The game of baseball has been a wonderful game that our family has enjoyed learning more about and watching for some time now. Instead of Bart going with Austin to the Reds game I got the chance to spend some mom and son time with him last week. Our friends have awesome seats, a few rows behind the visitors dug out. We had a great time. Austin keeps me informed about each player, how they've been hitting and little tid bits of information that I'm not up on. Although the Reds aren't playing well this year, it's still fun to go to the ballpark and experience the game up close.
Fathers' Day at the baseball park. The Flames hosted their Annual Summer Classic Tournament this past weekend at WCBO. One of the teams mom took a picture of each boy, enlarged the picture, had the boys autograph it, put it in a frame, and the boys gave it to their dad on the field Sunday. 
The Flames went undefeated, knocking off some amazing out of town competition (Pittsburg, Indiana, and Georgia) and took home the trophy. In the championship game, Tyler Birch almost threw a perfect game. Unfortunately it was blown in the last inning... but we still run-ruled them in the 5th and won. We are so blessed to have not only talented boys, but some really great kids. There are no bad attitudes, no whining, and no problems. They play as a team and love the game of baseball. I attribute that attitude to the coaching staff. They are super !I know people think we're crazy to let Austin play so much ball. But that's what he excels in and loves. And it's not all we do. We still manage to make the Sunday 9 am church service (even if Austin is in his uniform sometimes). We go to the park, take bike rides and of course go swimming.
We've never pushed Austin into baseball, nor do we think or believe that because he's playing so well now that someday he'll be in the big leagues. We know the odds are not in our favor. We're just thinking College scholarship. (if he's still into baseball then).
Baseball has shown Austin some great life lessons. He's learned how to win and lose respectfully and to handle situations on his own with coaches. As a family we've traveled to about 9 different states and met some incredible families. As for Amber, well, she's played basketball, and softball, took horseback riding lessons and gymnastics. She decided on her own to not play this summer. She wants to try soccer in the fall.
