get a glimpse of the guys in the booth.  The usher is about to stop him.  They were feeling pretty good since earlier in the evening Tom spotted Willie McCovey in one of the booths.  He shouted "Hey Willie" and Willie McCovey smiled and waved at Tommy!

 The whiffle ball also has a good story direct from the Fan Lot.
 "Tommy at the Bat" as told by Nana, the only one to witness it!

With the score at 1-0 Cubs, Tommy wanted to go back to bat.  So I took him - and he had a blast!  A real one, I mean!  It was not crowded - there were just a few kids in front of him and they all hit off the T.  Well, when it was Tommy's turn, he did not wait for the attendant to move the T, he just picked it up and put it behind him, tapped home plate with the bat and swung at the first pitch - strike one.  He hit the next pitch to center field, ran the bases and asked if he could hit again.  The young woman pitching was so enthused, she said just get back in line again.  Fortunately, there were only a couple of little kids, so we waited and he got to bat again.  This time, he hit the first pitch out of the park, over the left field fence.  Everyone cheered and Tommy was thrilled.  He was even more thrilled when the pitcher reached into her bucket and gave him a ball.  "This was my prize for hitting it over the wall," he said.  I am not sure what will happen next time!  On the way back to our seats, he was so excited and it showed - he stopped at a few ushers to tell them what had happened and I have to say the ushers all listened to him and asked him about the ball.  And when we walked back in the door to the club level, we looked down and saw where he had hit the ball - he was even more excited.

Once again, our presence did not help the Giants at all.  We did stay all the way until the end with minimal kid drama.  Tommy did start sobbing on the way to the parking lot.  Exhausted yes, but he was also devastated that the Giants didn't win.  Don't worry Tommy, we said, we're going to the game again next week!