Two strikes

Zach has been working toward his Bear rank in the Cub Scout program.  We discovered recently that he had nearly achieved his goal!  The only big thing that remained was attending a sporting event, so for the last few weeks we have been looking for a local game that fit our requirements for convenience, price, and good weather.  Because the last Pack Meeting of the school year is coming up soon (and we'd love for Zach to make his rank before the scouts' summer hiatus), we have a looming deadline.  We decided that a high school JV baseball game would be perfect.  Garry came home early on Friday and I took Zach and Tyler to the game.


We arrived at 4:10, expecting the game to be underway.  Not so.  Apparently the home team forgot to arrange for umpires!  By 4:20, someone announced that umpires were on their way and the game would begin in about 20 minutes.  I was glad I had thought to bring reading material.  Zach and Tyler had other plans.  They ran up and rolled down this hill about a hundred times.  They climbed trees and threw their shoes at each other like footballs.  The cool afternoon breeze was perfectly lovely.

By 4:55, there were still no umpires.  Pretty crazy!  Just after we arrived, I ran into a friend whose daughter was warming up for a 5:00 softball game.  I decided that the boys and I would go watch the softball game instead!  So we walked across campus to the other field.  Although that field had two umpires, only one of the teams had shown up!  Oh brother!  So we chatted with our friends for a bit and then trudged up a big hill to the JV field.  The umpires had just arrived.  Finally, at 5:15, the baseball game began.

Zach and Ty were pretty restless, but they became more engaged in the game as I helped them understand what was going on.  It wasn't long before they could tell the difference between a ball and a strike, a pop fly and a foul ball.  We had chosen to sit with fans of the high school they will eventually attend, but we picked the losing team!  I still had a great time.  I had to laugh at the place that Zach and Ty chose to sit...and the condition of Tyler's knees.

We had to be home by 6:15 so Garry could attend his monthly game night, but we managed to see two innings of play.  Hopefully that seals Zach's Bear rank.  It was an enjoyable and educational experience!