All Star Weekend (red 12 - blue 10)

Making the play at third base (above and below).

Making the play at outfield (above and below).

Victory Grin.






Spectators:

An unusual shot of Coach Hawkins in the bleachers instead of on the field. It was hard for him.Pappa and Mamma Hawkins.Siobhan and Sekou.

Give Me Liberty

Taxi from the Empire State Building to Battery Park.

Ferry from Battery Park to Liberty Island.

The West Coast Hawkins and Miss Liberty.

An uncommon view.

I Would Like To Introduce...

Lily Pearl

The newest member of the Hawkins pet extravaganza

has light white/grey fur with silver grey points,

big blue eyes, lovely curls,

and a very impressive ear span.

Mom's Day Surprise

Looky, Looky what I got for Mother's Day! What a surprise! What a delight! What a fabulous way to show they care!

Now I just have to figure out how to use it, so I can start taking pictures WITH it instead OF it!

The Last Tulip of Spring 09

I snipped a tulip last weekend and brought it into the house. Lucky for it, because with all of the rain that we had this week all of the other outdoor tulips took quite a beating. Most of them have only a couple of petals remaining.

So, the one in the house is the last tulip standing. And its now opened so wide, I'm sure it won't last much longer. The ruffled petals and intense colors are so pretty, I just had to take a few pictures.

Blue Claws vs Sidewinders (lost 7-15)

Finally, we had the full roster show up. But rather than help us, it seemed to hurt us. The team didn't really have much team energy today and the guys (and girl) slogged their way through 6 innings in three hours. Maybe it was the rainy week. Who knows. It was something, because they did not display their usual fiestiness.
Henry's performance today was also less than spectacular. He had one triple (yeah!), one pop up (caught!) and one strike out (boo!).
He played pitcher, but didn't really get into a good groove, so coach Hawkins pulled him halfway through the inning. Henry didm't seem to mind.

And he played catcher, keeping great control of the ball and bossing the pitcher around every chance he got (this might just be 'his' position)!

Henry pitching.

Henry catching.

Henry striking out.

The Big Showwwwwwwwww

This week, Dwight emcee'd a talent show at Saint Mary's High School in Rutherford, NJ. Our neighbor, Glynnis, is a teacher there and she organized the show as a fundraiser for an organization called charity:water. (http://www.charitywater.org/)

In chatting with Dwight around the neighborhood, Glynnis recognized that Dwight is a superior talker, so she asked him to host the show.
The kids and I had front row seats and we were all so proud of him. He was professional, handsome, and just the right amount of silly.

Sekou and Mohamed

Sekou and Mohamed came out to the game today. I haven't posted their photos in awhile. They're both getting so big. Sekou is much taller than Siobhan now and Mohamed isn't far behind. They're such nice boys. We're all really looking forward to some beach trips together this summer.

Blue Claws vs The Lookouts

They won! They won! They won! Final score was 12-10.

Dwight's new strategy is to have a new pitcher every inning...he feels they'll be better prepared for the playoffs if they have more experienced pitching. So today, some kids who haven't pitched before were up on the mound. It was a long game of full pitch counts...two hours = four innings.
Anyway, our team found themselves at the bottom of the fourth inning with the score 12-9 and bases loaded. After a walk-in run, Dwight pulled the pitcher and brought in a kid who had pitched the first inning. The ump said that wasn't allowed, so Dwight put Henry on the mound. Henry threw a couple of balls, then the batter popped one up. Liam, who was playing 2nd base, caught the pop-up and tagged a runner at 2nd. A perfect double play. The next batter hit a line drive to first and was out. Dwight always gives a game ball to the player of the week. This week, Liam got the game ball.
Of course I took a few photos:
Henry at 3rd base. He had two triples and a single. As much as I love watching Henry play ball, I double-triple-quadruple love seeing Dwight and Henry together in the game. What a treasure that the two of them are able to share these experiences on the field.

The final play. Henry is celebrating on the mound as the first baseman touches the plate.

My little boy and my big boy--post game pride.