Texas Rangers game

Last weekend we enjoyed our first family trip to see a Texas Rangers baseball game at the stadium in Arlington (a suburb of Dallas). Scott's parents were visiting us from Florida last weekend and Scott thought that attending the game together as an extended family of six would be a fun way to mark the occasion of the kids' (and mine and the grandparents') first Rangers game. Scott was right about that - we all had a lot of fun at the game together.

I am not a baseball expert, but having grown up attending many games with my dad and family as a kid  (all over the country) and then in later years with Scot when we were dating (Florida Marlins), as a newly married couple (Durham Bulls), and recently at spring training (Baltimore Orioles), I know a thing or two about baseball. But this was my first Rangers game and my first visit to the Rangers stadium so in a sense it felt like a slightly different experience.

I was impressed by the stadium. The ballpark was nice and easy to get around. The architecture has an old-fashioned feel to it but the amenities are modern.

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Our seats were great - kind-of behind home plate on the third base side.

I love the "Deep in the heart of Texas" ribbon on the banner below.

Family photo of the kids with their grandparents to commemorate their first trip to Rangers stadium!

The game was between the Texas Rangers and the Detroit Tigers. The Rangers won with a score of 7-2. We saw some amazing plays, hits, and scoring by the Rangers so the stadium was rockin' with music and lots of energy. which kept the kids interested.

Sometime during the fifth inning John caught* a ball! (* caught = the usher from the adjacent section yelled to John, "Hey, kid!" and threw him a ball from 100 feet away). John was thrilled and didn't care that the ball didn't come from the field. John kept remarking afterwards, "See, dad, it's a good thing I brought my glove so I could catch that ball!"

Someone tell John that he wore the wrong jersey (Cowboys) to the baseball game. (At least he wasn't wearing Heat gear for a change, I should be glad about that!)

P.S. Who pays $26 (or $32) for a hotdog at the ballpark??? Check out the sign above. The hots dogs I saw people carrying were almost a yardstick long - how crazy! I suppose if you are feeding a family of four with one hotdog it's not a bad deal, but I would have had a hard time shelling out $26 for a hotdog nevertheless!

Volleyball Champs!

The title of this post reveals the whole story - Amelia's fourth grade volleyball team came in first place tonight in their end-of-season tournament! This means that the girls won the YMCA 4th grade spring volleyball league. Wow - what an accomplishment! Oh, and the girls were undefeated this spring too. They won all seven regular season matches, all three tournament matches, and only lost three of their 23 total season games.

Tonight was intense as all of the matches in each of the games were close.  The tournament is a seeded (based on regular season record) single-elimination tournament, meaning that both the teams the girls played tonight had already advanced from beating other teams in the two previous days.

Below the girls are getting last minute pointers from Coach Goodwin and going over the line-up for the game.

The girls doing their team cheer (Gooooo VolleyPaws!) The team name is the VolleyPaws, based on the fact that their school mascot is a panther. Amelia is jumping up with the tallest head on the left. Overall my photos from tonight were not very good because I was one of the scorekeepers and I figured I should not be too distracted by the camera.

"Mom, if you insist on a photo please take it quickly because you are embarrassing me!"

The first game tonight was tough, a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10. We were down over 10 points at the beginning of the first match and I seriously doubted for a moment whether we would survive to advance to the championship game. But the girls rallied and got their second wind by the second match, where they dutifully won the second and third matches. 

The second game was also challenging, probably an 8 the same scale. We won the first match easily, lost the second in a tough battle, and won the third match. For the second game, I think our girls were just more determined to win so they were completely mentally there. In other words, they felt like they should win, which can make a difference.

But what made the second game more colorful was that the coach of the other team got ejected (!! It's fourth grade volleyball!!) for yelling at the ref, which came after she had already three altercations with the ref at various points during the first match. And then a couple of plays after the ejection, which left a few girls from the opposing team in tears on the sidelines (nice), the husband of the coach who was serving as a line judge stormed our side of the court and started shouting at the dad of one of our girls. The ref had to interfere in that too and the guy had to sit next to his ejected wife coach, who invited herself back to the stands to watch the rest of the match. I had a front row seat for some of this action as a scorekeeper and got to listen to the ref mutter things under his breath many times about the behavior of the other team's parents and coaches. In a nutshell, the other parents and coaches were upset because they thought the ref wasn't calling fairly according to the rules, and maybe part of it was that they were mad because our team was winning. But honestly our girls won fair and square, I just wish the parents of the other team had been better sports because it was kind-of challenging to figure out a good way to explain all of this over-the-top action to Amelia and John without using four-letter words after the game was over..

After the game the girls congratulated each other (Amelia is second girl on the left in the garnet jersey), 

ran into their parents' arms in happiness,

and posed for a "Champions!" team photo below.

What a fun evening, and an awesome way to wrap up Amelia's two years with the UP VolleyPaws! Amelia has improved so much as a player (tonight I can honestly say that Amelia was a strong contributor to the winning team effort - lots of good defensive bumps and point-winning serves) and I am glad that she has found a sport she enjoys playing.

Mother's Day

We had a great family day on Mother's Day this year. I requested that we spend the afternoon together as a family on an outing that I had planned, and Scott listened carefully and pulled it together nicely. On top of this the kids seemed mostly interested in what we were doing so they were particularly fun to be with. All in all it was an enjoyable day!

I requested that we visit the Chagall exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art. I actually hadn't yet been to the DMA (hard to believe since we have lived here seven years) so it was fun to have an excuse to finally get to the downtown art museum. While I am not an art expert by any means, Chagall is one of my favorite artists. I was excited about the special touring exhibit that was at the DMA this spring because I remember loving Chagall's work when I had the chance to view it in various European art museums years ago.  

The Chagall exhibit was nicely done, with the story of certain decades of his life told through art from special collections on display from around the world. I had no idea that the range of Chagall's work was so wide. In addition to the paintings that I was familiar with, I learned that Chagall also made ceramics, backdrops for ballet productions, costumes for the ballets, and clay sculptures. We toured the Chagall exhibit first and I was pleasantly surprised by Amelia and John's (!) interest in understanding what was being presented. I particularly enjoyed sitting in front of the ballet stage filled with Chagall's beautifully decorated costumes and having John and Amelia point out their favorites. Yea for a little art culture on a beautiful Sunday afternoon!

Before everyone's art tolerance ran out we toured the European section, where we viewed artwork (mostly paintings) from the 20th century. And then we found the outdoor sculpture garden, which was definitely a highlight.

Dallas actually has a separate art museum that is solely dedicated just to indoor and outdoor sculptures (The Nasher Sculpture Center), so the pieces on display at the DMA only represent a fraction of the sculpture in Dallas. 

I requested smiling faces for a Mother's Day photo and I was pleased with the result. The roots (or vines?) on this tree makes a cool backdrop! Don't mind John's head to toe Heat gear. It is ever present during the NBA finals (and much of the rest of the year too).

After we finished up at the DMA we walked across the street to Klyde Warren Park, a new park downtown that opened earlier this year (we first visited back in December).

The kids got ice cream from one street vendor (they are sitting on the bench to the lower right in the photo below) while Scott and I enjoyed a late afternoon beer purchased from another vendor.

The weather was perfect and it was such a pleasant afternoon to be out of the house and doing something different together as a family than the types of things we usually do.

I was blessed to receive several thoughtful gifts too! Amelia made me a pink and white bracelet from her Rainbow Loom art kit, Scott gave me a cookbook, a new immersion blender (I hinted strongly that this would be appreciated since mine died earlier this year), and a gift card for lululemon. And John made a beautiful card in school (below).

The card was a fill-in-the-blank type card, where John wrote the following (spelling corrected in my typing below), "My mother's name is Wendy. I call her mom. She is 39 years old. She is as pretty as a flower. Her favorite food is I think spinach. She likes it when I clean my room. She doesn't like it when I kick her. My mother's favorite thing to do is to run. She doesn't like to sing. I love my mother because she is nice. By: John"

This is so sweet and I could tell that John was proud of his card. But...she doesn't like it when I kick her? (WHAT?) The favorite food is spinach and I don't like to sing are pretty funny too because I don't know where they come from. It's funny how the things you think your child will say or observe about you are often different than what they really think.

Park Cities Spring Track Meet

John participated in the Park Cities YMCA Spring Track Meet yesterday. John was on a team with other first grade boys from his school, where the teams from all of the local elementary schools competed against each other. During John's two hour section of the meet we got to watch the first and second grade boys and girls compete in several events. Each team seemed to consist of about a dozen kids, so with all of the parents, siblings, and friends out at the track cheering their school's team, the atmosphere was fun and festive.

The meet was held at SMU's Westcott Field, the university's soccer stadium. The first and second graders could compete in one running event and one field event, with the choices being the 50M or 100M run and either the baseball throw or long jump.

Only participants and coaches were allowed on the field, so all of my photos were the best I could get with my zoom lens. Below are John and his teammates on the field before the event started. John is wearing the orange shorts.

John participated in the 100M run. He is second from the left in the photo below.

If you look closely, John has his tongue sticking out of his mouth. It's part of his concentration face that we see sometimes when he plays sports. What determination!

John did great with a fast run, finishing second in his heat (behind the kid in the green shirt in the photo above).

John's other event was the long jump - soaring above the pit!

Though reluctant to cooperate with me (as usual), I finally got some good photos of John after the meet.

I love the photo above! And I liked the shirts that the coach had printed for John's team to wear during the meet. "The faster you run, the faster you're done". I'll have to remember that the next time I am struggling during a run myself.

What a fun event - perfect for a competitive boy like John. I'm eager to see the results and learn how the UP boys did against the other teams.

UP 4th Grade Poetry Day

Today was 4th Grade Poetry Day at Amelia's elementary school. The fourth graders were assigned the job of selecting a partner and a poem to recite in the hallways during the hour-long poetry display. The event was like an active museum - participants could browse amongst the "exhibits" and request that each group recite their poem on cue. Amelia and her BFF Lydia performed a ballet-themed poem together. 

The poem was great and the girls did a great job reciting it for the parents and students wandering the hallways during the exhibit hour. I was impressed that Amelia and Lydia had choreographed a few ballet steps to pair with the words spoken in their poem.

Parents were welcome to attend Poetry Day and students from all grades were released periodically from their classrooms to view the exhibits. Amelia and Lydia are on the left in the photo below. You can see how crowded the hallways got at certain times.

And wouldn't you know that while I was at the school I ran into John and his classmates while they were enjoying the poetry exhibits! It was fun for me to find John in the crowd, though John was a bit embarrassed about my having found him. Below John is listening to a pair of boys recite their poem about duck hunting (we do live in Texas, after all).

What a fun morning. I was glad that I was working from home today and could easily step out for an hour to attend the poetry exhibits.

Random question - why does Leo (and probably all cats in general) have to insist on sitting square on the papers that I am working on during my work hours? What's wrong with the couch from 8-5 and then he can get all snuggly afterwards? Just sayin'.

Heels and Hills Half Marathon

I was interested in running one more half marathon this year before the too-hot-to-run long distance season settles in here in Texas. I had kept up with my longer runs decently enough since the Cowtown Half in February that I thought I would be sufficiently trained. So with just a week left before the race, I bit the bullet and registered for the Heels and Hills Half Marathon. 

The H&H Half is a smaller, local race held in Las Colinas in Irving, a suburb of Dallas out near DFW airport. I had seen advertisements for this event before and thought it would be a good one to try. The name comes from the fact that the race is marketed primarily for female participants (the "heels" part) and the original course had a lot of elevation changes (the "hills" part, although apparently the course has changed because it is no longer hilly). The race is capped at about 1,000 runners and consists of a 5K, 10K, and the half marathon event. I haven't participated in many smaller races, but what I learned this Sunday is that a well-organized, smaller race, can be amazingly fun.

The course was great. It was an out-and-back course that largely followed a paved biking trail called Campion Trail. Off to the side of the trail were a few neighborhoods (homes and apartment complexes), a small creek, and lots of open, grassy fields. The course was very flat so it was easy to run fast.

About a third of the trail would through forested areas so there was some shade too. This is about as "pretty" as north central Texas gets!

The weather was great for running too, with temperatures at the start probably around 50 degrees with decently mild winds.

I loved the lack of logistical hassles that came with this race - no long lines for bathrooms, easy parking,  and not having to weave in and out of huge packs of people after the start. I started near the front so it was fun to have an eye on the runners ahead of me nearly the whole time. And I liked the out-and-back course too as it was motivating to have the winner run back towards me as I got within a mile of the turn around, and then to have other runners waving in support as I worked my way back to the finish line.

I had an awesome race! I really raced this one hard because the conditions were perfect and I was excited about the aspects of the race I mentioned above. I finished in 1:42:11, average pace 7:48 per mile, fourth in my age group and 13th finisher overall. I have never gotten competitive with winning or even placing in races before, but with a race this small it is easy to compare your time to others. So what I find funny is that had I been in the 40-44 group (which I will be in 10 months) I would have won my division, and had I been in the 20-24 group I would have won my division. And while I don't have my half marathon PR time recorded (why? that's a shame!), I remember my PR time being somewhere in the 1:41 range, so my race on Sunday was just about a minute or so shy. I am so pleased with this. What a great way to end the spring racing season! Now to dig deep and find the motivation to stay active in the hot summer months ahead.

Texas Hoe Down

Tonight our family attended the fourth grade Texas Hoe Down at Amelia's elementary school. This is a special event held each year for the fourth graders and their families, and is designed to coincide with the intensive study that the fourth graders participate in about the state of Texas in the spring of the fourth grade year. The fourth graders were invited to wear western attire and come for an hour of dancing and western music to enjoy with their families. The kids had been practicing the dances in their weekly music classes, plus they all had the option of attending extra square-dancing rehearsals a few morning each week before school (Amelia chose to attend the extra lessons which led me to understand that she was really interested in this event).

The kids were encouraged to wear western gear, so Amelia chose to wear jeans, cowboy boots, and a bandana in her hair. Amelia is in the blue t-shirt on the right in the photo below.

Early in the evening parents were encouraged to participate with their children. Amelia roped Scott into promenading with her (and other kids and their dads) around the dance floor. While Scott was hesitant at first, I could tell it didn't take long for him to enjoy his time on the dance floor with Amelia and her friends.

Siblings were also encouraged to participate. John even got out on the dance floor for the hat dance! John is in the Heat jersey (of course) on the left next to the cowboy below.

The fourth graders posed for a group photo at the end. I could only capture part of the photo from where I was standing, but in my shot Amelia is in the back row, second from the right in the blue t-shirt.

Coincidentally, today I attended a parent's meeting at our school district's intermediate school (prelude to official middle school and the school for students in 5th and 6th grades) for students incoming to 5th grade. In just four weeks Amelia will officially graduate from elementary school and move to the district campus that houses the intermediate school. This coming May is an exciting and somewhat sentimental time for us, as the elementary school hosts numerous events to celebrate the end of the year and transition to the intermediate school for the 4th graders.