take me out to the ballpark...

....take me out to the game!!

(disclaimer - obnoxious, long post with LOTS of pics!.... i'm warning you!)

grant's FIRST t-ball game!!!

i honestly can not believe my baby boy is big enough to play ball....melt . my . heart!...

the traditional family pics before the game! grammy & my sister and her family made it up for the game...my nephew payton had his own tournament in birmingham this weekend! it was a saturday FULL of ball games...audrey had her first game too!...but that will be a post of it's own :)

and can i just say that i'm not sure if i am ready for all this!!....but ready or not, i better hold on because this spring is going to be a wild ride...most saturdays the kid's games will be at almost the same time & across town from each other....wow, my preview for the next 10 years!

here he is....ready to play ball!!

...a boy were we lucky to get all our games in saturday...we battled on/off thunderstorms all day....

our boys!!...and we were quite glad payton was there!! more on that later :)

ummm, how stinkin' cute are these three???

the best part of playing ball is playing with friends!!

audrey, bella & the two cuties above's big sister!!

these boys were ready to play ball!!

...but as you can see from the gentleman is the background we had to wait a bit....really, making twelve 4 year olds wait almost an hour to play ball!?!?....needless to say the sandlot field finally got ready and the boys were beyond ready to play...

my little baller...ready to bat!!

a few words from coach...

..and yes, brett is helping when needed with grant's team but is already committed to head coaching audrey's team (thank goodness) so we for once didn't over commit!

way to go grant!!

i mean, look at his face!!!

he took this ball playing very seriously.... LOVE IT!

umm, cutie on second....you better move, grant's coming!!

that's my boy!!

moving on to third...

wouldn't you just love to know the conversation going on here...

and he's off again!!.....i think the tongue makes him run faster...lol!!

time for a little fielding...as only 4 year olds can do!....so serious again....by the way, this gets us into a little *trouble* later...

one more time to bat and a wave for mom!!

back into the field and the trouble begins....

see grant wanted the ball.

and apparently all his friends kept getting the ball.

yup, that's a problem.

so what does he do??

goes to get the ball, however he can...yup, tackling his friends to get said ball...

.ugh.

well, grant also does love being yelled at lovingly told that he can NOT tackle, run over, steal from his friends to get the ball...

"but daddy, i WANT the ball! i told them NOT to touch the ball! it was MY ball!"

"it's ok son...just go out there, run your fastest and be the first to the ball. but do NOT take the ball from your friends!"

...and the ever present coach's pat on the butt to send him on his way...

yeah, that pep talk didn't work so well...we needed reinforcements...

pay-pay to the rescue (yes, he will be 30 and we will still call my nephew pay-pay)!

sometimes a little coaxing from our most awed cousin helps more than daddy!

now he's back in the game :)

it was an adorable game and the kids, generally, had a great time....though some held a grudge a moment longer than others...

but there is ONE thing that will make everything better.....after the game snack!!

and i must say, grant talked about that game all day saturday and sunday....still steaming over the fact that his friends got the ball and he didn't....whew, at least we know he has a competitive streak in him - a mile long!!...we tried explaining, we tried showing but all in all until he gets back on that field next saturday & gets that blasted ball in his hand it's really not gonna matter....oh the joys of boys!!

more posts to come...audrey & payton's games...but i'll give ya a little time to recover from this one :)