Blood, Sweat and Tears!

Who knew watching 7 and 8 year olds playing baseball could be such an emotional roller coaster? It was one of the most exciting weekends ever since I started my job as "Dad" and I was reminded of just how much things like a baseball game can mean to a child!  We had to be at the tournament Saturday morning by 8:45 a.m. and it's just under an hour drive from our house so we had to leave early but got there in plenty of time. Right before we left the house, we saw on the weather that we had a heat index warning. Yuck! Here's Drew, all ready to go! His coach bought them all these cool pawprint eyeblack stickers to wear.

Wasn't long before the Bulldogs took over the park! It's like a big community party! All the kids play together and the little one's bounce from tent to tent eating and playing.

My big guy hanging out in the dugout waiting for the 1st game to start! Gosh I can't believe how big he looks in his uniform. Seems like yesterday he was hitting off the tee and running to 3rd base first. He was so cute to watch when he was smaller! He never knew where to run when he hit the ball! Sometimes his coach would run with him just so he would actually run the bases. lol

Batter's up!

We lost the first game 0-7. Ouch. But we made it up by winning the next 2 games to make it back the next day for Semi-Finals!

In between games we had a picnic lunch!  We packed a couple coolers full of food and so did Grandma and Grandpa so we had enough for a feast!

And of course here I am, right in the middle of it all!

Day 2! Ready to rock and roll but boy was it ever hot! We did our best to try to keep the boys in the shade when they weren't on the field!

I love seeing a group of boys who just love to play ball! Andrew was smiling ear to ear the whole day.

The last game we played was awesome. Our boys played like they had been playing together for years!  We kept the lead the entire game. It came down to the last out, the last inning, the last batter and BAM! It ended as fast as it started. We lost by 1 run. Talk about heartbreak!  Our boys fought so hard and put 110% effort into it and lost it all. Despite all of the cheers and words of encouragement from all of the fans, the heartbreak was so evident by the hung heads and the tears. It broke my heart for them!  I couldn't wait to get out of there so I could wrap my arm around Drew and tell him how much I loved him and how proud I was of him. He is so soft hearted and just cried and cried on the way home. It made me wonder if we don't put too much pressure on them at such a young age. He loves the game, don't get me wrong. He loves playing baseball more than anything. I just hated to see him so disappointed. Of course, we dried those tears right up with a stop for ice cream!

What a weekend!  And to think, we get to do it all over again in a couple weeks!

Gooooooooooo Bulldogs!