Whiffle Ball Under the Lights

Will's buddy has a whiffle ball field in their backyard complete with baselines, fences, and lights. So much fun!

Firefly Hunting

First firefly hunt of the season!

Baseball Tournament Results

The Wild ended up losing their game against Western Springs (started under the lights) 0-8. They came back and defeated the Oak Lawn Lightning 13-6 which gave them a third game on Sunday morning. On Sunday, the played the Southcoast Blues and won 13-3 so they advanced to play Western Springs again. Unfortunately, we lost to them again 4-12. The team played very well, however, and are proud of their performance.

Rainbow after the win on Saturday afternoon

Baseball - Under the Lights

The Wild played a baseball tournament in Michigan City, Indiana this weekend. on Friday night, they even got to play "under the lights." Unfortunately, they also were playing under lightning and the game was called after 1.5 innings when the sky opened up on us (we knew the storms were coming). The game will resume tomorrow...

Warm Ups

Will at Bat

Will at Catcher

You can see the rain starting to fall

COVID 19 - Social Distancing - Day 100

Happy Father's Day! We started the day bright and early with Will's baseball game.  The boys played well but weren't able to beat the Rebels.  They seem to do better each time they play them.  When we got home, Grann arrived for a visit.  We hadn't seen her since the beginning of March when she came to Will's hockey tournament in Trenton.  We went for a walk and then had lunch on the patio.  Then Phil decided he wanted to go to the fish hatchery.  It was fun to look in the show pond - we saw the 6' sturgeon along the bottom.  Later in the afternoon, Phil played catch with Alex and hit baseballs with Will.  Then we settled in for the next episode of the Ken Burns National Parks documentary.  

I think this is going to be my last "COVID" post for a while.  I have reached 100 posts and now that things are starting to open up it seems like a good time to stop.  If we have to lock down again in the future, I'll restart the daily posts.  

COVID 19 - Social Distancing - Day 99

The Wild had a 9am baseball game this morning. Unfortunately, they didn't get the "W" but their wins on Friday did qualify them to play another game on Sunday morning. After Will's game, we went to the Dome for Alex's third whiffle ball game. It was a close game, but Alex's team lost by a run. Alex did hit a grand slam and turned a double play so he was pretty excited. After his game, we went to our friends' new house on a lake just south of Schoolcraft. The kids got to fish and swim in the lake.

COVID 19 - Social Distancing - Day 98

It was a baseball filled day. We left the house at 8am for Will's baseball tournament in Sturgis which is about an hour away. The Wild defeated Hitter's Edge 14-0. The boys played great and it was nice to get the first win of the season. Then we had a break until 1pm when we played the Mudhens (who beat us on Wednesday night). The boys came out swinging and managed to get up on them 8-0 going into the bottom of the 4th inning. They let them creep back but still won the game 8-6. Then we stuck around to watch a a few other teams play. We stopped at home for about 45 minutes before heading back to the Dome for Alex's whiffle ball game. His team did not perform quite as well tonight but Alex still had fun. He even got to hold the flag during the national anthem. Tomorrow we head to Three Rivers for Will's third game of the tournament and then to Schoolcraft for Alex's final game.

COVID 19 - Social Distancing - Day 97

It was a busy day for the Maguran boys. Will had a driveway hockey lesson from Justin Taylor who plays for the Kalamazoo KWings. Then in the evening, Alex had his first of three whiffle ball games behind the Sports Dome in Schoolcraft. It was a lot of fun - they had music and announced all the kids as they went up to bat. Alex hit two homeruns and also did a good job pitching (all the kids had a chance to pitch if they wanted). The group was made up of 7-12 year olds and there were definitely more "big kids" but Alex and his buddies did great.

Alex up to bat

On the mound

COVID 19 - Social Distancing - Day 96

The Wild had their first Wednesday Night game today. They played the West Michigan Mud Hens. The game did not go well... hopefully they come to play at their tournament this weekend.

COVID 19 - Social Distancing - Day 95

The boys had a fun day. Alex requested I hide "gems" around the yard for him to find (assorted glass tiles/stone) so he spent some time hunting for them. In the afternoon, Will rode his bike with some friends in the neighborhood and Alex had a neighbor over to run through the sprinklers. Then Will had baseball practice in the evening.

COVID 19 - Social Distancing - Day 94

After their late night at the drive-in, the boys slept in today. We gave them the day off from chores and summer school work. They spent the majority of the afternoon playing whiffle ball and on the slip and slide. After dinner, we took a walk and then Will worked on his catching.

COVID 19 - Social Distancing - Day 93

We had an early morning at the ballfield - Will had an 8:30 game. The boys lost the game but played really well again. In the afternoon, we set up the sky chairs. Then we made a last minute decision to go to the drive-in movie theater to see "Goonies" (we did not stay for "Beetlejuice").  It was a beautiful evening. We put the seats down in my car and all stretched out in back.

"Truffle Shuffle"

COVID 19 - Social Distancing - Day 92

This morning, we turned some of our strawberries into ice cream and jam.  After lunch, we drove down to Three Rivers for Will's first baseball tournament of the season.  They lost both games but the team played really well.  We hit several line drives that went directly to their outfielders rather than scoring us some runs.  It was a good first showing for the team considering they have only been practicing for a few weeks.  I didn't get any pictures at the field because I was updating the online team app with balls, strikes, outs and runs which kept me busy.

COVID 19 - Social Distancing - Day 91

Will had his weekly virtual piano lesson this morning and then we went to Mandigo Farms for strawberry picking. We picked about 15 pounds and plan to make jam, ice cream, and to freeze them for smoothies. In the afternoon, the boys played whiffle ball with some kids in the neighborhood to celebrate the start of summer.