A couple of our bonus Ws are playing baseball this season, so Tim, Tyler, and I had planned to head down to Medford on Thursday for a couple nights to watch them play. Then Tim got assigned to a new work site, effective Tuesday, and the logistics of the trip fell apart. Super disappointing on the baseball front, especially because Tim loves baseball and had worked with the boys while
they were here over spring break, but also problematic because we'd planned on swapping some beds while we were in town, a project we should have taken care of weeks ago.
We realized we'd need to skip baseball and I'd just blitz down on a day trip with Tyler to take care of beds. Then I got a text Thursday morning that made it possible for Tyler and I to stick around and watch games. Hooray! We headed out a few hours later and I insisted on a road trip picture.
And he required a goofy shot. Of course. Because I've raised my children right. (At least in important things like silly face poses.)
Tyler found a comfy spot under the bleachers to watch part of the first game from that evening.
Michael got some good hits! Seeing him check to make sure we were watching him when he was on the field confirmed that making the trek was worth it. I'd told him before the game that I wanted a picture of Tyler and I with him in uniform, but that it was up to him whether we took it in his yard or at the field. "Which would be cooler?" Ha! We ended up with a field shot after the game.
We headed to the home of some other friends once the game was done and stayed up visiting until midnight. Tyler and Bryant played games, jumped on the trampoline, watched a movie, and had a grand old time. Meanwhile, Nicole and I sat outside and talked the night away. Late night, but totally worth the loss of sleep.
There weren't any games on Friday, so that morning Bryant and Tyler turned the living room into a fortress, had snowball wars, shot Nerf guns, and played Battleship. And Nicole and I talked for a couple more hours. We also saw and visited with the rest of the family over the course of our time there, but the youngest sons and the moms were paired up most of the time.
I'd messaged Dad before we left on our somewhat spontaneous trip to see if he had any free time to get together, so he generously offered to bring lunch and picked
Robert Pfaff Park as our meeting spot on Friday. It's a nice park and we spent a couple hours eating, visiting, and periodically moving our chairs to keep them in the sun. Well, that's what Dad and I did. Tyler ate with us, but then ended up playing with kids on the playground the rest of the time. At one point Dad got up and pushed him on one of the spinning things that I don't know the name for. Because that's what Papa does for his grandkids.
I wanted a group shot before we parted ways. Tyler thought it would be cool to have us line up shortest to tallest and take the picture from the shortest end.
Then I took another one where my shortness doesn't make my face half hidden behind Tyler.
We hadn't seen Dad since we
gave him and Debra a special gift in December, so I'm really glad his schedule was free at the last minute and we got some time with him!
Tim lost his wedding ring when we were
in Medford back in August, which is obviously a huge bummer. It had to have disappeared sometime between getting ready for the day at my sister's house and leaving church later that morning. No luck in either of those places. No luck at the police department when I e-mailed them to see if anyone had turned it in. So after our park time Tyler and I stopped by a business near my sister's church whose parking lot area we walked through last summer to see if anyone happened to have turned it in there. No luck there either. It was a long shot and I didn't expect to find it, but the finality of all obvious options being ruled out was pretty disappointing. It's either still in whatever spot it was lost, or it was found and the person kept or sold it. At least we tried.
The next thing on our agenda was the bed swap project that evening, but first I got to spend a couple hours just visiting with Cindy before we got to work. Time with her is always a treat! And evidently some sort of Star Wars trampoline play was also part of the plan.
The bed stuff ended up taking longer than I (unrealistically) expected, so we worked, ate, and called it a night once most of the stuff was done. My pizza was happy about the situation.
We headed back to our other friends' house, visited for a while, then hit the sack earlier than the previous night. Bryant and Tyler were able to squeeze in a little time for snowball wars before we left Saturday morning.
I told Nicole I needed a picture with her, even though she was in yard work mode and I was looking like a wet dog fresh out of the shower.
Baseball was the primary purpose of our trip, and beds secondary, but it turns out I didn't know how much I needed time with Nicole. We rarely see each other, but our conversations usually turn to things of substance pretty quickly. God. Marriage. Parenting. Other life stuff. She always encourages and challenges me in one area or another (or multiple areas) and I really value that.
We had a little time before the next baseball game, so we finished up the bed swap project. Now Devry and Michael have a bunk bed that will make better use of their space, and Devon and Tyler have beds with that allow my lanky almost 17 year old to stretch out without hitting a headboard or footboard. It's a win for all the boys.
Project completed, we headed out for more baseball. As we walked from the parking lot to the field, I spotted my brother-in-law's sister and her husband, so I ran over for a quick hello. When they passed through later I ran Tyler over so he could meet his Uncle Josh's sister and her family. Random, but fun to see them.
I'd told Devry ahead of time that I wanted a picture, so he came up to me after his team warmed up and reminded me we hadn't taken it yet. Done! He's visibly improved in a couple areas since we all played together over spring break, and it was cool to see him field some balls and steal a base for the first time.
Thankfully, I was able to record some hits and runs in each of the boys' games to share with Tim. Not as good as him being there in person, of course, but I'm so glad at least some Ws got to watch these two bonus Ws do their thing.
One final shot of me with my road trip buddy
We'd only planned on watching the first of Devry's two games, but decided after it wrapped up to stay for the second. Once he was all done playing, Shon got food for all the ravenous people and everyone went back to their own homes. The trip didn't go the way we wanted it to with Tim missing, but it was still good in multiple ways and I'm glad it worked out.
