Final lesson

50.

The Little Prince finished his last of 8 pitching lessons with Coach Z tonight. He's really come a long way and learned a lot. Helps to have a great coach. On the last day of baseball camp, they used a radar gun to see how fast the kids were pitching. The Little Prince was second fastest on his team -- 43 mph.

The last day

49.

Last day of baseball camp. Some of the players were available for autographs just before camp ended at lunch. About 2 hours after the Little Prince got this autograph, Dominic Brown was called up to the Phillies.

After camp, we had about 3 hours to kill before the game. We went to Lehigh Valley Zoo where the Little Prince got to feed the Lorikeets.

All campers got to parade around the warning track before the game. They had a great time.

Following Dom

48.

Day 2 of baseball camp. The Little Prince got Dominic Brown's autograph when Dom was playing for the Reading Phillies and hopes to get another one tomorrow on the last day of camp. Cool note: When the Little Prince was in the batting cage, Andy Tracy said, "Look at that swing!".

Baseball is back

47.

For 3 days, anyway. It was a beautiful day for baseball camp with the Ironpigs. Campers are getting instructions from #6 Keoni De Renne.

What to do?

46.

What do you do if you do not have any organized sports planned on a lovely Sunday night and you've already spent too much time playing video games? You practice fielding in the back yard with Dad.

Exhaustion

45.

After a very long, very hot day of three 3-on-3 basketball games and 2 1/2 hrs of swimming, the Little Prince fell asleep watching the Ironpigs. He was hoping to play Mario Kart on the Wii, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

Nonstop fun

44.

So much fun today that I have two pictures. First, a visit from the Little Prince's cousins. What could be more fun than eating grilled cheese sandwiches in swim trunks, blowing up noisy balloons, playing kazoos and getting sprayed with the hose? Maybe Wii Sports in the air conditioning. It was hot outside!!

After the family left, we had a visit from school friends. This is the third year they've come over and we had another great time, even though we had to pack up early and move the party inside because of a thunderstorm. But we need the rain, so no one complained.

Locust shell

43.
In the palm of my hand
I hold
A locust shell
Brown, hollow, and empty
As an abandoned cave.
Hard yet crumbly,
It is curled up just like the real locust.
The shell where its eyes had been
Is translucent
And shiny like brown glass.
A reminder that life is passing.

Note: I have since been informed that this is a cicada rather than a locust. What can I say? I was in the moment, having seen this and found the above poem that I wrote as a high school freshman.

Halfway there

42.

The Little Prince and I went school shopping today, seeing as our summer is more than half over. It made me a bit sad, although I will not mind a break from finding something for him to do all day, every day. Also made me wonder - why does a 3rd grader need post-it notes, red pens, yellow highlighter and black erasable pens? What happened to the good old #2 pencils? Oh wait, he needs those, too.

Bounce pass

41.

Same guys, different sport. The Little Prince had three of his teammates over for some 2-on-2 to get ready for Saturday's 3-on-3 competition. They will be playing in the 3rd-5th grade bracket. Should be interesting.

Pearly whites

40.

And a new almost-grownup toothbrush.

Chop, chop

39.

The Little Prince is ready for his close-up. Haircut, that is.

Can't get enough

38.

Even at a friend's birthday swim party, there was baseball. The kids had a game going in the pool, in the yard next to the pool and here the Little Prince throws a pitch with a water-logged ball as part of some baseball-related game. After a week of scattered rain (for which we are VERY thankful), the Little Prince is excited about the playoff game tomorrow, which was scheduled to be played last Monday. He knows the man in the press box who "does the balls and strikes" and is hopeful that he can join him there.

Spur of the moment

37.

At the last minute, we got tickets for a Senator's game in Harrisburg. I know they have many more of these decorative cows throughout the city, but we were focused on getting to the game rather than sightseeing. Maybe another day.

Tri-Ominos

36.

The Little Prince introduced Tri-Ominos to Pappy today while I was at work. I'm thinking they played by the Little Prince's rules. Which are subject to change from play to play.

Working again

35.

Another day at work with mom. The Little Prince stationed himself with his feet under the table and played his DS. Most of the time. He also got to use the "Media Mail" stamper on some envelopes and add up the deposit slip. He definately gets his love of numbers from his dad. What does he get from me? He made a couple trips to the break room for drinks and to the closet for snacks.

Keeping busy

34.

I had to take the Little Prince to work with me today. He created this masterpiece to keep himself busy. Click on photo to enlarge.

Ending on a high note

33.

The Little Prince placed 3rd in the Golden Arm Skills Contest, which was held after the last Sunday game. It was fun to watch. There were three categories to the Skills Contest: Golden Arm, Roadrunner and Homerun Derby. Each of the 8 teams had 3 participants in each category. The Golden Arm: participants had 3 chances to throw a ball from 2nd base through a square hole in a sheet of plywood over homeplate. 1 point for hitting the wood at the top or bottom of the hole, 3 points for hitting the wood on either side of the hole, 5 points for getting the ball through the hole on a bounce, 10 points for getting it through the hole in the air. Roadrunner: fastest time around the bases. Two girls from our team placed 2nd and 3rd. Homerun Derby: points for hitting the ball the farthest. One of the boys on our team placed 2nd.

The madness ends

32.

One out was needed to win the game. They put in the Little Prince. And he did it! He won the game for us. So exciting! That left one game to win. We couldn't quite pull it off, but everyone did their best and had fun. Medals for all!!

Scouting

31.

After our game today, the Little Prince hung out for a couple innings to scout the competition: tomorrow we play the loser of that game.

Homework

30.

Today we did boring stuff like grocery shopping, worksheets left over from last school year and catching up on the Little Prince's Summer Vacation Journal. I think pizza and a movie will be a good way to end a day of work at home.

PC gets a win!

29.

The Little Prince waits on 2nd base during a pitching change. PC beat SC 14-2 in 5 innings. The Little Prince had 3 hits and 1 walk. He pitched 1 inning and was catcher for 2 innings. It was 102 degrees at 4:30 when the game started, but they survived.

Braving the heat

28.
Since we've had these tickets to see the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs for over a month, I was very glad to be wrong about the heat. Our seats were in the shade, so that helped. However, it was still hot! 92 degrees at 10:30 pm.

Too hot Tuesday

27.

What more can I say? It was too hot to take any other pictures. Tomorrow's not looking much better.

Multi-tasking

26.

Blowing bubbles while driving in circles on the basketball court. Don't know if I could do that.

Happy 4th of July

25.

Making patriotic planes to fly on the 4th of July.

Buzzin Cousins

24.

Another visit "back home" today. The Little Prince had a great time playing with his cousins. This summer, they all are sporting buzz cuts. Never thot I'd see the Little Prince with such a do, but there he is....He rocks it!

A long day

23.

The Little Prince is exhausted after a long day of completing Level 3 in swim class, eating too much (mac & cheese and 3 1/2 of the 4 Cheddar Bay Biscuits) at Red Lobster and clothes shopping. He better sleep while he can because tomorrow is going to be an even longer day...

Who let the dogs out

22.

Pappy and Mom-Mom were out of town today, so we got to let Jax and Ruby out.