Luke & His Dinosaurs

Kieran has Country Running Club for Tuesday/Thursday for three weeks at the high school, meaning Luke, Lex and I take him in and then need to find something to do while we wait.  This morning we decided to head to the park in town.

When I turned around I saw something that I needed to take of picture of...

It's Luke and his most favorite of all things....dinosaurs.  Of course he's giving it a hug...

I texted that picture to pops (whose in South Dakota, on his way towards Alaska) with the line "Luke likes his dinosaurs...."

Within an hour, I got a reply text.  Pops said "Tell Luke my buddy is bigger."

Luke just had a huge smile when he saw the picture....it's on though pops...it's on...

Lex - TBall

Not that our nights are busy enough (Sarah has class on Tuesday & Thursdays and the FD on Mondays, Luke has BB on Tuesdays and Kieran has ball on 2-4 nights per week), but Lex is playing TBall this year for the first time.

Her practices/games are on Wednesday, a slightly slower paced night for me....her team name is the Pirates and she loves having something to do that is hers...

This picture is from her first game...thought it would be good catching the three girls all paying attention to the game from the bench (then morgan caught me taking the picture so I didn't crop it)...

Lex has a basic understanding of the game and knows how to throw/swing...not saying she will every time its needed...just saying she knows what's right and wrong...

Lex also prefers to wear a headband underneath her batting and regularly issued hat for the season...style points I guess...

It's amazing how much she'll talk about T-Ball (when it's coming next, how it went last time, etc.)....

Cologne's New Splash Pad

Over the several years, city administrators and council people have advocated for a 'splash pad' or water feature that would help to draw people to town.  Well it opened last weekend, so a day later, Luke & Lex went to check it out with me.

Interesting that the city provided at least 10 beach balls for the splash pad...were they not aware that the wind blows through town or that kids will voluntarily kick them over the small fence?  The splash pad is not staffed and is located close to several apartment buildings or complexes (hard to call them buildings or complexes)...

Luke was entertained for maybe 15 minutes before he was ready to go.  Granted, it was in the low 70s temperature and with a consistent wind....

Lex lasted a longer, almost 45 minutes.  I'm sure it's something that we'll use again this summer, but both boys are basically too old for the features there and lex is almost too old.  Kids with parents watching baseball games at the park next door have a great tool to entertain themselves or the packs of kids living nearby have a new babysitter....

As far as drawing people to town?  I doubt it....recycling centers keep a better track on who uses their facilities...

And I'm sure those beach balls have been blown halfway to New Prague by now....

Dodgeball

The last student day for Delano Public Schools is tomorrow, June 7.  As the year winds down and all the state mandated testing has finished, we conclude the year with a dodgeball tournament for grades 7 & 8.  We even have a traveling trophy that goes to the winning teacher's room at the conclusion of the tournament....it's called the 'dodgeball cup'....it's sort of a big deal (winning team picture is placed on the back and staff name rings the top)...

The best part of the dodgeball tournament is that after the conclusion of the championship game --- always between the 8th grade champion and the 7th grade champion (which for the first time ever in the history of the dodgeball cup, the 7th grade won this year) --- the staff take on the winning team.

As a staff, we win about 50% of the time.  Actually, lately it's been win one year and lose another.  Trouble is that the students always stay the same age...and we just keep get older...but this was our year...

The commissioner of the Delano dodgeball scheduling/seeding committee (we actually have one, it's a committee of one -- more gets done that way) decided that this year would be a 'blackout' year...most of use got the message.

Some take it more seriously than others though....

But guess what?!?!  Staff won again...

Kieran's Birthday

It's been a few weeks since Kieran's birthday, so here's his post about the day.  It was actually covered over a series of days (most evenings for the next 1 1/2 months are busy with something - Luke's BB is Tuesdays, Lex's Tball is Wednesday, Kieran will generally have 2-3 games a week with at least one practice also and those could be any night), so cake and candles was done the Sunday night before.

Apparently there were 10 candles on the cake...not that he was able to blow them all out.

He did get one present that night (at the time, his undershirt for his BB uniform hadn't arrived yet and he needed a maroon one for the game the next night --- of course the game was rained out anyway)...

 
We did presents at 6:00 am on his birthday, May 17.  Which is going to explain some of the outfits...

Lex was the first up...she was given an old game or practice ball while at Target Field during Kieran's baseball clinic -- apparently she just looked cute -- and decided that that would be a good gift for Kieran.

No wrapping needed....and he liked it.

Next was another gift that we had had awhile....a Twins shirt...

The last gift was the gift that Luke did not appreciate...

I got a new iPhone last November and the kids had been using my old iPhone basically as an iPod.  We gave it to him connected with the service that we use.  So he has his own phone number, with unlimited minutes and unlimited texts.  It costs me $10/month.  If you don't have his phone number and would like it, let me know.

Luke has been the one who has really wanted a phone.  He wants it for the camera and to play games.  He was a little disappointed that Kieran got a phone...so much so, that he took Kieran's phone to school the next day...

He spent some time in his room that evening...

Track & Field Day

The kids had their Track and Field day yesterday.  I took a personal day again so I could volunteer and help run a station.  All classes rotate through something like 26 stations and play various games or do track events.

I got to help with the 'Rat Race' game again, basically the kids need to run a certain distance, pick up the 'cheese' and get it back to their home base before getting hit with a ball.  If they're hit by a ball, they need to drop the 'cheese' and head back so another student could try.  I was one of those throwing the balls...it was great.

First one to my station was Kieran...so of course he was my target...I got him.

He asked his teacher for permission to throw a ball at me later...it was granted...he felt good.

Lex came next...

I got her too....

Finally, Lukie got to my station....I missed him the first time down and he was able to get the 'cheese'...

He was on his way back...then I got him...

All three of them laughed as they were running down the course...they were having a great time, so was I.  My phone automatically takes video 1.5 seconds before the picture and 1.5 seconds after the picture, but I haven't downloaded the videos yet.  In those you can see Lex and Luke getting hit by the ball.

Here's a link to last years Track and Field day post in case you'd like to compare:  http://mnallison-foleyfamily.blogspot.com/2015/06/elementary-track-field-day.html

Can't wait for next year!

Kieran Actually Played a Baseball Game

Tuesday night, Kieran had another game scheduled, this time in Delano.  Which meant that I had to leave school, pick up the kids, feed them and get Kieran back to Delano (within 500 yards of my classroom) within a couple of hours.  Plus, Luke had ComboBall practice the same night (although it was apparently cancelled because of impending storms that never really materialized) --- Sarah has class Tuesday nights this summer and both Kieran/Luke have ball most of those nights...it's going to be interesting how it all works out...

Driving to Delano that night it just got darker and darker the farther north we got.  Here's a picture of the sky shortly before the start of the game...

Luckily, the storms just missed Delano to the south...meaning the game would go on...

Kieran learned some good lessons that night...some I thought he already knew...the first at-bat he came up swinging....a little early on this pitch...

Eventually he got the count to one ball and two strikes.  At which point I think he was scared of striking out, so he attempted a bunt on the next pitch...

Well, the bunt went foul and if that happens with two strikes, you're out.  I hoping he doesn't try to bunt without being told to again...

He played a few outfield positions too....

His second time up to the plate he tapped the ball right in front of the plate and was thrown out at first.  The third time up, he came out swinging again, but struck out...it's going to happen.

His team though was winning 7-0 at one point.  Too bad the rains didn't come...they ended up losing 14-8....

Kieran's Baseball

Kieran's been practicing for over a month now - it's about two practices a week, two hours at a time.  He's had 2-3 games postponed because of rain and multiple practices also rained out.  Tonight was the first night that the game was postponed before we had to leave...

He's excited, it's the first season of 'kid pitch' and he has a whole uniform.  With the weather tonight, it looked like it would be close whether we would get the game in or not...

 While the kids were warming up, 10 minutes before the game, the first lightning bolt struck.  All the kids were removed from the field for a time to wait things out....eventually they started the game though.  They made it through 1 1/2 innings before the next bolts of lightning, though they finished the next 1/2 inning before this happened...

Maybe it's hard to see...but that's a deluge all over the field.  Ponding water everywhere...eventually the postponed the game until June 28th.  We'll see what the weather will be like then...

Best part --- Kieran didn't start the game and wasn't going to enter the game until the 3rd inning...we drove to Winsted just to watch some weather....Lexy was able to make her entire practice though back in Cologne (not of drop of rain)....

Twins Baseball Clinic

A couple of days ago, Kieran had the opportunity to participate in a baseball clinic at Target Field (home of the Twins) that was being put on by the Minnesota Twins and Suburban Chevrolet.  It was almost three hours of drills at somewhere between 10-15 stations.  He went in both dugouts and even went up towards the visitors clubhouse where they saw the indoor batting cage and they even got a free lunch.  But, most of the time was spent on the field --- I've never been on that field, that would be cool....

It was hard to get pictures of Kieran doing the drills, here's one where he's working on fly balls...

Kieran is somewhere in that group across the infield (btw...the seats down low are cushioned...they were nice)...

And another one where they were doing some stretching...though if you knew Kieran as a baby, he was better at this superman position then (he would lift both his arms and his legs off the ground all the time)....

What it really did was give us time to explore the outside of Target Field...like the Gold Glove...

Or the Kirby Puckett statue representing Game 6 of the '91 Series...

Or Harmon Killebrew...

After watching Luke at the Rod Carew statue, I'm wondering if he should bat left-handed?

TC Bear anyone?

What Luke really wanted though was to get on the big screen.  He and I moved to the right field corner when Kieran was coming around and there just happened to be a camera guy on the field then...

The camera guy noticed Luke at the rails, motioned to me to get my camera ready, and....

Luke was happy...later - Luke, Lex and Sarah all made the jumbotron....

It was a great day, especially since it was free...everyone had fun!

'The Boot'

I mentioned in a few posts back - about the Hot Dash 10 Mile - that I hurt my calf two days before that race, so I couldn't run....I did drive Sarah and Pam down and cheered them on though...

I hurt it while substitute teaching for a PE teacher.  His lesson plan was to play 'Line Soccer', which involved basically jogging.  I run 25-30 miles a week and the teams were uneven...so I played (I play every time I sub for PE)....

Near the end of the game, while jogging (I wasn't touched, sprinting, accelerating, etc.) my right calf felt like I was hit by a baseball.  I first thought my phone fell out of my pocket and hit my calf, but no....the next step hurt...big time.  Honestly, it scared me some...

Spring break came two days later and I took it easy for the first six days.  I hobbled around a bit for those days, but by Wednesday of break, I started running again.  It was slow going...at least a minute per mile slower than I'm used to, probably more.

But for the next two weeks I was back to running 25-30 miles per week, albeit, at a much slower pace...I'm running Grandmas Marathon again this summer so I have a goal, a schedule and a timeline I need to keep...

Which brings us to this past Saturday where I was running the Goldy's 10 mile run.  I made it 5.5 miles through the run (at a faster pace than I had been doing the last two weeks or so) and BOOM my calf seemed to be hit by a baseball again (right in the middle of a bridge over the Mississippi River).  I was done.  I hobbled another 3/4 mile to some buses that could take me to the start line.

I went to Twin Cities Orthopedic Urgent Care the next day.  They took a few X-rays...no stress fracture and the achilles seems to be intact.  It's probably a partially torn calf muscle...

Which means...I get this...

Until at least a followup appointment on April 19....

I've been pretty good at wearing it the last two days.  I don't wear it while driving (it's too wide) or while lifting weights in the morning (too sweaty), but I wear it during school all day (which brings a lot of questions) and most of the time while at home.

Basically the doctor said if I continued with what I was doing, I would completely tear the muscle long before the marathon....

I'm listening...I'll wear it until Tuesday...hopefully not longer....