Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Love
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
First Days of School
Yes, I said first days because we have had two first day of school here so far. Yesterday Tristan and Colin started 7th and 8th grade.
Colin was a bit nervous, excited and very tired. The official first day of school was Monday the 10th which is only a 2 1/2 hour day. However, a few weeks ago Colin was invited to go on a day trip to Worlds of Fun in Kansas City with a friend. So we decided to make Tuesday the 11th our first day of school and I am so happy we did. Colin had a great time with his friend and I got to keep Tristan one more day.
Colin was a bit nervous, excited and very tired. The official first day of school was Monday the 10th which is only a 2 1/2 hour day. However, a few weeks ago Colin was invited to go on a day trip to Worlds of Fun in Kansas City with a friend. So we decided to make Tuesday the 11th our first day of school and I am so happy we did. Colin had a great time with his friend and I got to keep Tristan one more day.
Tristan 8th Grade
Colin 7th Grade
Due to Colin getting home near midnight and him being very tired he had asked for a ride to school the first day rather than riding bikes. Which was actually quite fun to see the two of them walking home together. They haven't walked home together since kindergarten and first grade. However, they were not all that excited to see me snapping pictures as they rounded the corner:)
Day two, riding bikes and racing off to school.
Mr. Liam is now in 3rd grade! He is very excited to start the new year.
He was a bit nervous last night as he did not sleep well. It took a long time for him to fall asleep then he was up a few times throughout the night. Liam loves school but this is his first year in a portable and his first and only year of being the only Shockey at his school. He is so little and so big at the same time. Enjoy third grade Liam!
Liam after his first day of third grade. "I had a great first day!"'
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Summer 2015 Part One Baseball
In just a few short hours the three big boys will already begin another year of school. So I figured it is about time I share a little about what we have been up to lately.
June had a lot of baseball. This season we had three boys and seven teams by the end of the season. First, Liam and Colin started skills teams in February. For Liam he had a practice every Sunday through the end of March and two games on the last day. Colin's skills was a bit more in depth. He also had a practice every Sunday in February and March. His team then had fifteen games throughout April and May with a big tournament over Memorial weekend.
Second we had the regular season where Tristan, Colin and Liam all had about 20 games scheduled with a variety of practices mixed in. This year was Tristan's first year in the Pony league which is 13 and 14 year old kids. He had a great year. It is often challenging to start with all new teammates but Tristan is pretty easy going so he did very well and worked hard to run fast, hit hard and focused on being a great catcher. The pony league had very few players this year, barley enough to make up his team so rather than playing memorial and hillside teams only he played teams from all over the area. He had games in Carter Lake, Blair, and Ralston. It was a little crazy going all over for games however, they were all still pretty close. Some leagues in the area play hundreds of miles away. I'm so happy we don't have to do that.
Colin was on TCU horned frogs team that included most of his skills team and the same coaches. Which was pretty much like having double games and practices just a different color shirt for the different teams. Colin's TCU team won the league championship! He really became a great pitcher this year. His coaches taught him how to be a strong closer pitcher coming in mid game to close the game with a hard throwing strong pitcher. He did amazing in this position and many games he would come in and pitch so well that no one would get on base. We cannot wait to see how he develops more as he gets stronger. (Omaha hosts the College World Series and the league we play in names their teams after the college teams that will potentially be playing. Which is really awesome especially when the teams namesake makes it to the CWS and the kids get to meet them)
Liam was in the farm league this year and did amazing. He is so natural in the way he plays and has learned a lot "watching" his brothers games over the years. You think most of the time he was just playing around and not at all paying attention but watching him play now shows he was really watching. He is a really good all around player, He loves first base, pitching and catching but happily plays any postilion he is asked by his coach. Liam's coach was really one of our all time favorites:) Daddy was his coach, which he loved.
Lastly, both Colin and Liam were asked to join the All Stars for their leagues. All Stars is an after season tournament where they play four or more games. The teams are made up of the top three or four players nominated by each coach creating two to three teams per level. Unfortunately, there were not enough players in Tristan's league to have All Stars this year. Both Liam and Colin's teams did very well.
Colin's was a great pitcher for his teams all year and continued into the All Star season. He also made some great plays in the pitching position where he'd quickly react to a hit snag the ball and get it to the first baseman. He did this many times during the games. He also had an amazing catch one game in right field. Colin has really progressed and worked very hard this year to become a great player. He was so proud when he'd be up to bat and the outfielders would back up in anticipation for a big hit.
The very last game for us was a fun one. It was Liam's final All Star game and the league's umpires did not show up so Tristan was asked to be the home plate umpire. Here Liam was the catcher and Tristan as the umpire.
As the big boys played their games the little guys ran around the many ballparks playing with a variety of toys and many other siblings of players as well as enjoying a snack or two. We had a few really cold or late games the little guys were able to stay home with Tristan. However, for the most part they really like to go to games.
We lucked out this year with the weather. We had many cold games and just a few crazy hot games but for the most part we had great baseball weather. It's always bittersweet when the season comes to an end. I love baseball (suppose that's a really good thing).We spend so much time getting ready for games, watching and playing games that once it ends there is a little bit of what shall we do now. Of course there is plenty to keep us busy.
June had a lot of baseball. This season we had three boys and seven teams by the end of the season. First, Liam and Colin started skills teams in February. For Liam he had a practice every Sunday through the end of March and two games on the last day. Colin's skills was a bit more in depth. He also had a practice every Sunday in February and March. His team then had fifteen games throughout April and May with a big tournament over Memorial weekend.
Colin Skills
Liam Skills
Second we had the regular season where Tristan, Colin and Liam all had about 20 games scheduled with a variety of practices mixed in. This year was Tristan's first year in the Pony league which is 13 and 14 year old kids. He had a great year. It is often challenging to start with all new teammates but Tristan is pretty easy going so he did very well and worked hard to run fast, hit hard and focused on being a great catcher. The pony league had very few players this year, barley enough to make up his team so rather than playing memorial and hillside teams only he played teams from all over the area. He had games in Carter Lake, Blair, and Ralston. It was a little crazy going all over for games however, they were all still pretty close. Some leagues in the area play hundreds of miles away. I'm so happy we don't have to do that.
Colin was on TCU horned frogs team that included most of his skills team and the same coaches. Which was pretty much like having double games and practices just a different color shirt for the different teams. Colin's TCU team won the league championship! He really became a great pitcher this year. His coaches taught him how to be a strong closer pitcher coming in mid game to close the game with a hard throwing strong pitcher. He did amazing in this position and many games he would come in and pitch so well that no one would get on base. We cannot wait to see how he develops more as he gets stronger. (Omaha hosts the College World Series and the league we play in names their teams after the college teams that will potentially be playing. Which is really awesome especially when the teams namesake makes it to the CWS and the kids get to meet them)
Colin TCU
Colin with his championship medal!
Liam was in the farm league this year and did amazing. He is so natural in the way he plays and has learned a lot "watching" his brothers games over the years. You think most of the time he was just playing around and not at all paying attention but watching him play now shows he was really watching. He is a really good all around player, He loves first base, pitching and catching but happily plays any postilion he is asked by his coach. Liam's coach was really one of our all time favorites:) Daddy was his coach, which he loved.
Liam Vanderbilt Team
Liam calling out to the team how many outs there are
Coach Daddy pitching and encouraging his players
Liam's All Stars team
Colin's was a great pitcher for his teams all year and continued into the All Star season. He also made some great plays in the pitching position where he'd quickly react to a hit snag the ball and get it to the first baseman. He did this many times during the games. He also had an amazing catch one game in right field. Colin has really progressed and worked very hard this year to become a great player. He was so proud when he'd be up to bat and the outfielders would back up in anticipation for a big hit.
Colin's All Star team
The very last game for us was a fun one. It was Liam's final All Star game and the league's umpires did not show up so Tristan was asked to be the home plate umpire. Here Liam was the catcher and Tristan as the umpire.
As the big boys played their games the little guys ran around the many ballparks playing with a variety of toys and many other siblings of players as well as enjoying a snack or two. We had a few really cold or late games the little guys were able to stay home with Tristan. However, for the most part they really like to go to games.
One of Grayson's favorite things to do was climb the fences.
You never know when Superman and Batman may show up to watch a game.
We lucked out this year with the weather. We had many cold games and just a few crazy hot games but for the most part we had great baseball weather. It's always bittersweet when the season comes to an end. I love baseball (suppose that's a really good thing).We spend so much time getting ready for games, watching and playing games that once it ends there is a little bit of what shall we do now. Of course there is plenty to keep us busy.
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