The bird must die!!!

The Pirates are on a 4 game losing streak. Clearly something had to be done. This calls for a sacrifice!

Parrot Pete, the team mascot, was brought to tonight's practice. Coach Mike had the boys sit in a sacred circle.



The bird was passed around so the boys could say their final good-byes.



Coach brought out a bowl to make the sacred potion. Ingredients included the blood of a chicken, ash, gun powder, herbs, sea salt, and various other ingredients. (it looked like he was making a bloody mary) He then dipped his finger in the potion and made a cross on the boys' bats.

He also rubbed the potion under each boys' eyes.

The Coach then drank the remaining potion (blech!!!).

A little lighter fluid and a match...


See you Pete the Parrot!

Coach read a poem.


A little dancing along with some whooping and hollering...



They finished with the universal "passing the bad mojo on" sign.


Go Pirates!!

(No actual animals were harmed in the making of this blog post)

Two down, two to go...

Sunday was Joey's First Communion. It was an absolutely beautiful day, and we were so excited to have Grandma Liz in town for the big event.

Nani also joined us at Mass. Joey looked so handsome in his new clothes. I fell in love with the tie when I saw it at Nordstroms. First of all it is a zip tie, which was so easy to put on and looks awesome. Secondly, was the pattern. It has little baseball players on it! Love it!

Joey presented the gifts with Sophia, who we know very well from school, sports, etc... They looked adorable together. Vinnie kept asking if she was getting married, and if she wasn't why was she wearing wedding clothes?

Joey did great, and much to my relief didn't gag (he gags and throws up very easily).

Here is Joey's class. We belong to a small and very cozy parish. Father Larry spoke to each of the kids during the homily. I really love this church for that. (Of course the down side is, Father Larry also knows when you do not show up for Mass!)


Here is the banner that Joey and I worked on. (2 down, 2 more to go...)

Since we have a niece who is receiving her first communion this coming up weekend, we are having a big combined party then. Instead we went out to a nice lunch in Los Gatos.


The weather was so nice, that the kids decided to hit the pool after lunch. I guess this counts as the first official swim of the season!

Zachary
Joey
Vinnie
Christopher

YES!!

Today was Zachary's day!

Batting has been a challenge for him this season. He is the youngest and smallest on the team. The pitching is much faster this season, and except for a couple of walks, he has not made it on base on a hit. Observing the first time majors players his age on other teams, he is clearly not alone.

Unfortunately for Zach, it was turning in to a "thing" with him. But Zach is a hard worker. He has been spending time working on his batting, and Pete has been taking him to the cages. He spends his free time at the ball field, hanging out and helping out when he can.

And today was his day. Top of the last inning, we were down by one run, bases loaded, and 2 outs. Zach stepped up to the plate. And he ripped it! Line drive out to left field, bringing in 2 runners, putting us up by one! The stands went wild! I was jumping up and down, screaming my head off. It was his moment.

Unfortunately the other team still had their at bat and they ultimately won. No matter.


Zach got the game ball. This one is definitely a keeper!

Hot dogs and baseball

Sunday was the famous "Hot Dog Game" between Zachary's team, the Pirates, and the Giants. Apparently, for the last several years, the coaches of these 2 teams get together for a fun Sunday afternoon game followed by a big hot hog BBQ, and LOTS of margaritas.

Talk about a fun time! The weather was amazing on Sunday. While the boys played, the coaches, umps and parents started downing the margaritas and beer.

Since the game was just for fun, kids got put in different positions than they would normally play. Much to our surprise, Zach even pitched for an inning! And an even bigger surprise was how well he did! 2 strike outs and only 1 run scored.

After the game there was tons of good food to eat.

After the BBQ, the boys had a friendly egg toss game (using eggs that had been left out for several days. Blech!) After a few more games it was time to head home and get ready for the upcoming week.



Good times!

Go Pirates!

Cal Academy

The kids have been on spring Break over the last week. Pete and I worked, but the kids did lots of fun things around town. I was off on Thursday, so took the 4 boys into San Francisco to the California Academy of Sciences. I haven't been since it was redone several years ago and was interested in checking it out.

We had a blast! There was so much to do, and it kept all the boys interested, despite the range of ages.

We started with the "Extreme Mammal" exhibit, which was a temporary exhibit. A cool display of the smallest, biggest, fastest, etc... mammals both living and extinct.

We then headed in to the Rain Forest. You start at the forest floor, then wind your way to the canopy.
There was a great display of plants and animals from all areas.

There was even butterflies and birds flying around loose. You are advised to check yourself for hitchhiking butterflies before leaving the display!


Given his recent obsession with maps and globes, Vinnie was very excited to see the enormous rotating globe and insisted on having his picture taken with it.

After lunch (which was way over priced and not kid friendly) we headed in to the aquarium.

Of course it wasn't as big as the Monterrey Bay Aquarium, but was impressive none the less. The kids had so much fun checking out all the tanks. It wasn't very crowded, so they were easily able to go up to each one and hang out. Christopher was mesmerized by the fish.


I am a sucker for the gift store and was talked in to a few things by the boys.


We then headed over to the Africa Hall in search of the penguins. (yes, they were in the African Hall and not the aquarium. They were African penguins, which Vinnie seemed to know all about and was excited to see)


We happened to get there just in time for the penguin feeding session. The boys were sitting up front with all the kids, while I was off to the side. When it was over everyone got up and started walking away. This is what was left behind:

Christopher had passed out at some point during the presentation and was sound asleep on the floor.

Now that is what I call a perfect end to the day!

LOST

I had a long run planned for this morning and really wanted to run in Quicksilver park. I haven't done much running there in the past since I am always afraid of getting lost or running in to mountain lions. I have been wanting to explore the trails with other runners who are familiar with them, but couldn't find anyone for a run today.

No problem, I thought. I printed up a map of the trails and planned my route. I would run about 2.5 miles to the McAbee entrance, then run the New Almaden trail through the park and come out the Mockingbird entrance, then run 2 miles home. I had no idea how long the run would be, but figured and hoped for a 10-12 mile run.

I headed off to the park and went in. It was then I was reminded of why I have been scared to run in the park alone. I knew the trails I wanted to run, but was having a difficult time figuring out the trail markers. I came to a junction with 3 trails shooting off, but a sign with 2 names. I stared at it trying to figure out which one it was pointing to for the New Almaden trail. I headed up the one I thought it was. And ran up and up and up. Just when I thought I had to be at the very top of the mountain I would turn a corner to find it continuing to go up. Suddenly I spotted a reservoir. It was then I realized I had taken the wrong trail. This one would also get to where I wanted to go, but it was a longer path. I was already so far on it I just kept going.

Long story short, after a few more trail changes, the path got ugly. Real ugly. It was narrow, trecherous and overgrown. At one point I looked down and was running through poison oak. Great. Luckily I had long pants on. At times I was terrified. Was this really the right path? What if I was lost? What if I came across a mountain lion? What if I fell and hit my head on a rock and was knocked out?

I did see some beautiful views. The above picture was of one of the better paths. Other areas were much more narrow and over grown. At one point the trail was blocked by a downed tree. I stopped, unsure what to do. There was no way to go around as there was a steep ravine on one side. The tree was too big to go over. And the thought of going all the way back nearly drove me to tears. I finally got the nerve to get down on my belly and shimmy under the tree. Ridiculous.

I even had to hop over a couple of little streams.

I finally made it out of the park. My legs were shaky from all the hills. I realized I had been gone for close to 2 hours. It was cold out and the rain was starting to come down. I was done. I called Pete and asked him to pick me up, then started crying.

I am never running in the park alone again.

Easter

Easter started for us on Saturday night with the Easter Vigil Mass (which is the late night Mass for you non-Catholics out there). We had attended that Mass when I was baptized and confirmed Catholic and I really enjoyed it. We decided it was too late for the kids, so we left them home with a babysitter. We came home to find the younger three all piled into one twin bed. They looked like a litter of puppies, all piled together.


The kids woke up the next morning to find the traditional trail of jelly beans leading them to their Easter baskets. Zachary woke up later than the other boys, and found his basket on his own.


The Easter bunny went with a "pool theme" this year, leaving a new bathing suit, swim shirt, and swim goggles in their baskets.

Of course, he also left plenty of chocolate, which the kids indulged in for breakfast! (and lunch)

We then went over to my mother-in-laws house for the Eater egg hunt and brunch. The hunt is quite the big deal, with even the college kids participating in it! We have 2 hunts--the younger kid hunt for the kids under 10 years, and the older kid hunt for the over 10 crowd.

Christopher had a great time scooping up all the eggs he could.

Joey was such a blur I couldn't even get a picture of him!

Vinnie, my sweet dreamer, took his time.


Christopher loved showing off his loot!

Joey also showed me all his candy.

After the little kids were done, the adults went back out to hide the big kid eggs.



The egg hunt is serious business for these guys! Big kid eggs frequently have money in them, mostly ones with some fives and tens for the lucky ones!

Zachary scored $25 from the hunt! I am telling you, there is serious money to be had!

Shortly after the hunt, the weather went from cold and gray to freezing and wet. It poured the rest of the day and night, but that didn't put a damper on a great day with good food and family.