He Has A Name - Finally!

And it is: Lafitte!

Our little guy is named after the town outside of New Orleans where my aunt and uncle have their fishing camp and where Mike and I spent many a crazy weekend while we were in college (we're hoping no pictures exist to prove that)! The town was named after the infamous pirates Jean and Pierre Lafitte, who were rumored to be our 7th cousins. Whether or not that's true has yet to be proven, but it's a good story and makes his name even more interesting. It's pronounced La-feet, by the way.

The kids latched on to it right away and have been calling him by his name all day. He, being a cat, just blinks at them and hides under a table. I still call him Little Guy, because he is one. He'll grow into his name, if his feet are any indication!

Yes, the second picture was set up, but neither of them fought it and it made a cute picture!

Our New Addition

After we lost Chicory, we knew that having only 2 pets was just WAY too sedate for our household. Within a couple of days, Mike was asking how one went about finding a new cat, since our first two basically found us. I contacted a friend of mine who works at a shelter in Tracy, CA and she said they had a little black male kitten who might be good for us.

The kids and I headed out there (it's about an hour east of us - depending on traffic) to meet him and the rest is history! We had to wait to bring him home because the shelter won't release unneutered animals, so he had his surgery on Wednesday, my friend picked him up for us and took him to her house yesterday, and we got him from her today. He's got a kitty cold right now, so we have to keep him away from our other cat, Beignet (who is 20), and be diligent about washing hands after handling him. He's also staying mainly in a crate in our living room until he stops sneezing for the same reason. When she's not around, though, we let him out to hang out on the couch with us or explore the kitchen.

He still doesn't have a name, so we're taking suggestions for New Orleans-themed names for him. He's currently about 2 1/2 pounds, he's got solid black, medium-length fur, and he's about 4 months old. Feel free to send us your ideas!

I'm sure you'll be hearing more about this little guy very soon. I can already see the potential for videos involving him and Zatarain.

Gilroy Gardens

We met our friends, the Shafers, at Gilroy Gardens today. Gilroy Gardens is a botanical-themed amusement park that is geared toward younger kids, so it was perfect for our crew. The weather was great - warm, but not unbearable - and the park has tons of shade, so it was really lovely to be out there all day. We were there from opening to closing, rode most of the rides, the kids played in the water area for a long time after lunch, and everyone got along for the most part.

All-in-all, it was a really great way to spend the day!

Boiled Crabs

Mike decided to try making boiled crabs for dinner last night. The Asian market nearby carries live blue crabs, so he picked up 18 (they were small), brought them home, and set about cooking. The pictures tell the story, and at the end of the process the crabs were quite tasty, although not nearly as spicy as we like!

We think a trip to New Orleans is required, including some time spent with my relatives taking detailed notes about how to properly boil seafood!

Pre-July 4th Beach Day

Each month we have a get-together at the beach for the local Leonbergers and their owners. The number of dogs and people varies, but there is one other family that joins us almost every month. Our kids are close in age and all get along really well, so we can just turn them loose together and they make their own fun in the water and sand. It's been a godsend for us, because for so long we were the only ones with kids and our guys were kind of tired of only having each other as playmates. Now they look forward to heading out there each month and so do we!

The Last Day of Baseball

Today was an amazing day! But before I get into that, let me catch you up a bit since I've been such a slacker keeping up this blog this spring.

Our last few months have been full of baseball (our son), gymnastics (all 3), swimming (all 3), and soccer (our older daughter). We had no idea when our son asked to play ball this year that it would involve such a huge time commitment! It was 2 practices and a game (at least) each week. Luckily, Mike was able to be there for most of the practices and all of the games, so I was able to deal with the girls while they did the baseball thing. Our son's team did very well this season and he learned and progressed so much!

At the end of the season, the coaches pick several players from each time to play in the Farm League All-Star game. Our son's coach was the head coach for the Blue Team and he chose 5 kids from their team to play in the All-Star game. Our son got chosen - not an easy thing since it was his first season playing. The had a week of practices and the game was today, after the closing ceremonies.

It turned out to be the hottest day we've seen this year - about 90 degrees and windy - so it was pretty tough for the kids out on the field. They were playing under minor league rules, which are a bit different from what they were used to - all kid-pitch, 6 innings, 3 outs, no bunting or stealing bases. The two coaches were huge rivals and the kids on both teams REALLY wanted to win. The level of play was much higher than what they had seen during the regular season, so the expectations were really high for all of the kids.

Things weren't going well to start off. Our son struck out swinging on his first up, but he did okay out in left field and at short stop. By the bottom of the 5th inning, they were down 1-3, there were 2 outs, the bases were loaded, and he came up to bat again. I'll be honest, I was seriously worried he would strike out again. The count got to 2 balls and 2 strikes and it was looking like he would end the inning for them. Next pitch, he whacked that ball into the outfield! He brought 2 runners home and tied the game, 3-3. He was beyond excited and the crowd was going crazy! The pitcher walked the next batter, bringing one more runner home and making the score 4-3, which was how the inning ended.

Our pitcher took over at the top of the 6th and struck out 2 batters in a row. The third batter hit a pop fly and the pitcher caught it, ending the game. It was pandemonium after that! The parents and coaches were all high-fiving each other and the kids were jumping around screaming. I've never experienced anything like that and I'm likely to be hoarse for the next few days from the cheering and screaming.

After the teams congratulated each other, the coaches took the kids aside and awarded 3 game balls to the stand-out players for the game. The final pitcher got one, the kid who caught the whole game - wearing all of that equipment in the miserable heat and playing incredibly well - and our son! He was so excited and the caches were incredibly proud of how he came through for the team right when they needed it most. They even awarded him All-Star MVP!

All-in-all, it's been a really great spring. The coaches were so dedicated and patient with the kids, the families were terrific, and the kids were a fun bunch of goofballs. Our son is already talking about playing fall ball, so he's all baseball, all the time now. We can only hope he gets on teams in the future that are close to what he's had this season.

Happy Birthday, Honey!

Today was Mike's birthday, so he decided to play hookey, I cancelled our normal Friday stuff, and we headed to the beach. It was a warm day by us, but clear, cool, and windy at the beach. That didn't stop the kids from heading into the water and Zatarain, of course, was in heaven!

We didn't get to stay too long since our daughter had soccer and our son had baseball practice, but it was a lovely outing and we all had a wonderful time.