Last week we took off for Clyde, TX to watch granddaughter Ally play softball, then on to Amarillo to watch grandkids Emery and Luke run in separate track meets.
We arrived in Clyde around 3:30 PM on Thursday, visited with Susan for a bit as it was her day off, and then the kids got home from school. Corey came in from work and we went out to eat before the game, which wasn’t scheduled to start till 7:45 on a school night, which I thought was pretty late for 11 year olds! Ally had to be at the field an hour ahead of time so we all headed over there and enjoyed sitting at a picnic table talking and laughing while waiting for the game. I guess the game before theirs started late because Ally’s never got going till after 8 PM. Last year, she was on a pretty good team and I was amazed at how well those girls could hit the very fast pitches coming their way. I just assumed this year’s teams would be even better. Well, I would be wrong! LOL Unfortunately neither team had anyone who could pitch worth a flip so it was really a battle of the “walks.” Seriously, almost every kid got up to bat and was walked on balls or hit by the pitcher and walked. Additionally, the catchers couldn’t catch the balls the pitchers were throwing so they were constantly chasing the balls down and this led to girls stealing home and scoring runs besides the runs they were scoring by being walked home. They were only permitted to get 6 runs each inning and basically walked that many in each time (or scored by stealing). It was SO tedious! Those poor girls! Thankfully for all, the game was also timed so eventually time ran out and they were allowed to finish the inning they were in, which I think was only the 3rd or maybe the 4th at most. Ally’s team lost by 1, mostly because the other team batted last. Or should I say walked last?! It was really sad and I hope they will all improve as the season wears on. Despite the game, we had a lot of fun with Susan, Corey and the kids and discussed their upcoming visit to Dallas in the summer. We always enjoy having them here with us!
We spent the night in Abilene with our friend Karen since Corey’s grandma had come to town and had already planned to stay with the kids before we decided to come. We had fun visiting with Karen, though it was so late by the time we got to her house that none of us stayed up too much later as she had to work the next morning. We slept in a little bit and then got back on the road to Amarillo on Friday. At least it is a little closer to Abilene than it is to Dallas so we had a relatively short drive compared to leaving from here. We arrived just as Bonnie was getting in the car to pick up Luke from school so I rode along with her while Rich stayed at the house with Ada who didn’t want to go. The kids are really entertaining and funny and we had a nice dinner at home, then watched “The Greatest Showman” before bedtime.
The next morning Luke had his track meet, which was super cute and funny to watch. Their track meets just consist of various relays so there were no individual events but Luke ran in 4 or 5 races and seemed to have a great time. He was a pretty fast little runner and his former track star mom was proud! We came home for a couple of hours, then went to Emery’s meet in the afternoon. Again it consisted of relays only but the older kids were more organized and looked good in their races. Emery has a long stride and did very well in her events. Watching track brought back lots of memories of Bonnie running in middle school, high school and college. I am not sure how many hours I’ve spent at track meets in my life but it’s gotta be up there! Once a track mom, always a track mom, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching all the kids.
Sunday we got up and had a nice breakfast before the long drive back to Dallas. It was a bit of a whirlwind trip but we loved seeing everyone and getting to be involved in some of the kids’ activities.
As an aside, Emery always has some funny quips when we see her. This time she was doing cartwheels and round-offs in the house so I told her she is really good at it and maybe would want to go to gymnastics. She paused for a moment as if thinking it over and then said, “No, I prefer to be self taught.” That girl cracks me up.
Postcards from Retirement 
