The Journey
It all started with the journey from Salt Lake City – 300 Miles to Dixie. We typically have troubles making it to grandma’s house without fighting and tears. How were we going to make it all the way down without serious bloodshed, yelling, or at least significant tears? We also don’t have such a great track record with bodily fluids. Every time we take a trip of any length we have fluid issues – whether it be number 1, number 2, or whatever meal we just ate revisiting us. We also decided to go out on a limb and take the dog with us – just to tempt fate a little more.
All in all, we couldn’t of had a better trip down. I was worried as we pulled out of our driveway into a virtual white-out snowstorm. The flakes were HUGE and dropping quickly. I was afraid we’d stick with the snow at least until Nephi, but around Orem or so things dried up and we didn’t have any further weather complications.
We made one “potty” stop – and that was even initiated by Kris and not some “accident” or frantic child. We stopped in the mighty town of Scipio. We took 15 minutes and were back on the road. No whining or anything from anyone? Is this my family?
Tanner had a moment of panic. He thought that we hadn’t updated the clock in the Excursion to reflect Daylight Savings Time and so when he saw that it was 10:50 he thought it was 11:50. We were still 40 – 50 minutes out of St George and we were supposed to meet as a team at a Pizza place at noon. After we calmed Tanner down and assured him that the clock was set correctly life was good once again.
We made it to the pizza parlor with 20 minutes to spare. The kids were in awe at the red rocks and at the palm trees. I forget how long it has been since we have been down this way. It is one of those things that we take for granted. Lexi was fasinated with the red rocks and plateaus. She would probably freak out over Capitol Reef, Dead Horse Point, or Moab.
Tanner was just in awe. You would think that his whole 11 years of life have been in preparation for this trip. He was so pumped up and excited. I’m surprised that he hasn’t had a melt-down yet. The kid is higher than a kite.
The Uniform
At the pizza party we passed out the uniforms, bags, and jackets to the team. Everyone was stunned with how nice they look and the quality of the uniforms. Kris and Tanner really did an awesome job of fund raising and uniform design. The kids all changed into their new duds and we headed off to the hotels to quickly check-in before the games began.
The Games
We were all curious to see how the kids would perform. We haven’t played any games this year, have hardly practiced together as a team (the individual city-league teams have been going strong since December or earlier), and you really never know.
The Red Rocks didn’t prove to be much of a challenge. We beat them 9-0 or 8-0 – I’m not really sure. Tanner had a double and a walk. It was a good game to get things started. The kids had great energy and they had a lot of fun.
We saw the last few innings of the game before ours and The Storm were great. They pitched a no-hitter against Lone Peak (who we play tomorrow) and looked really good doing it.
We started off and it was really a defensive duel. It was a hard-fought battle of two very evenly matched teams, but The Storm prevailed in the bottom of the last inning – picking up 2 runs to win 5-4. Tanner struck out once and singled. He played great on defense. He even got plowed into at first base but held on to get the kid out.
After the game, the kids weren’t too down on themselves. They played a great game. It was tight and either team could have won. It was unfortunate for them, but they kept their heads high and are looking forward to tomorrow.
We only lost Parker once. He and some friends went up the hill and over to a playground. I traipsed through the mud out behind the center field fence trying to find him, but Kris ultimately found him up at the playground. The kids are having all sorts of fun. They have been cooped up all winter and are loving the 70 degree weather.
The Hotels (plural)
Due to the baseball tournament, spring break, and easter weekend the hotel scene was scarce down here. We ended up with rooms 0.6 miles apart. The boys (plus Tally) are staying at the Travelodge and the girls are staying at the Coronada Inn and Suites. Neither hotel is 4-star, but the rooms are clean and relatively comfortable. The kids love that they both have pools and are totally thrilled with the whole proposition.
I wish that we could all be together in a two-room suite or something but the situation isn’t too bad either. We didn’t get back to our hotels until 10:00 pm. It took the better part of an hour and finally both Tanner and Parker are asleep. Hopefully Kris and the girls are faring as well. It would be absolutely too much to ask for to have the kids sleep in past 6:30 am. I’m not holding my breath, but it would be great.
Conclusion
Overall this day gets an “A”. The only thing better could have been 2 victories instead of 1 – and adjoining hotel rooms. I know… picky, picky.
Anyway – that’s it. That was our day in a nutshell. I’ll get more photos and possibly some video out soon, but for now I’m about to call it quits for the day. As we said our prayers tonight I just thanked Heavenly Father for a great day. It truly was a wonderful day. Everyone had fun, nobody got seriously hurt, and everyone tried their best to get along. Things were just about perfect.
