A Fun Trip to Iowa
This says it all...what a fun trip to Iowa!
We left Wednesday evening, July 8, to head to Iowa so Gracie could guest play with the Stealth '08 team she had gone to Oklahoma with. We had to wait until her league games were done and make it for an 8am game in Des Moines the following morning. The team was 4-0 in pool play and made it to the "Gold" (top) bracket. There were 52 teams entered in the tournament and 18 in that particular bracket. They lost the first game in bracket play, but came back on Saturday morning, winning 2 more games before losing to a really good team out of the Chicago area. The team she played for ended up tying for 9th, which is not bad. There were teams from at least 7 different states competing in this tournament.
Not only did we get to see lots of family and play a lot of softball, Gracie had her first homerun on Saturday morning, followed by another homerun in the second game of the day. Both over the fence. I recorded neither of them. :(
Gracie's first homerun in the 8am game Saturday July 11.
She hit the scoreboard in left field. I actually thought it hit the fence, but it was out. I was standing behind home plate with my sister watching, and I had to look at her to make sure that it had really just happened. This has been a goal for Gracie and I am so proud of her for achieving it. I think this was unexpected and she even commented about how she didn't know how she was able to do that. However, I think she was still not satisfied at the end of the day because her team came up short in the tournament.
And then she did it again, two hours later.
Gracie rounding third, not sprinting. The smile says it all.
Again, I did not record this because I actually thought, there is probably no way that she's going to do that again on the same day. I guess she proved me wrong. I did take a picture, though. Nick was recording it, but he was chilling under a tree quite a ways back. So you don't really get the full effect. Her second one went pretty far over the fence.
I think the craziest part of it is that she was guest playing with a team that she doesn't usually play for. She has come pretty close with her Galaxy team and has hit the fence a couple times.
Teammates waiting at home plate to congratulate her.
Warming up on the infield
More warmups
Playing in the dirt at shortstop
More time at shortstop
She only played one game in this position. She caught the rest of the time.
Owen biding his time. He's still such a trooper.
However, there are always friends to play with and he had plenty of family to see at this particular tournament.
Gracie catching
Fortunately one of the mom's on this team takes lots of pictures and posts them on their facebook page. She has a way better camera than I have, and obviously is much better at using it.
Another out at home. There were at least 2 plays that their center fielder threw out a girl at home.
Gracie chatting with the pitcher
Sliding into 2nd base.
Again, much better photographs than what I usually get.
Time with family!!!
Part of the reason we agreed to go to this tournament is because we can also see a lot of family while we're in Iowa. I'm so glad that so many people were able to come watch Gracie play. It was such a great couple of days! We were able to stay with Josh and Julie for a couple nights and then went and stayed with my sister the last night we were there.
Owen spending some time with Charleigh
Spending some time with Grandma Deb
More Grandma time
Owen stole Sawyer's Paw Patrol towel. Silly kid.
More time at the ballpark with family
Sawyer, Clara, and Owen
My Aunt Mary brought Clara to the game on Friday morning to see Gracie play. Sawyer and Clara had fun while we watched.
Josh giving Sawyer and Kaia a ride in the wagon.
Here's Nick, doing what he does best. ;)
Oh, he does help out. We have to make sure Gracie doesn't get sun burnt.
Gracie with a couple of her teammates in the hammock.
Sawyer loved all of the "big" girls!
It was also Sawyer's birthday on Saturday, so she got to celebrate with a lot of family!
Gracie and Kaia!
Owen gets to play, too!
I don't have pics from Owen's game this week, but his season has ended. He did a league through Diamond Council in Columbia and his team only lost one game! They were pretty entertaining to watch. Owen got to play three different positions in his last game, but I think his favorite this year was pitcher. I was a little surprised at this, but he seemed pretty happy on the mound. I will post a couple more pictures in my next update. He has football evaluations next and starts practices the first week in August! That is going to be here so soon!
We are so happy that he will be able to play football. There was a waiting list this year and we weren't sure if they would be able to have enough teams due to Corona restrictions. Thankfully we got an email earlier this week that he will be able to play!
Owen catching again.
Rounding 3rd base
Gracie and Owen have done their two-week in school session, and now they have packets/online work to complete for the next two weeks. Owen seemed to enjoy being back in school and socializing with some classmates, but Gracie had very few kids in her class, so I think it was not as enjoyable for her. She did get to go fishing for her field trip and caught two fish! I'll show those pics in the next post.
August will be here before we know it!
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