Summer Softball Games

**GUEST BLOGGER**

 ~ Eric Hendrickson ~

I limped through another summer of softball playing for our company's team.  The entire season I battled a twisted ankle on the left foot and plantar fasciitis in the right foot, which has not yet gone away.  My wife says I am getting old, but I say I play too hard, especially for rec. league softball. 

(Above) Silas giving me a "five" before I went up to bat.

I hit pretty well this season.  I don't have the 350' homerun power I once had, but I can still hit it over people's heads.  I also hit some to the other field, which is odd for me since I am a dead pull hitter.

I still have good speed.  I had a handful of in the park homeruns.

For the most part my fielding was good this year.  Typically, I have an erratic arm to first base but I did not have a throwing error this season.

I wasn't as smooth with the glove though.

My biggest fans came to all the games and did a good job of cheering us all on.

Our team - WEAPONS OF MASS CONSTRUCTION

Players from left to right:  Jason, Devon, Mariah, Derek, Olivia, Aaron, Sidney, Me, Stacey, Jimmie, and Paula.

Three Year Old Pictures and Interview

Our little boy turned 3!  I interviewed him to find out what he likes, what makes him happy, and about his 3 year old "Big Boy" life...

What is your favorite drink?
"Lemonade"
What is your favorite snack?
"Fruit Chews, Cupcakes"

What is your favorite movie or show to watch?
"Nemo, Netflix, Letter Factory, Cars and Planes one"
What is your favorite song?
"Hallelujah everybody wants to be a cat..." (song from Disney's Aristocats)

What is your favorite color?
"Blue and green"
What is your favorite animal?
"Elephants.  They have trunks and squirt out water.  They're at the zoo."

What do you like to do with Phoebe?
"Play with food stuff.  cars."
What do you like to do with Sarah?
"Play with her".

What makes you happy?
"Cupcakes. Popsicles. I don't like eggs."
What makes you scared?
"Monsters.  They eat us.  Red ones poke us.  And there is pokeys on their back.  Daddy scares monsters away.  Doors slamming my feet and my toes."
What is your favorite book?
"The animal one I have.  A caterpillar one.  I have a lightening McQueen book.  It's pretty fancy or cute."

What jobs do you help with at our house?
"Paint with Daddy when I get grown-up like Daddy does.  When I be a grown-up like Daddy I can play with those softballs (pointing at a pile of Daddy's GOLF balls).  I help you with the laundry.  We wash the clothes."

What do you like to do with Daddy?
"He reads a lot of books.  Some cars.  We tackle."
When will you be a big boy?
"In 2nd grade.  And it has a lot of boys in there.  And I talk about snacks and the teacher is getting them.  And there will be two girls at school.

Colorado Day 7 and Back to Kansas

Tuesday, August 4th

This morning we loaded into two vehicles and went to see and explore the Union Park, Colorado area.  This was only a few miles from where we were staying, but again, a slower drive due to rough roads and water on the roads from a lot of rain the night before.  This area is where Dad, Eric, and I had found a beautiful white Quartz field the last time we were here.  I was excited to see if we could get to this spot again and look for some great rocks.  Due to water being over the road and some huge ruts we did not get to drive back into the area we had gone into in years past.  It was still a nice morning drive though.

We first stopped at this LARGE Beaver pond and hut.  It may have been the biggest hut we saw this summer.

Parked in Union Park and pictured below, left to right, Mike, and Carol, Silas, Stacee, Phoebe, Sarah, Eric, Ernie, Gloria, and Paul.

Back at the cabins we ate lunch and Eric and I loaded the van for our long drive home... We figured it would be about 12-13 hours to our house from Tin Cup.  Good thing I married a guy who doesn't mind driving and will drive for long periods of time.  (On the drive out he drove the whole way...and we only stopped once for gas and dinner.  He is my driving hero.)

We all had a fantastic time in Taylor Park and Tin Cup!  Thanks Ernie and Judy, and Mom and Dad.

Below are a few pictures of the drive back up and over Cottonwood Pass....

We stopped for a short driving break while it was still light near Canon City, Colorado, at the Royal Gorge Bridge.  The Royal Gorge is one of the deepest gorges in Colorado.  It is approximately 10 miles long with the Arkansas River running through it, and Granite walls towering over 1,000 feet!  The Royal Gorge Bridge and park stood unscathed in the midst of its surroundings until Tuesday, June 11, 2013 when a wildfire raged into and through the Park.  One of Colorado's premier attractions since 1929 was devastated by this fire.  Just about everything in the Park, except the Bridge was destroyed.  Groundbreaking and the beginnings of the new Park area took place on January 31st, 2014.  

The new Royal Gorge visitor's center is beautiful!

 

We did not pay to cross the bridge, just walked around, explored the Park some, looked in the new visitor's center, and used the new restrooms before loading back into the van and heading for Kansas.

Below, looking down into the Gorge at the Arkansas River at the bottom.

We had a great trip to Colorado this summer.  One of the most amazing things to Eric and I was all of the wildlife we saw on this trip.  More wildlife than we have ever seen in Colorado before!  It was good to be with family and to get to be in this beautiful state.  See you again next summer, Colorado!

Colorado Day 6

Monday, August 3rd

Heading South into the town of Tin Cup, Colorado...

(From the other direction) Driving North into the town of Tin Cup...

On Monday morning we packed a picnic lunch and headed for Mirror Lake.  It is a beautiful lake about 3-4 miles east of Tin Cup, nestled among the mountains.  Several times when we have been there in the past we have seen Mountain Goats up in the mountains surrounding the lake.  We did not spot any this visit.  The kids had a fun time throwing and skipping rocks into the lake with Popee and Uncle Ernie.

After driving to the lake we found a picnic spot near an abandoned (falling down) old one-room log cabin on the Cumberland Pass road.  We stopped to eat and explore a little here before heading further up Cumberland Pass road.

Eric took Silas out to get a closer look at some Beaver ponds, dams, and a large hut.

About 3/4 of the way up Cumberland Pass road my Dad's check engine light came on on his Trailblazer.  The road up to the top of this Pass was as rough as we have ever seen it.  We stopped on a small turn-around road and parked.  Eric, the kids and I walked along this road for awhile.  It was a steep drop off to one side and a mountain up the other side.  We saw an abandoned old mine down the edge and some gorgeous views of the valley and Beaver ponds below.  It actually was VERY steep and made me nervous when any of the kids or myself got within a couple feet of the edge...

In the picture below we had the kids sit near the edge and I took this picture looking down at them.  You can see the green and blue areas behind (below) them.  Those were some of the Beaver ponds that Eric and Silas had hiked around earlier, after we had eaten our picnic lunch.

There were some beautiful flowers growing way up there on the mountain.

Popee and the girls stacked up these rocks along the road where we stopped driving up the Pass.

Another beautiful view below as we drove north back into Tin Cup.

Below, Tin Cup Town Hall and Church.

Later that day back at Holt's Guest Ranch the kids discovered a dead Ground Squirrel.  Yuck.  It most likely was hit by an ATV and wobbled its way off the road before dying.  YUCK!  Silas was insistent though that it was just sleeping.  We kept telling him that it was dead but he began to get upset and VERY adamantly told us all that it was sleeping....

He wanted to show it to everyone.  Below he is showing it to Ernie and Judy's friend, Mike.

And, below he is screaming/yelling as his sisters that it was sleeping.

Finally Eric had to go out, when Silas wasn't looking, and bury the yucky thing in a hole so that he wouldn't be fixated on the "sleeping" creature or tormented by his pesky sisters, who insisted it was dead, anymore.

For dinner that night Aunt Judy and Carol made Chili and homemade Banana Bread for everyone.  It was delicious.  We all ate in Ernie and Judy's little cabin that night.

After dinner it rained for a little bit, then a beautiful rainbow appeared.

After the weather cleared off Dad, Mom, Eric and the kids and I decided we would drive back over to the Tin Cup Cemetery and look around a little more since we were cut short the first night there by our bear sighting in the Protestant Knoll.  On the drive over we all were on wildlife watch... I spotted some deer, and then this critter right in town, in front of the Tin Cup Town Hall, walking slowly down the road.... a Porcupine!  We couldn't get in front of him without scaring him away, so I got some pictures from the back.  It was big and very fluffy.

Back at the Cemetery, Phoebe decided to stay in the Trailblazer with Popee and Nanee, while Eric, Sarah, Silas, and I wandered around the Cemetery.  We headed straight for the Protestant Knoll again.  Eric and Sarah saw one deer around the Knoll but nothing as exciting as the bear or moose from the first night there.