Mom & Dad (and Rob & Sharon) were in the middle of Tropical Storm Debbie, down in Florida this week. They received approximately 19??? within a 36 hour period, but thankfully did not get the other two feet that was forecast this week! Dad had to park the car across the street from the park entrance and have Rob pick him up in the jeep! Rob said it was upward of three feet at the front of the park and it was nearly two feet in front of Mom & Dad’s place! Boy, could we use some of that moisture up here – it was hot and arid all week…in fact, even my grass is starting to die with the near record heat. But first, we begin last Sunday with Lukey’s 9th birthday party for family…
On Monday, Matt was in early for football followed by wrestling practice again (apparently, he’s been attending wrestling practice for a few weeks now after AM football)…where he hurt his shoulder again – pretty badly this time. Ever since that big guy at the conference meet (I think?) chopped his arm 4 x illegally – from the outside, Matt has had shoulder trouble. It has popped out a few times during wrestling practices this spring and at each of his free style tourneys. He also had trouble with it at wrestling camp and at football camp…it’s time to do something more for it, I’m afraid. He had an appointment with a specialist later in the week to see if it is a rotator cuff or what… Much to his credit, Matt went back that evening for football practice (tough kid!), not missing a beat – but that doesn’t surprise me. This is the same kid that finished his wrestling matches first with a broken ankle and then with a dislocated shoulder! Of course, his afternoon practice meant that Matt missed tourney games out at the ball diamonds where Bu & Duke had simultaneous games. I felt bad as I couldn’t help coach Bu but thankfully her game was moved to diamond 4 so Ann could at least watch both games and give me updates on her and the ETC slow-pitch team. We started on diamond 5 where it was Luke’s 2nd baseball game of the tourney vs. the Angels (his buddy Oakley’s team). He again batted leadoff and played 1st base, as he has all year. He had 1 error while fielding a batted ball but had 7 putouts. He continued to struggle at the plate, despite going 2-3 w/ 2 singles and a groundout – no balls got out of the infield again and I don’t think he got anything past the pitcher. However, he scored 2 runs and had an RBI as the Sox moved on to the semifinals against our rivals – the Reds (we tied them for the league championship).
Meanwhile over on diamond 4, Abby was facing the #2 team in the league – her favorite coach, Kim’s Napa team. Bu was 2-3 with a pair of singles & a K (that made her very upset again) from the plate while scoring 1 of their 2 runs as they lost 13-2. Abby also played 1st base and batted lead-off. She had only routine plays at first but made them all. She was upset with her many of her teammates’ efforts (or lack thereof) and at her coach with his decisions. The game wasn’t pretty and several players were missing, but they played with the 8 that managed to at least show up. The bad thing is that a couple of them have quit and will not return – including our main pitcher. Abby will be glad to be done with this season and may end up not playing slow-pitch next year. …However, hers is a double elimination tourney so they have one more game. Ann’s brother, Keith, was featured on the local news out in New York, following vandalism at several of the public parks. You can check out the video below…
Tuesday was another early morning for Matt, as he had football but skipped wrestling practice. Abby & Luke went to Gma’s house and then Bu went on to volleyball practice and Luke went to Lego Camp – yes, that’s right – Lego camp! How cool is that?? He was all excited today. He built a robot that moved and did tasks. ;0) Matt’s evening football practice caused him to miss Abby’s next slow-pitch softball tourney game. Although it was only her 2nd tourney game, it unfortunately turned out to be her last slow-pitch game of the year. She and her ETC team only had 9 players (only had 8 to start the game again) – having had their pitcher quit (she had a lot of nerve to show up at the ball park tonight). Man if I was her teammate, I would be furious…I think it also says a lot about the parents, allowing her to quit. There is no way I would allow my child to pull a stunt like that… In addition, their best player was at basketball camp where the others just simply didn’t show up. Ann & I left work early to get to the ball diamonds by 5, as Abby’s coach had requested – only to find out the game wasn’t until 645. But we stayed and watched the 5:00 game which featured a couple of Abby’s friends (including her dance partner, Cara) and two of Shawna’s girls. It was very hot out that evening and we were all sweaty by the time Abby’s game finally started vs. the Mayhugh’s team. I helped coach 1st base. Bu was 0-1 w/ a walk & a questionable ground out (she was safe – watch the video below!) batting in the lead-off position. She also played a flawless game at 1st base, but it was not to be as we were outmanned and out-coached, losing 16-1 to end this awful season. The good thing is now we can focus on fast-pitch softball and maybe get her swing going… That night, Ann made great pretzel-bun cheeseburgers for dinner!!
Luke had Lego camp out at the Learning Center again on Wednesday. Even though it is put on by the YMCA, it is sponsored by Purdue’s school of engineering to develop young minds. He then had a 5 pm baseball tourney game – this time with the only team that has beaten us all year – the Reds. As it turned out, the Reds lost their last game and so we tied for a share of the league title! There are rumors of a play-off game after the season to determine one winner of the league, probably so they don’t have to buy extra trophies. I talked to Mom this morning and she was still doing great. I talked to Rob in the evening and was glad to hear he found a job through the electrician’s union in Tampa. Now he and Sharon can focus on finding a permanent house. We are so happy for them. Luke’s 3rd tourney game was a hell of a game. Luke went 2-3 with a pair of singles, 1 RBI and a run scored from his leadoff position. He played a great 1st base, including a nice catch on a foul ball by the fence! Although the Reds took an early lead, we held on and came from behind to win 10-4!! Revenge was sweet!! Now we can’t wait till Friday night for the championship game!!!
Boy; Thursday was an absolute scorcher! I think we set all-time records for the heat. The highest I personally saw was 110 in Columbus! The heat index was in the 120’s due to the damn humidity. The heat, I can deal with just fine…it’s the humidity that kicks my butt. Luke returned to Lego camp. Abby had volleyball practice, but her softball practice was cancelled due to the heat. Matt had early football but did not attend wrestling practice. Instead, Ann took him to see the sports medicine specialist in Columbus, Dr. Guse. It was good news/bad news as his rotator cuff was fine. However, there is something really wrong with the shoulder. They took a battery of tests and he has an appointment with rehab to be evaluated and is hoping to do physical therapy with a shoulder brace. We’ll hope to have more info next week. That evening, the kids and I worked on their bikes for half hour or so and you’d have thought I went swimming by the way I was drenched in sweat when I finally got back inside! That evening was the NBA draft. My favorite rookie, Robbie Hummel of Purdue, was picked #58 with Minnesota Timberwolves. I felt bad for him. He’s a much better player than that – shame on the Pacers and Celtics for not picking this kid. He is a Valpo native that came to Indy this week to work out with the Pacers and whose fellow All-Big-Ten teammates play for the Celtics now (Johnson & Moore).
Initially “they??? said it would be cooler on Friday. In fact, it was actually just a little bit warmer as it topped the 110 mark yet again today! It was Luke’s last day of Lego camp. It was their final presentation day where they showed off their robots they had worked on through the week. When Ann wasn’t able to attend, we decided to surprise him by leaving work and having me show up unannounced. He was sure surprised and wouldn’t let me leave his side the entire time. He did fairly well – taking first place in his age category, which was only he and one other child. All the rest of the attendees were older kids. He got about 4 of the tasks completed during his presentation. Apparently this is an actual nationwide competition. The winner today was headed to Columbus next week and then onward until they reach the national level, sponsored by Purdue University and of course Lego. Afterwards, I headed back to work and passed Ann who was on her way back to Greensburg – only to pick up Matt & Abby and bring them back to Columbus! It was time for their annual sports physicals. Abby ended up being evaluated for scoliosis at CRH and we’ll find out the results next week. Those three were late getting to Luke’s final baseball game that night. As I came home to get Luke that evening, it was eerily dark in town with very, very blustery winds. Apparently, up in Indy there were some severe storms with straight line winds. It was so dry in town that when combined with these strong winds, created a dust storm that was crazy. It darkened the whole sky and visibility was diminished to about 20 feet, causing the traffic to creep down Main St. After picking up Luke, we came home to get changed and the wind was so strong at home that we actually stopped in the middle of the road as the big tree in the front yard looked like it was waving it’s arms and was in danger of blowing down or having it’s huge limbs break off. It finally chilled out a little and we pulled up in to the driveway but hurried inside just the same. We were only home for a couple minutes before heading out to the ball diamonds to face the Cubs in the championship of the Rookie league tourney. It would be Luke’s final game at this level. Next year, he will begin kid-pitch ball. It was weird how cool it was when we arrived at the ball diamonds. The wind was still howling and the dust was difficult to keep out of your eyes. It had dropped 30 degrees from the time I left work until the time we arrived at the ball diamonds – it was now 78 degrees. It didn’t take long for the lightning and clouds to blow over and the blazing sun come right back, instantly heating it right back up. I was impressed at how well the Cubs played. They had gotten better, as had their pitcher. Phyllis & Dick were there that night, rooting on their grandson, Luke. Outside of the Hellmich’s, most of the other Cubs fans were obnoxious and poor sports – shouting at our kids, our couches and the umpires. Luke again played 1st base and batted leadoff. At the plate, he was much improved, going 3-3 with a single & two doubles (he finally hit one out to the fence again!). He also had an RBI & scored a pair of runs. He also made several good plays at first, including another pop-up in foul territory by the fence. He did drop one ball and had a couple of wide throws get by him. Otherwise, he was awesome at first. We are very proud of how he stepped up and the team never missed a beat, even though he had never played there before. The Cubs jumped out to an early lead but the Sox battled back and came from behind to win going away, 14-8, to capture the Rookie League championship!!! Way to go, Sox! We got two trophies that night – one for tying for first place in the league and one for first place in the tourney. We took lots of pictures and then we all went out to Dairy Queen. I think it was the first time Luke was inside the place, due to his peanut allergy. He had a drink and talked with his buddies for a while before we headed out for dinner. He wanted to go to El Reparo, but they were packed, so he chose Frisch’s Big Boy to celebrate. We tried to talk him in to something else, but he was set on pancakes and bacon!
We slept in a little on Saturday and avoided going outside as much as we could as it was up near triple digits again (it may have reached it in the afternoon, but I was napping on and off. 😉 Ann left early and met up with Shawna at Mrs. B’s to do some scrapbooking most of the day. Luke & I worked around the house, working on a few things from my “honey do??? list, such as the gas grill (finally!), the vacuum and Luke’s bike – well we made 2 out of 3 better anyhow… We did get the new burners and other innards installed and working in the grill and we did get the vacuum taken all apart and cleared three clogs – how did a toothbrush get in there??? What we had trouble with was the bike – Luke wanted his coaster brake hub turned in to a freewheeler (he has cable hand brakes as well). So I watched a couple videos online and read a few message boards and thought I had a good hold of what needed to happen – but I only made it a mess. Now it won’t even turn. I took it apart and put it together probably a dozen times but to no avail, so I have a call in to the Columbus bike shop – I hope they are willing to fix it for a fair price so Luke can stop riding my bike! Abby & Luke both cleaned their rooms in the morning and then Abby joined Ann and Shawna at Mrs. B’s for several hours of scrapbooking. They got home in the early evening and made it popcorn night as we watched the NASCAR boys in prime time. They were in our region, about an hour and a half south in Sparta, KY where Jeff finally earned a top 5… Thanks to Gigi for loaning me her camera card that had Luke’s birthday party as well as several from last week with them feeding one of their “pet??? squirrels, Harley as well as many from the protests that have been going on at the church, here in Greensburg.
It was a much slower day on Sunday. We slept in and took it easy all day, watching movies (it was a Matrix marathon on AMC! – thanks to Ann for putting up with it) and staying cool on another 90+ degree day. Luke played with our neighbor Alex for a few hours in the afternoon. We tried to get the grill going this evening, but it was too windy. I’m not convinced that these burners are going to work for us and we will both be furious if we blew a bunch of cash and it won’t work. I had to fix the chain on my bike three times for Luke, who also managed to crack the crystal on my watch’s face today. I’ve had that bike for a couple years now and have never had the chain come off and I’ve had that watch for years – it’s my work watch – and have never had any issues. He had them for about an hour and had broken them both…he is so hard on things. We have three family videos, one of Keith on a local news channel and then several from around the net this week.
Stolen toilet parts confound police: wivb.com
We again have to thank Gil Hutton this week for our Waybac section, filled exclusively from his Scheu family photo collection. We start off this week with more from Aunt Sue and Uncle Hank’s wedding in April of 1961. Next we have a couple photos of Aunt Judy in late ‘63/early ’64 followed by Cathy in her red polka dot outfit in 1964. Next is David in September of ’65, and then in November of ’66 we have one of Cathy and two of David.
The next section starts with John & June’s wedding in December of ’68, including a cute one with Cathy & June with another young friend. And finally we have two of Cathy in June of 1970.
As for our Shit that Luke Says column this week, we have one entry. While out to eat on Friday night at Big Boy, Luke was showing the waiter what he wanted (pancakes & bacon) on the menu (there was a nice picture of pancakes and bacon with a small piece of garnish) and as he completed his order he added, “But without the seaweed please!??? 😉
What a fast week. In fact, Ann even commented on how fast June, this summer and even this year have flown so far. I reminded her that this is the “good ol’ days??? right now. We love every moment of it but know that it will eventually end at some point in the distant future. For now, we just enjoy it all and keep going. Thanks as always for keeping up with us this time out. We’ll catch up with you again next time…until then, have a good one.
Later, Scheu