Nico's 1st Select Baseball: DS Tigers 7U

Nico wanted to keep playing baseball with the main core of his baseball buddies (5 were just on the Rays coach pitch team this past fall and a few others from t-ball All Stars), and it seemed like a good move to us, too, so we formed our own little select tournament team! This all became a topic of conversation back during the All Star trip in Louisiana last year too keep the boys together.

Yep, it sounds crazy to put your 6 year old in this type of setting already, but we found that it was a good fit for Nico to play with his friends and be surrounded by other kids that love baseball and are the best of what the area offers! We are hopeful that we know enough to stay grounded and avoid becoming "crazy sports parents."

David stepped up as the man for the job and was named Head Coach through the Dripping Springs Youth Sports Association that our team was affiliated under. We started practice in February and proceeded to enter about a dozen tournaments from March to June, and we landed in the championship game in about half of them!

Nico was SO fun to watch. I say it all of the time, but I am so darn proud to be his mom. I hope he knows that. He was the only kindergartener/6 year old on the team of 1st grade/7 year old boys, and he sure held his own. He is known for having one of the strongest arms and played 3B most of the year, but he also rotated through some SS, 2nd, and a few innings at catcher. He hit leadoff and may have only gotten out a handful of times all year. He started hitting more consistently to the outfield and got a lot of extra base hits toward the end of the season. He was well liked by his teammates and continues to love baseball! He has even asked me to play catch after coming home from tournaments. This is definitely a fun phase of parenting, despite the 6 am wake ups and long days in the heat!

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

Our trooper loved going to all of this baseball. All smiles at 7 am, running around in between games, and really didn't have many break downs. Having a backpack full of snacks and toys was crucial. There were some older siblings that played really, really well with her. Lucky to have that!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
You can tell by the smiles that this was a good day of baseball...

 

Ended the season on a high note with another championship victory!...

 

 

Some of my favorite videos!:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy 2nd birthday, Natalie!

Our baby girl is TWO!! As they all say, can't imagine life without this one. She is so cheery, giggling, and fun! She loves to be outside and adores Nico. She recently transitioned into a BIG girl bed and is doing great!

On her actual birthday, we had cake and ice cream and invited Great Granny Phyll over.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dave and Cindy came over the previous weekend to celebrate the birthday girl with fun presents and also catch some baseball!

 

 

She loved the outfits she got and this doll crib. She made sure to try on the clothes on and play with the dolls in this right away!

Sea World

We met up with Ryan, Jessica, and Jordan for an adventure at Sea World! We got soaked on some rides (some willingly and others not!), walked through the aquarium, watched the dolphins swim, and caved and bought the fancy bubbles.  

 

 

 

They stopped by our house the next day for some pool time and the Saltlick for dinner.

David and Nico headed up after Sea World for a pretty exciting highlight of watching many of his former players win the State Championship in high school baseball! Natalie's pointing to him there on screen. (Notice how him and Kenny are far away from everyone, haha!)