Attack of the stickers

I blame myself.

I turned my back for 1 minute.

My teacher bag was left unattended.

It was... the Attack of the Stickers...



All. Over. Her. Face.



"Look at me, Mommy! Look at me!" She was so proud of herself.



Andy thought it was pretty dang funny.

Abby was hoping she would get to put all those stickers on her chore chart, but that didn't happen. I have since hidden the stickers and moved my teacher bag to the closet.

Isaac's last game

Not sure what team we played, but I don't think it mattered.
It was a very hot, dusty day. The kids tried to stay focused as long as they could. It lasted half an inning. We were in the field first- I repeat, hot and dusty. Making dirt piles was a popular activity.



Abby enjoyed her snack while cheering for her brother.



Andy was having fun as well.



Here is Isaac at the beginning of the game- just a little dirt around the eye area. Not too bad...



Isaac at the end of the game, enjoying his treat. Yes, that is all dirt on his face.
Now, imagine being the lucky parent who got to drive this dirty, sweaty, and soon to be juice covered child back home. Needless to say, he got a bath as soon as we arrived home!

I don't know if we are going to have him play next year. I think we'll leave it up to him. :) It was fun while it lasted!

Isaac Goes Shopping for Tomatoes

Hey guys, Joe has taken over the blog because I want to share a quick story with everyone about our trip back from Aunt Boo's Birthday Party.

On our way home, Isaac and I stopped at Lowe's in Kimball, TN because I wanted to get as straight as I could on the way home and not have to back track to any of the ones in Chattanooga. I had to get some more dirt for the garden (Check out www.joehasagarden.blogspot.com). Isaac really likes these trips to Lowe's and Home Depot because he likes to look at the vegetables and tell me all the stuff he wants to put in the garden.

On the way in, I successfully steered Isaac away from the vegetables and into the store. On the way out, I was not so successful. He walked over to the vegetables and proudly proclaimed that this was the garden. He began, as he always does, of looking all them over and telling which ones are which. After he had looked at all of them, I told him it was time to go. He did not want to go, because he wanted to buy some plant to put in the garden and call his (much like his strawberry plant and the pumpkins). The last trip, he wanted Rutger tomatoes. This trip he wanted all sorts of things. He pointed out to the big plants, but I told him if he wanted one he would have to pick something small. He began bringing plants to me and I would tell him that we already had that in the garden. He then brought me some Bradley Heirloom tomatoes. We did not have that.

So I was faced with a dilemma. Break his heart and risk causing a scene, or let him be responsible for his choice. I decided the latter. I gave him $2 and told him to take his tomatoes to the cashier (grandparents, don't worry, I was standing there the whole time watching him). He quickly walked right up to the cashier who was in the middle of a transaction with another customer and shouted, "Hey lady. I want some tomatoes!" Needless to say, I was a little embarrassed, but the cashier and the other patrons thought it was the cutest thing ever. I told Isaac he had to wait his turn behind the others. Isaac did as he was told and clutched the small package of tomatoes and the $2 tightly and quietly waited his turn. The other patrons asked if he was going to plant that in his garden and he answered that he was. He told them he was a farmer.

When it was Isaac's turn, he reached up with his tomatoes and waited while the cashier rang him up. She told him the price and he gave her the two dollars and got the receipt and his change and then put the tomatoes in a bag and walked out. It was simply nice to watch him go through a "Big Boy" transaction. Now if I could only get him to get a "Big Boy" job.

Hope that brings a smile to your face.

Joe

More Updates from the Baseball Trip

Hello Everyone out there, this is Isaac again. Hope everyone is enjoying seeing the few pictures that Daddy has posted. Hopefully we can remedy the few part with this post.



After Port Charlotte Stone Crabs, we went to the beach again. It was fun. Daddy said the beach smelled funny (it was actually fishy), but it was still fun. Andy got to throw sand into the Gulf and I chased a Heron. Daddy also let me run in the water and we got really dirty. Daddy was not impressed with that but Daddy was very impressed with a mommy and daddy osprey that was just sitting on a tree. We sat on a tree too.



Andy had fun as well. Also there was the ever present "Choo-Choo" in Andy's hand.



This is me chasing a Heron.



Andy tried and tried to fill all the cracks on the log but he was not able to.



That night after some more driving we were in Daytona Beach to watch the "Teenie Tiny Cubs", at least that is what I called them. We racked a bunch of baseballs again from the Brevard County Manatees. I even tried my best to be a Teenie Tiny Cub as well.



I got very upset when it got dark, because I just knew there were going to be fireworks and I do not like fireworks. So I pitched a big fit and we left early. Daddy was mad and I was sad.

Daddy had planned on going to see the Kennedy Space Center the next day but we slept in at the hotel and Daddy did not want to pay $75 for a couple of hours of running through the KSC so I guess we will have to do it again some time in the future. So instead we had to settle for this rocket ship outside the Brevard County Manatees stadium.



We also got our pictures taken in front of a huge sculpture of the Mighty Casey from the Mudville Nine. I really liked it.



That night we were in West Palm Beach and watched the Jupiter Hammerheads take on the Teenie Tiny Cubs. It was fun and I was really excited because we got to get two bats because the Palm Beach Cardinals play at the same stadium. Yippee. The Jupiter Hammerheads' mascot was also a shark named Hamilton the Hammerhead. He was fun but Andy did not like him.



We slept at a Travel Lodge and then went to the beach again. It was really fun and we got really sandy again. Daddy really loved that.

Daddy lucked up and found a nice beach for us to visit and it was great because there was no one on it at all while we were there. I decided to show the sand who was boss with my new Jupiter Hammerhead bat.



Andy just liked to look at the waves.



Daddy was glad there were not that many people on the beach because apparently in having all my fun I had several wardrobe malfunctions.



Daddy made me put this picture on the blog because it showed the sunscreen Daddy used on us in his bag. (Just for you Grammy Pat).



After playing in the waves, we decided to sit and pay in the sand for a little while.



Tonight, we went to see the Marlins and the Phillies. Daddy really liked it because it was the closest he had ever sat at a Major League game. Andy had a blast. He really hammed it up with the people around us. I liked getting another bat. While Daddy finished up the blog I am going to sleep with my new bat and ball.

Andy suffered from sensory overload. He just stopped and stared for a long time while we walked into the stadium.



I was just trying to get a better look.



Andy really liked his first real MLB Game.



Well we have just three more games left and then it is off to the home.

Talk to you guys later.

Isaac

2011 Baseball Trip - Day 3 - Updated with Pictures

Hello everyone out there. This is Isaac again. I just wanted to update you guys on the trip again.

Daddy took us to the Beach very briefly this morning and it was fun. I showed everyone on the beach how they should properly swing the bat. Andy had fun too. He had never seen the beach before this and he knew exactly what to do. We were sad when Daddy said we have to go. He said we had to go to the Charlotte Stone Crabs game.







We had fun at the Stone Crabs game. We even racked up several balls during the game. I think Daddy said three was a record for us. Of course, new ballpark, new bat.



Andy became an instant fan with the stickers the nice lady in the souvenir shop gave us.



We are staying in Ft. Myers today and then heading to Daytona to watch another game tonight.

Daddy said sorry no pictures. The connection was slow at the hotel. We will try again later.

Well I guess we will see you later.

Love all of you.
Isaac

Mothers Day visits

While the boys are in Florida having a ball (tee-hee), Abby and I took a mini-vacation to visit Grammy Pat and Papa Joe. We also got to see Aunt Boo, her friend Miss Dee (who Abby called "ten" most of the time- not sure why), Uncle Jason, Aunt Jenny, Josh-e-wash, and Julia. It was a full house, and it was fun! Not only were we celebrating the wonderful beings called Mothers, we were celebrating Grammy's birthday!

Happy birthday, Grammy!



You always make the grand kids feel special and uniquely loved! :)

Unfortunately, neither Jenny nor I took pictures of the experience. It was full of playing outside and eating lots of pizza. Once the cousins left, it was the Abby show. She loved it.

To make the vacation complete, we decided to go to church with Uncle Craig, Aunt Beth, and Uncle JD. I feel the need to point out that we arrived at church 15 min EARLY. W got to save the seats for everyone. Abby insisted on sitting next to Uncle Craig. She also let Craig color with her. Thanks to the French toast sticks Grammy Pat sent with us, she stayed relatively quiet.

After church we got McDonalds and went back to Craig and Beth's apartment to hang out.



Ever since Super Abby saved Uncle Craig from a life of boredom a while ago, he has become her favorite Uncle. (sorry JD and Jason!) Wherever Craig was, that was where Abby wanted to be.



Abby was nice enough to share the love with Aunt Beth.



And with Uncle JD.

After lunch, we took a nap in Craig and Beth's spare bedroom. (Thanks for that! I hate the thought of missing my nap time!) After the nap we had just enough time to play on Beth's exercise ball before we had to get on the road.



So, thanks to the Bradley- Millichap and Delk clans, Abby and I got to experience a fabulous Mini-Vacation. We will have to do this again sometime!

4th Annual Baseball Trip 2011 - Episode 1

Hello Everyone out there that cares enough to check out this blog. This is Isaac returning to post some more stuff on the blog. Daddy is helping me type up this.

The 4th Annual Delk Baseball trip is underway and we have already completed our second day. Sorry about no post last night but we got stuck in traffic from road construction and did not get to our hotel until late.

So...without further fan fare. Here is a recap of Day 1 and 2.

Daddy decided he was going to take Andy and I on the trip this year. Andy and I have gone to games before and we seemed to enjoy it. Our first game this year was to the Braves final Spring Training game on March 30.



Daddy kept talking about the trip this year and I told him I did not want to go. I don't want to play baseball. I told him it made me sad.



But Daddy tricked me yesterday and told me we were going to Walmart. We did ... but it was over 200 miles away from home and on our way to the Savannah Sand Gnats. When we got there I was really upset and wanted to go to the house, but once we got inside and I saw they were playing the Rome Braves. I got really excited. It also helped that Daddy bought Andy and I a bat and ball from the "Sannannah Sandwich". Here is a picture of Andy with his ball and bat.



We stayed at a Days Inn in Savannah. I like staying at a hotel. I like my bed.

The next morning we got up and headed to Florida. I told Daddy I did not want to go to Florida but once we got there I liked it. I really like my bats.

Andy was pretty excited about Florida too. Daddy was very proud of him when he said Florida. That must be a big deal for him.



We spent a big part of the day driving to Clearwater, FL where the Phillies A+ team the Clearwater Treshers play. Their mascot was pretty cool. His name is Phinley the Shark.



Phinley even taught me a few tricks. Like how to properly chew a bat in half.



Daddy let Andy and I play on the grass berm some while he got wide angle shots of the stadium, whatever that means. All I know is Daddy let us run around and that is the best thing ever.



Andy had fun running around the other kids. I did too.



I tried to show them how to properly stand in the batters box, like I learned from Diamond Demos on MLB Network but they thought I was in the way.

So we went back through the stadium before the game ended and I got another picture of me with Phinley. Daddy said he wished he had a picture of Andy because he did not like the shark at all. His face was pretty funny.



After the game was over, I wanted to leave as quick as possible because they were going to have Fireworks and I don't like them. Daddy wanted to stop and take some pictures outside the stadium but I begged him to hurry because they were about to shoot off the fireworks. He did get a few shots of the outside, including this one of Andy.



But before we made it to the parking lot. The fireworks went off and ..... BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!. They scared me but Andy liked them and kept saying "Wow!" I told him that it was not "wow" but "three bad." Even though there were fireworks the game was fun.

Daddy even said that a nice lady complemented us on how well we behaved. Daddy just thinks its luck. But, even though I did not want to go, I am having fun so far and I am getting more bats. And more bats is what is really all about.

Tomorrow we are going to the Charlotte Stone Crabs. Yeah! Another bat.

OK Bye-Bye