Blast Ball 2012

I am determined to be caught up on my blog posts by the end of the year!  I have a handful of miscellaneous items I haven't posted about yet, some of which are woefully late, as well as our last vacation still to share!  Today I share Blast Ball.

Timmy played Blast Ball in the Spring and loved it and he did really well.  His team was the Volcanoes and that gave him an interest in real volcanoes too!  Tim coached and I think that made it even more fun for Timmy.  Timmy definitely had the hang of it right away and we saw improvement over the short season.  It was especially fun because Caleb and Carter were on the team too.  A few of the kids really weren't into it, so that helped us see how far along Timmy really was.  We had a big team in the Spring, eight players!  Luckily it was rare for everyone to show up at the same time, trying to do anything organized yet physical with eight four year olds is just about impossible!

In the Fall we debated putting Timmy into regular T-Ball, but we had to move his birthday up a few months to get him into Blast Ball in the first place, so we decided to go with another season of Blast Ball.  The team was the Raptors, Tim coached again, and Caleb was on the team too.  By the end of the season Tim had the kids running all of the way around the bases (instead of just to first) and had the fielders throwing the balls in to a coach at first base (instead of just holding it over their heads).  He even got Timmy to start wearing his glove while fielding, though catching with the glove is going to take a lot more practice!

Timmy is sad that Blast Ball is over but he really loves his trophies!  They have a special place on his dresser so that Tyler can't get to them!  We are looking into what activity to put him into next!

Timmy 3 Years 10 Months & an Athlete!

Timmy has official begun his athletic career this past week!  First thing Saturday morning we went to Reston Town Center for his first Little League Kick Off Parade.  Timmy is playing Blastball, which is a step below even T-ball!  The kids were so cute with big smiles the whole time.  The older age groups had banners for their teams and some of them passed out candy or baseball cards to the spectators.  After they came down the street there was a presentation and some speakers before everyone sang "Take me out to the Ball Game".  The whole thing was really cute.

At noon on Saturday we walked up to the elementary school for Timmy's first soccer practice.  I was really impressed with the program they have set up for such young kids!  Each team has two parent coaches, but there is also a "professional" who was there all morning working with one team after another.  He ran the drills and besides breaking them down for the kids to be able to understand them easily, he learned all 8 of their names by the end of the first drill!  Timmy's practicing at home paid off and he did a really good job with everything.  He got so excited each time he scored a goal!  Apparently as the weeks go on they will end practice with scrimmages.  I'm looking forward to seeing how far they all progress!

 

Tuesday evening was the first Blastball practice, Tim is the coach and had set up several drills for the kids to go through.  Practice is right around the corner from my office and Caleb is on the team as well as my friend Kristina's son, Carter, so I am going to enjoy getting to visit with Suzanne and Kristina every week during practice!  We enjoyed watching, the kids all paid attention and got into the drills.  Timmy did suffer his first blow to his self-image at practice.  While fielding, another player kept beating him to the ball, he came over to me fighting back tears and telling me that, "everyone is faster then me." This realization was a shock to him because he had thought he was "the fastest person in the whole World."  I was relieved when he decided that, "they are the fastest people in the whole World too."  :)  Tim is happy to see this strong desire to win already in Timmy, I'm fine with it as long as he can be a good winner and a good loser, rare as losing might be... ;)

So, after vacation our next 5 Saturday's will consist of 9:30 Blastball games, Noon Soccer, and naps the rest of the day, I hope!