In the Country

Ack! *Major Grimace* Ohhhh....ow ow ow ow ow....

Did you hear that? That was the sound of me getting out of bed this morning. It was not pretty. Serves me right for being so inactive the past few years I suppose. You see, a couple of days ago my good friend Nikki invited me to sub on their slow pitch team for last night's double header. At first I was hesistant. And, for good reason. I knew...correction--I know...I am out of shape. After clearing it with Casey though I decided to go ahead and tell her I'd play....extra hitter position  please.

Then, she texts to ask if I'll play first base. Yikes! I think I was 12 or 13 the last time I ever played first, and that was probably because our regular first baseman was at home tired from a day of swimming and just couldn't make it to the game. I am not an infielder. Much as I'd like to have wanted to be one. I am not. However, as I age I actually have less fear of the ball because I know if you do get hit by one the pain only lasts a little while and if you'll just watch and pay attention most of the time you'll catch it in the glove even on a bad throw. That coupled with the fact that this was church league softball and I felt absolutely zero pressure to perform like an all star made me say yes.

And, I don't regret it, well except maybe for the part about being incredibly sore today. We won both games, I actually caught some throws at first (and missed some...), hit the ball well enough to land a few singles, and I had a lot of fun playing with friends. I think I had forgotten how important it is to make time without your kid every once in a while.

All of that to say, I would have posted this last night but I was busy killing it on the softball fields.

Without further ado...

A couple of weeks ago Gabe and I spent an afternoon at my parents' house. On Sunday afternoon, we took a trip to my grandma's farm where I thought Gabe might have some fun riding on a tractor with my Uncle Tom. Turns out Gabe hated the idea and screamed the entire time we were near the tractors. This was mostly due to the fact that the evening before my brother in law's brother brought his very loud ATV out to ride at mom and dad's and it scared the crap out of Gabe. So much so that he wouldn't go anywhere near any four wheeled object with an engine even though he really did enjoy riding his own four wheeler just a few weeks prior.

I took pictures anyway, and then the next morning my mom convinced Gabe that it was still fun to ride a four wheeler and once again Gabe was able to enjoy four wheeled objects with engines.

Here are the photos from our time at Grandma's and Gabe's ride at mom and dad's on the four wheeler they purchased for him and his cousin.

Uncle Tom filling the sprayer.

At Grandma's farm.

The building with windows is the chicken coop where once upon a long time ago I helped my grandma gather eggs. And, the dog house where her beloved Penny stayed and we'd take a skillet of scraps to early in the morning. Good memories in these now worn out buildings.

Oh, dear. I think he's wet himself.

Hi, Mommy!

Oh, I like going fast!

Fun, fun, fun.

Pop a wheelie, Grami. I'm ready.

Come on, let's go already.

Okay, where's the button? I'll do it myself.

Oh, I think he's found it.

Big boy all by himself!

And, he likes it that way.

 

There's just nothin' better than a carefree day in the country with family.