Pooped!

Tired Boy-Tired Dog...

It looks likes they need a vacation from the vacation.

We always drop Coco off in Cleveland at Nana & Papa's house before we fly to Florida on Spring Break. This is a picture of Coco and MacDaddy on the car ride back to Toronto (Oakville) from Cleveland.

First Day on the Field

A-mac, MacDaddy and I snuck out onto a local field for the first live outdoor bp (batting practice) of the season. It is high 50's with no wind. Everyone had some rust. I threw about 150 pitches and am sure I will feel it tomorrow.

Laughter - Disclosure Opportunity

OK - I want to use this forum to clear my conscience and provide a little disclosure. On average, 3 to 4 times a week I will go into the bathroom after the kids (MacDaddy and Lil' Lefty) have obviously taken a bath/shower and tell them "Hurry Up!! It's time to take a bath"... They giggle and laugh, and complain that I know they have already taken a bath... I play dumb and keep telling them they need to "take a bath". For now, it is guaranteed laughter... probably at my expense... laughter is laughter at any cost... and MacDaddy usually laughs the loudest as I assume because he is the youngest... now for the disclosure... I know that they have already taken a bath and only do the same routine because it is an easy way for us to laugh together...

*Pictures from 2005

Sister - Sister

It has always been my hope that our kids are able to be each other's Best Friend. It is important to me that our family supports each other's activities.

Lil Lefty and A-Mac are together posing for their own camera at the Baltimore Orioles game in Ft. Lauderdale.

Life's a BEACH!

Orioles Spring Training Game in Ft. Lauderdale

First off, the girl in the white hat is Lil' Lefty. She made her first spring training game appearance the last day of Spring Break. MacMom was yet to step foot in a ballpark. Her tan is better than mine.

We had two good seats at Ft. Lauderdale Stadium to watch the Mets play the Orioles. I let Lil Lefty sit with A-mac while MacDaddy and I sat several rows back.

Lil Lefty and A-mac sit in the "good seats". Look for A-mac's pink shirt and Lil Lefty's white hat. There were very few kids at the game. Lot's of older people.

This picture is from the ramp showing where A-mac was trying to get autographs. She is in the pink shirt.

Along with the tickets the day cost me four hot dogs ($4 each), three pretzels ($3.50 each), three large lemonades ($5 each), two ice creams in hats ($5 each), one pizza ($6), two snow cones ($4 each), a hamburger ($6) a diet coke ($5) and a cotton candy ($4).

A day at the ballpark with my kids - "PRICELESS"

Impact of Recession on Spring Training Baseball

It appears to me that the biggest impact the Recession has had spring training baseball is the decrease in autographs. I suspect collusion among the players who are hoping to increase the value of limited autographs that will appear on Ebay.

We went to 4 spring training games and one World Baseball Classic game. We tried to get autographs at each game ,and had seats in prime autograph locations. We got NONE... Compared with a dozen, or so, last year....

New York Mets in Port St. Lucie

We drove 90 miles to Port St. Lucie to see the New York Mets play the Houston Astros. We had great seats to get autographs. I saw no Mets players signing autographs from 1 1/2 before the game to the end of the game. Both MacDaddy and A-mac got baseballs.

Former Milwaukee Brewer great Cecil Copper is the manager of the Houston Astros.

All tool - All Star Jose Reyes had two line drive doubles before being removed in the 4th inning. I especially liked the way it looked like he was having fun during his warm-ups.

See video below

Water, Water Everywhere, nor any Drop to Drink

It rained all day yesterday. We went to the beach in late afternoon and the kids took advantage of the "angry" ocean waves. If we lived close to the water, I am sure A-mac would be a surfer... and probably Lil Lefty too. They both "hung 10" and caught some gnarly waves... I stood out in the waist high water to lend a helping hand if needed.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

While walking to the beach we noticed "Patty the Manatee" deck out in her "green". We paused to take a photo since it was St. Patrick's Day. All three kids were in the picture until I asked A-mac to move over and she accidentally hit MacDaddy in the elbow with the metal part of the chair. He got mad and left my picture. We are guessing "Patty the Manatee" will soon become "Peter the Rabbit" for Easter.

Ice Hockey in South Florida - Are You Crazy!!!

MacDaddy and I got dropped off by the girls at the Bank Atlantic Center while the girls went across the street to Sawgrass Mills Mall.














That's me in the white sweatshirt taking our picture with my extended arm. (I just realized where MacDaddy gets his smile :-) )















NHL hockey is South Florida is a little different than in Hockey Crazy Canada. We paid less than 1/2 face price for two tickets three rows up and slightly over from the blue line.

The arena was 80-85% full at game time.

There were plenty of Alex Ovechkin (Washington Capitals #8) sightings throughout the game.











After the game was over we walked across the street to the girls waiting for us after their shopping fun.

Before you Drink it All UP...

Lil' Lefty says...."Put the Lime in the Coconut!"

Shhh!!! Everyone is Still Sleeping...

I have always been a morning person. The family is still sleeping. I snuck out and walked around the corner to the beach. The house with the "Texas Garbage Can" is where we are staying.

I walked down one house and then between houses to get to the beach

.

Looking down the beach toward Ft. Lauderdale Beach (out of picture range)

I prefer the sunrise over sunset. MacDaddy just woke up... busy day ahead...

Run Forrest Run !!!

Tonight, we ate at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co on the beach in Ft. Lauderdale. We might have been
too early for the "party crowd" or Spring Break has slowed down in
Ft. Lauderdale.






Run Forrest Run!!


R U a Forrest Fan like A-mac?

1. Where did Forrest meet Bubba?

2. What did Forrest's mom say life was like?

3. Where did Forrest get shot?

4. Where did Forrest meet John Lennon?

Spring Training - Marlins

A-mac, MacDaddy and I drove an hour to Jupiter, Florida to see the Florida Marlins play the Washington Nationals. Even though we were in Jupiter we didn't see any obvious aliens. It took us over two hours to drive back to Ft. Lauderdale because of an accident on I95. Lil Lefty and MacMom stayed on our home planet and went to the beach.

World Baseball Classic - Miami, 2009

A-mac, MacDaddy and I went to see the USA play the Nederlands (their spelling) in a round 2 game of the 2009 World Baseball Classic. I suspect there were 5,000 people at the game. The USA won easily.

It was nice to hear the USA National Anthem played before the game and the occasional "U S A" chant from the sparce crowd. I miss the USA patiortism while we live in Canada and it makes me think more about the great opportunities that the USA provides. They had sold out of all the standard size fitted USA hats.

Inside Dolphin Stadium

A-mac, MacDaddy and I went to a World Baseball Classic game at Miami Dolphin Stadium where the Florida Marlins play.

A-mac can say that she has hit inside Dolphin Stadium.

Spring Break 2009, Ft Lauderdale - We arrive!!!

We arrived at our "vacation home" yesterday afternoon around 5pm.

It was a long day of travel from Cleveland. We rented a convertible and I am looking forward to driving around the beach.

MacDaddy likes the convertible, and he has never seen the Dukes of Hazard.

Kids swimming in the pool.

I woke up early to see the sunrise at the beach. I saw lots of people walking their dogs but no sun... I have 6 more days to try....

She Shoots and She Scores

A-mac played girls varsity basketball for her school this year. No slam dunks! Balls soared and scored and fans roared in the stands at every game. The St. Joan of Arc Knights have finished their regular season and have played in 2 tournaments...earning a Bronze at the Georgetown Tournament. Playoffs will commence after Spring Break.She enjoyed playing and did well. Mind you she hasn't played the game in over 5 years. She did have the advantage of her height. In one of her last games, her teammates and coach nicknamed her Air Jordan because she made almost all the baskets which accounted for the team score. She was on fire!

Now, if only she'd wear those contacts we bought her?

Friday Night Pitching/Catching Practice

Lil' Lefty spends 1.5 hours at pitching practice every Friday night. Then, immediately following pitching... another 1.5 hours of catching practice. Big D is there too!

Tryout

We take a lot of pictures. Our most used "pocket" camera broke a few months ago. With spring break and outdoor ball season around the corner, we needed a replacement. I have been looking at cameras, and finally chose a Panasonic DMC-TZ5. Not a lot of choice in Canada. Funny, I asked for a lot of advice and ended up buying a camera no one but the Best Buy salesperson recommended. At MacDaddy's baseball practice today, I was fooling around with the settings. I am fortunate to be surrounded with good looking subjects for my pictures.