Baseball Camp

Yesterday, Timmy attended a two-day baseball camp at Cheney Stadium where the Tacoma Rainier players acted as coaches. It was a bit pricey but the overall cost included four tickets to a Rainier baseball game. The baseball game ticket also included a hot dog, chips, and a bottle of water.

I couldn't attend Day 1 of camp but was happy to attend Day 2. Timmy is wearing a yellow San Diego Padre hat...so, look for a yellow hat wearing kid!

Each day, camp ran about 4 hours that included a 30-minute check in/drop off period. Craig stayed the entire time and I did too (when I attended Friday's session). They would spend approximately 30 minutes at each station -- batting cages, bullpen, throwing, and hitting. Timmy enjoyed all of it!

The camp allowed access to certain parts of the stadium that are closed to the public. It was a lot of fun to see Timmy at the camp and he loved being able to enter areas reserved for players/staff/coaches.

At the end of camp, the players that acted as coaches, signed autographs for the kids. They were gracious, polite, and did a great job.

This hitting coach told me that "Your son is a great hitter! Did he tell you that he won the line drive contest?" I was so impressed and happy to hear this! Timmy explained that is how he won a baseball because he won in his age category (kids were divided by their age).

I was impressed with the staff because there was one kid in Timmy's group that was demonstrating disrespectful behavior - showing his middle finger to numerous kids, hitting kids on the back, and intentionally bat flipping when he was told not to. They calmly removed him from the team and had him sit on the sidelines while they contacted his parents. The head coach spent time talking to him about respect and appropriate behavior in a very calm but firm tone. He also asked the kid why he did those things...I was unable to hear his response because the music playing throughout the stadium became louder. His answer does not matter. What matters is how the players and coach handled the situation. Hopefully, his parents can take it from there.

Supporting a child's hobby/dream can be very expensive. Gear, camps, games, collectibles, etc. We are fortunate that we have the ability to provide most of what Timmy needs/wants. We are equally fortunate to have family and friends that support his love of the game too.

Thursday, I was laid off and although the writing was sort of on the wall, it still came as a surprise. Baseball camp, camps in general, are usually a little expensive. We are fortunate that we have one child to try and support his love of baseball. I am surprisingly calm about my job situation - maybe it's because we save for a rainy day but the budget belt will grow a little tighter while I seek part-time employment. I believe that I am calm (which is not a word used to describe me) because of my faith and the support of my family. God is good and will provide. I am actively applying for work but enjoying additional time with Timmy as his summer vacation comes to a close.

Friday night, we watched the Tacoma Rainiers play the Iowa Cubs. 4 tickets were included in the price of the camp and we invited my brother-in-law to join us because he is a HUGE Chicago Cubs fan. The Iowa Cubs is the farm team for the Chicago Cubs. It was fun watching Craig with this brother and son at the game. Cubs won 5-4 and the best part? It was "Paint the Park Purple" night for UW...it brought me great pleasure as a Husky to watch my Coug husband at the game...surrounded by UW fans. After the game, we enjoyed a very nice firework show too.