The Accidental Boilermaker

 We caught one last baseball game tonight, last one of the season. The TinCaps lost to the White Caps. I found an old ball cap for Jameson to wear and he was thrilled that his team won.  Evelyn and Jameson got their free ticket plus a hot dog and bag of chips through the summer reading program.  Our seats were right behind home plate. It was our first game with a pitch clock. We felt like it did change the feel of the game, some of the relaxedness of baseball seemed to be missing.   Of course the dance cam is a favorite and they did briefly make it on the big screen.  Nate and Jameson tried to get the ball cap signed but didn’t quite get to the players quick enough. Evelyn got a soft baseball at the end of the game. There were post game fireworks and Evelyn and Jameson and even Nate got to run the bases. 

 Things are starting to get busy. Evelyn and Jameson have piano lessons on Monday evenings.  Girls on the Run started on Tuesday and we meet every Tuesday and Thursday after school for the next eight weeks. Next Wednesday, Jameson will start soccer and have games Saturday mornings.  This evening was the first cross country race. It was just a nice intra-squad meet; a chance for kids to practice and get a feel for the distances. Jameson runs one kilometer and Evelyn runs one mile.

 We were finally able to give Oma her birthday present - a trip to the new cat cafe in Fort Wayne. We enjoyed some treats before our appointment to play with the kitties.  There were only 5 cats there today. I guess it just depends on the day, how cats the animal shelter has who would be good fits for the cafe, and how many cats have been adopted.  Some days there could be more cats. But we were able to play and pet with the kitties who were there. Evelyn even read a few books to one cat who didn’t want to play but was very content to listen. 

 The kids and I took a weekend trip to Chicago to visit Katherine. We left right after school on Friday. There was some traffic in different spots but overall the drive was fine. For dinner Katherine treated us to Lou Malnati’s deep dish pizza. Evelyn and Jameson thought it was good but they prefer thin crust pizza.  The weather predicted rain on and off all weekend so we checked out a puzzle from the library as a fun inside activity.  Oma and Grandpa drove into the city to visit too and it turned out the rain held off in the morning so we were able to make a quick trip to the pool. While swimming we got to see the Blue Angels flying over head for the air and water show.  We ate lunch and Oma and Grandpa went back home.  Evelyn and Jameson got to play Mario Kart and Kate and I worked on the puzzle.  To celebrate finishing the puzzle, we walked to Pretty Cool for popsicles. Jameson ended up not liking his blue moon popsicle so I trade him mine. Which was a l...

 Today was the first day of school. It sounded like they each had a good day.  The district changed up bus routes. We were first told that there were no more neighborhood stops for the magnet schools. Instead there would be central pick up and drop off locations.  But our new stop was now 2 miles away, so we decided I would just drive them to school. Then yesterday it changed again. We got a neighborhood stop back, but it’s different and slightly farther away than before. With all the last minute changes, we decided I would still drive them for the first few days until we transition back to the bus. 

 School starts tomorrow! We did a few last minute fun things.  Monday we played mini golf. Today we went to the zoo. 

 Saturday was hot so we decided to go to Millennium Park in Grand Rapids. Me and Pat and the kids left early so we could play at the playground first. Paul and Nate arrived second with sandwiches for lunch. Then Anna dropped off Landon and Grayson to hang out and play too.  After lots of fun in the sun we relaxed back at home. After dinner we went for an ice cream treat. Sunday we went to church and out for brunch. Then it was time to head home.