inspiration location: little league baseball

keep it movin', keep it movin'...

i was out wondering around my town and looking for a spot to eat a picnic kinda lunch... i passed the little league fields where we used to spend quite a fair amount of time.  those were fun days & evenings. 

can you picture the players all excited about getting up and hitting?

it was empty when i was there... not much happening yet during the day since the kids are all still in school.  but, as i walked through the area, i could hear the kids talking, picking on each other, laughing.  i could hear the coaches helping to encourage the boys & girls to hit a good one or to catch that fly ball.

dugout & parents benches...

i can hear the parents cheering for their children.  jumping up and down when they made a great play.  talking to the other parents about too much homework, the weather, how they spend most of their time driving their munchkins from one place to the other and don't have much of a life themselves anymore...  i miss that.  it was a time when we socialized on a regular basis with other parents because we all wanted to see every great moment in our kids' lives. 

hit it over this fencing... home run, baby!!!

time flies by, and it is hard to believe it has been probably 6 years (or more?) since we spent our evenings eating hotdogs and popcorn at the fields.  yeah, there were times when we thought the coaches weren't playing our kid enough... or when our sons weren't paying attention to the game, or a few parents might get a little carried away with the game... but, these are fond times.  the moments you cherish as a parent... 

i remember when they installed these lights and we got to have NIGHT games!
the players thought they were major league when they got to play at night.

maybe your son or daughter didn't/doesn't play baseball... maybe it was soccer, volleyball, tennis, or swimming.  maybe it is ballet or chess.  but, no matter, we love those moments when we can encourage our children to step out in the world and try something on their own.  when they learn to compete and be a good winner or good loser.  to embrace the game. 

outfield distractions...

my youngest son will be graduating from high school in about 4 weeks.  we still try to go to any event he is involved in.  we hate to miss their accomplishments.  i am not sure what next year will bring for us... but i am pretty sure we will still be those parents who show up at their 'kids' events so they remember that we are proud of their hard work, that we want to see what they are accomplishing. 

a lonely ball waiting for the players to arrive and pick it up

where do you go with your children, nieces/nephews, next door neighbors?  or maybe it is your parents who you go see in art shows, sporting events, plays? 

isn't it funny how these powerful memories can make you smile and shed a tear all at the same time?

happy monday!

~ julie