City League Fall Ball

Tina and I played Fall softball this year with a bunch of friends from Jacob's Well. It was a perfect league for us because we only played one day a week and, with double headers on Sunday evenings, we got 10 games in 5 weeks. We purposely played in a city league and not a church league. For anyone who's ever played in the latter, you know why. If not, I submit the opening verse to comedian Tim Wilson's song, 'Church League Softball Fistfight":

Church League Softball Fistfight
Gettin' washed in the blood on a Tuesday night
What would Jesus do? Lord he wouldn't do that
Knock the hell out of a preacher with a softball bat

We had a blast and met some cool people from other teams. Some of us came out of softball retirement to play and we coaxed others to join us who had never played before. It was a good mix and a chance to hang out with some people from church that we didn't know as well. We even made it to the semifinals in the season ending tournament. We'll definitely do this again next year. I forgot how much I missed competing on a team. It was also cool to see my wife bust out her cannon arm! In the picture below of Tina hucking it from the outfield, we threw a guy out at home on a relay from Tina to me to Spencer Koonz. (who cares that my throw was to the first base side of home and allowed the runner to slide under Spence's tag. The ump called him out and that's what the scorebook shows baby!) Thanks to Doug & Dona Bryant at The Decal Factory for sponsoring our team and a special thanks to Mike McMullen for all the pictures used below. (between this and the Pony League season for Spencer and Logan, I'm gonna make a sports fan out of you yet McMullen)

Some more good action shots

Coeur d'Alene Resort Course - September 29th

For the second year in a row, the fellas from my office and I had the privilege of playing in a golf tournament at the Coeur d'Alene Resort Course. As the pictures below attest, it is a top notch course. We play a scramble format and each foursome has a caddie, two tricked out golf carts and drink vouchers for the beverage cart. Afterwards, they auction off a ton of door prizes and feed us a great lunch with Kobe beef. Much like last year, we stunk as a foursome, but had a blast. Chris is directly to my left, Jason is next to him, and the gentleman on the end (Tom) is a friend of my boss. These pictures are courtesy of Jason. Thanks to Dona for ponying up the entry fee and to Doug for the day off. (did I mention we played on a Friday)

High Drive Parkway - September 22nd

Our niece Grace flew up from Sparks, NV for a 10 day visit this September. They do school year-round in Nevada, so she was actually on a short summer break while our kids were back to school. The kids and I took her for a hike off of High Drive Parkway up on the South Hill. I'd say she looks like she's ready for a hike.

A Bear Grylls moment for Grace and a deer in the woods

Grace had a Man vs. Wild moment when she found this funky leafy/bark thing, stabbed it with a stick and faked like she was eating it like a marshmallow. The antlers came about as Spencer and I were trying to find him a good walking stick.

A mouth full of dirt...

On our way back to the trailhead, Gracie decided to run full speed down the hill you see Spencer sliding down. She totally caught me off guard when she took off running, but she made it all the way to the bottom before her feet got tripped up. She did a Pete Rose slide for a few feet and bounced up with a mouth full of dirt and a knee and elbow pretty scraped up. She started to cry but toughed it out and ended up laughing about it. Maddie helped doctor her up and I offered her a lift for a bit until she gathered herself. (the fireman's carry is one of Sophie's favorites. I use it sparingly for her only when I can tell she is really wiped out. She tries to give me the, "I have tiny legs daddy and I need you to carry me" line quite a bit.)

Deep Creek Canyon - August 25th

My best friend Patty (Scott Patershall) flew up for a visit in late August. We had originally intended on an overnight backpacking trip into some hot springs in Idaho, but decided on a couple different day hikes instead. The kids were excited to show Uncle P their favorite hiking spot. At the beginning of the trail, right before dropping into the canyon, we ran into this horse named Mandy. The horse's owner was very kind and patient with the kids and they thought it was pretty cool.

Along the way...

Some phenomenal boulders in the canyon bed and Spencer the billie goat.

Spencer being Spencer