t-ball

Today was Samuel's first game of t-ball ever. We put him in a community league that plays every Saturday for eight weeks. The day started off with a parade complete with police and fire truck escorts and a lunch of hot dogs and juice. When the fields were set up and the teams "ready" to play, it was clear that the kids had no clue what they were expected to do. So after a few practice runs around the bases, the coaches took up their posts, tried to explain the game and encouraged these 4-6 year olds to just do their best. Sam's team was up to bat first. Each child was allowed to hit and run one base at a time until the entire team had had a chance to swing the bat. There were no outs and the last player got an automatic grand slam as their turn at bat would signal the time for the other team to take their turn hitting. Despite the practice runs around the bases before the game, many of the kids didn't know what to do once they had hit the ball. Some of them ran to first, or directly to second passing right by the pitcher, or some of them chased the ball and tried to recover it. It was hilarious and adorable all at the same time. John was helping supervise second base so when Sam hit the ball the first time he ran straight for daddy. We finally got him straightened out, but the process itself was really funny.
Anyway, we all had a great time and the best part was that the emphasis was not on winning at all - heck, it wasn't even on being competitive. The emphasis of the day was on learning a new game and having a ball doing it (pun completely intended). Not a bad way to spend a Saturday.