Freezing a moment in time

     He's becoming a big boy, but we can freeze this moment in time where he is STILL A BOY...He's a good kid and loves his baseball and has fun at life.  I just thought this picture was cool.

another from behind the left fielder

Father’s Day at Black Gordon

The beat goes on....

  Just another weekend at the lake....well, for us it was a day but Mommy and Laura had come up on Friday and me and Cat and Fenway came up on Saturday to get some beach time in.  I dont know where all the people were but it was practically empty most of the day...i'm not complaining, it was awesome.  The water was freezing so that might explain some of it...but that didnt stop the two gals from doing some swimming, kayaking and jumping off the rock on the other side of the island.  Of course I needed a shave but what the hell, its like a miniature vacation even though it was only one day.

Jimmy and Jack stayed with Aunt Jo for the night after a wild Friday night Baseball game for Jack, that unfortunately his team lost.  

Its so relaxing there that you don't really want to go home.

Celebration of Learning for Catherine and Jackie pitching on Sunday

     Catherine's celebration of learning with her crew of 7th graders was about Egypt and the pyramids.  She was the first one you see when you get in the hall and greeted everyone with her huge smile.  The sweetest girl I know.

     She has a little bit of a burn from yesterday as you can see her face is glowing and the forehead is a little red.  It was a busy weekend for all....Its either cold or hot and sunny around here.

      Jackie has been on fire lately with baseball.  Crushing the ball and then yesterday he went four innings in relief with awesome results.  His hitting has been incredible.  Unfortunately he's been playing on a lot of fields without fences so he usually ends up with a triple or double when he smashes it over their heads.

this video was from his regular league where there is a fence.  It was a good shot but he said he didnt get all of it.  I still thought it was a good shot

Memorial Day Weekend at the lake

It was a very fun time this memorial day weekend.  Alice and Emily joined with us but Jimmy stayed behind to work at the Mill and be spoiled rotten over Ant Jo's house.  There was much fun and continuous laughter including a tipped kayake with poor Alice being overturned into the lake.  We were over at the other side of the complex when we heard two laughing hyenas screaming in laughter.  Apparently, Laura was helping steer Alice's kayake into shore when the mishap occurred.  

Brown Sugar had made us some spice rice and we ate like Kings for the couple of days.  Of course my $10 Weber grill was in play.  Oh, that grill !!!  I'll talk about that grill later....everyone else is sick of hearing the story.

On Saturday we went into North Conway to do some Outlet shopping and roaming around.  While we were there we encountered a craft fair and one of the booths had a old time photo booth.  The kids look great dressing up as gangsters, especially Jack who looks natural as a gangster.

     There was this basketball game that was quite spirited with Jackie taking home the MVP honors.

     Catherine very rarely goes past an open grass patch without finding a place to do flips.

     This is Zeb.....the kids like to make fun of me calling me Jeb because i'm an old Fogie hick....i think i'm named after this guy

And I dont expect that she'd want us to be sad today but there's not a day that goes by that she's not mentioned and especially she's thought of every day.  This memorial day is the tenth anniversary of her death.....Missed and Loved oh so much

Let it fly Jackie

     Good Ole Jackie was firing it up there last night.  The Diamondbacks took a rare loss but all is well.  Nana, Doe,Catherine, Emily and Erin came to join me and mommy at the game.  Jackie hit a shot way over the center fielders head, almost a 'home runner'.

After he was done pitching Jackie went over to third base and had a band aid on his right hand.  I asked him what it was.  He had a play at home plate where he tagged out a runner who had tried to score on a passed ball.  He told me that the guy 'targeted' his pitching hand and got him good.  The runner was out so all was well!!

We got Jackie's annual baseball pose too...he's getting tall...and hitting the ball a ton.

Bad Ass Dad

Nothing says Bad Ass like driving down the city streets in a swagger wagon with a smashed windshield!!  For the second time in a week I’ve been targeted by the ball gang....The first time it was “yellow” softball causing a small crack just to send a message and then last night the base gang followed through with a much stronger message.

The savage pitcher

Oh good lord.  Jack was on the pitcher mound yesterday and pitching up a storm.  At one point he roared back and hit the batter with a pitch to the bean.  I gasped and breathed easier when the kid seemed fine and headed over to first base none the worse for wear.  It was a solid hit in the head but he lived to tell another tale....BUT....Jack looked over at the coach and accused the batter of leaning into the pitch and getting hit in the head on purpose.  He come over to me after the inning and repeated the same story....a miniature Don Baylor that kid must be....oh, you must know about Don Baylor....good ole Jackie

Junior Prom

      James went to the Junior prom on Friday.  All the kids looked very handsome and beautiful.

THE BOYS !!

Noah was on third

Oh mah goodness....the pitter patter you hear is the sound of hard rain falling, which it did for four hours of baseball.....it was nice and cold for us hardy souls too 

  Here is a shelter someone on the opposing  team had...I dont really know if i'd do such a thing especially where there were women and children standin

Let me check on Amazon actually....but i know i'd hear my mom telling me to let some woman or kid use it.......and by the way,JACKIE GOT BEANED AGAIN !!!
A purple umbrella...of course I'll use it...boy I need a shave

He's got a target on his back.....

Ok, we are only six games into the season and Jackie is perplexed by the amount of attention his hot bat has received from opposing pitchers.  Six games into the season he's been beaned three times.  Mostly he's okay, but the fastest pitcher in the league really gave him a shot in the back with a fastball.  I was about twenty feet away when it happened and it was a solid hit in the small of his back.  He bounced back but had to come out of the game because it really, really hurt.  He laughed the other two off but this one left a good bruise.  He told me it would feel better the next day and sure enough he was back at it the next day.  Jeez, during the next game during his second at bat the wild pitcher threw three pitches over his head or behind him.  He was dodging all over the place.  He had a good laugh over that...because of course they didnt hit him.
So far in the season he has been doing very well.  This weekend he had five games between Saturday and Sunday.  He doesnt seem to mind and actually loves it.  I'm impressed at how well he is doing......he's a good kid and very funny.  I very much enjoy watching him play

LEO RACICOT

     Have you ever had a memory from childhood that you thought of occasionally and didn't know if it were real or not?  You don't know if they came from a dream or if they really exist.   There are several in this mind of mine.  I had this memory of being in this fenced tunnel with wooden planks going through a walkway, behind a mill building with a famous street lady named 'The Cat lady'.  Everybody from where I came from knew the Cat lady and there were more stories about her, either real or imagined.  This was a recurring memory of mine until one day I finally couldn't take it any longer and I called my brother Patrick and told him about it.  Yes, he said, we were walking home from the Strand Theater after taking in a double feature and during our walk home we encountered the Cat Lady in the walkway.  I just remember being petrified of being in close quarters with such a woman, a woman who would walk with a grocery carriage full of dead cats, or so the story went....but Patrick validated that memory so I felt a little bit better about it....
     Another memory I had was a good one, one of a kind man, that, for years, I thought was a character from a television show that I watched as a child.  I knew this character as 'Leo Racicot'.  He wasn't just Leo, or Mr. Racicot...he was the full name Leo Racicot.  Occasionally he would creep into my mind as a man who was about 9 feet tall with very strong characteristics and size 18 shoes.  I always remembered Leo Racicot as a gentle character who was kind and was your typical, gentle PBS character during that time.  That memory I hadn't asked Patrick about because I was sure he was an actor in a television show, much like Mr. Rogers....he wasnt just Leo, he was Leo Racicot...full name and all.  Its a strong name, a catchy name and the memory had to be from about first or second grade.
     About five years ago I was at the Snack shack inside City Hall and stopped to get something to eat.  I couldn't believe it !!!  Leo Racicot walked by me!!  I think I yelled out LEO RACICOT !!!  He was actually a person, a living and breathing person, not just a false memory of a character long, long ago.  I couldn't believe that I actually ran into him and that he was in front of me.  I think he thought I had grown up to be a weirdo adult!!  It turns out that he had been a teacher at our elementary school and knew much of our family as he had taught them all at our elementary school. I asked him if he knew me and he did!!  Wow, it was Leo Racicot.....I knew him because he was my teacher, just not my homeroom teacher,  but he left a mark on me through all these years.  It was a positive memory of a nice man who was very kind.   He wasnt actually 9 feet tall and his foot size has shrunk to normal over the years......I dont even remember the name of my first grade teacher, i know she was a nun, but I wouldnt remember her if she walked by me at City Hall.
  I have got to know Leo Racicot a little better these days through interactions on social media and i'm glad about that....I like to look back and remember the good old days of my childhood.  I had a great childhood, a happy one and no doubt because of those around me, people like Leo Racicot!!!

Lola at the walk

Umple with the toilet paper ready

walkathon

         Another very successful MS walkathon is finished.  We had a very good time finding our way around these mean streets.  A pretty decent turnout which included many regulars and some newcomers.  

     Dee is there every year with us..and this year the ump walked without presenting a doctors note  .  Jackie jumped on his back at one point and those two just had a great time.  Jack just loves his ump.  .

     Paula and Bobby also came around again this year.  They are regulars also and have a blast.  This year I stuck back a little with the old folk so i didnt get to mingle as much during the walk.  I'm working on the legs.  The old folk being Maura, Theresa and Big Bill....I guess that would include me too.  Nana and Kara and Jamie were also flying over the course too with Emily, Jacob and Erin. Their friend Jeff also once again joined us.   We had some newcomers Emma, Alice and her mommy Krista.  Laura's favorite little guy William came walking with us and his mom Brooke, dad Miguel and his sister Sophia.  Jimmy's friends Clayton and Jake drove there with Jimmy....yes, Jimmy drove....imagine that.

     And what would music and a microphone just laying there if  we didnt get some Barry on.  Oh my audience demands it and I just have to give in to them.

Easter 2018

     How did this picture below get into the Easter Blog??  I was going to delete it but that place had such good food I just cant!!!

     Ohhh Easter Sunday we gained Erin for the day......she loved getting the Easter Eggs on the lawn.  The Easter Bunny must have known she was sleeping over and coming over for the day because he left ample  eggs for her here and at uncle Timmy's house.

     Of course Auntie Jo made Catherine her special Birthday cake for the Easter Eatin

Uncle Timmy's house picking what the Bunny had left us

Florida

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     The two youngest took a couple days off of School to go to visit Nana and Doe in Florida.  As an added bonus their cousins were visiting also.  They absolutely adore the girls and were very excited to see them.  Erin went also to see the kids and Nana with Mommy.  Mommy had just go off the plane from Texas and was boarding another plane the next day for Florida.