forgot to mention about camping + T-ball photos

The campsite we stayed at in southeast Georgia was nice overall... there were some parts of it with some very scenic views.  But - one thing we had never experienced:  RV camp sites.  wow.  It was a very different culture!!  People had welcome mats & little yard flags outside / bird feeders hanging off of the awnings of their vehicles / flat screen TVs inside / some people with golf carts to get around the campsite / and of course Christmas lights hanging up from the awnings or covered porches.  The group next to us even had a projector and sound-system.  They had movie nights each night.  Then... the place was quiet.  (well, except for the ever-so-slight humming of air conditioning)

Everyone was locked up in their air-conditioned RV.  One other family on our side of the campground was staying in a tent, but they had an air conditioning unit rigged up to the side of their tent.  NO LIE.  We were the only "campers" out there!  We have to admit - it was nice having power & water right at our camp site.  We did go buy an oscillating fan to put in the tent after our first night (it was south Georgia, after all at the end of summer!).  Also being able to wash our hands without having to walk down to the bath house was nice too.

On the first night out there, Mercer asked if we were going to sleep here.  I said yes.  He kissed me on the cheek and said "thank you."  And - on our way out, we were greeted by a gopher tortoise.  He came to say bye~  Those are a couple of my favorite memories about the actual campsite.  Oh yeah -  eating s'mores, sitting by the fire, and looking up at the constellations every night was nice too!

On the drive home, we introduced Mercer to the ABC car game.  He's been wanting to play it ever since (even on short drives around town).  When getting high up in the alphabet, he'd have to go through the whole thing to get to the next letter.  "What's after R?" we'd ask.  He'd say "A, B, C, D... Q, R. S!"  He'd have to count up to the next letter each time.  It was kind of funny, but made for a really long game.  

We made it back to Marietta just in the nick of time to change clothes, grab water, grab the T-ball bag, and for Todd to grab his roster. We rolled into town around 6:20 and had to leave the house by about 6:40.  It was pretty crazy timing, but we made it.  Todd agreed to be the coach for Mercer's T-ball team.  He had attended a coach training one afternoon a few weeks prior to starting.  He picked up a lot of good tips, but I had no idea how GREAT he was going to be with the kids. 

He's been stern, but fun.  Helpful with tips for the kids in ways they'd understand - likening moves to bulldozer hands.... and alligator chomps to clamp down your hand on the glove & keep a ball from popping out.  After the first practice & the first game (noticing that ALL of the kids would leave their posts / go chase the ball & pile-up trying to wrangle it from one another) Todd said "no tackling your team mates."  Then one kids asked "but can we tickle our team mates?"  Priceless! 

(Here's a shot of Mercer trying to get the ball from his team mate so that HE can make the play.  ~oy!)

Before the season started, the head of the organization said that they only had enough league t-shirts for 6 of the 7 teams.  The only other set of t-shirts that was left was the Mets / would anyone be willing to take it?  Todd responded right away!  So -- not only does he get to shape Mercer's future in baseball... he gets to do it all while M is wearing the jersey of his favorite team.    (Until the Mets opportunity came up, Todd was thinking of calling the team "Herding Cats".... because it really is hard work corralling these little guys who don't have much of an attention span & who don't know anything about the game.)  Also - in the top photo, you'll see a lot of parents out on the field.  There's 3 parents for the fielding team + a parent at 1st & 3rd for the opposing team.  It really does take 5 adults out there with the 12 - 15 kids to keep the game moving!

There's no score.  Everyone hits each inning.  And - when a kid is tagged out, they still stay on base.  We've had one kid run past first and keep running all the way 'til he reached the back fence.   At another game, that same kid ran from 2nd diagonally across the field to home plate!  This is the good stuff we'll remember! Many games have to stop because there are melt-downs on the field.  The most recent game even stopped once because a puppy ran onto the field!  Thank goodness it's not serious yet!

Although, Mercer does look serious as he's rounding home in this shot. 

We're just a few weeks into the 2 month long season. Each week, the players get a little bit better & seem to understand the game a little more.  It will be interesting to see how they all progress & how they all play as a team in the end.  Maybe by the end of the season, they'll be more concerned about how they play & less concerned about snacks after the game!