Picture Time

In this day and age of Homeland Security, how secure is CAK? This is a picture from the rental car location. If you can scale a 8 foot fence, you can get onto the tarmac. By the way, that is not the SUV we had for the weekend in NYC.

This picture is from our seats at Yankee Stadium. They weren't too bad, except for costing $40 per seat. The weather was beautiful for the entire weekend.

B is modeling our gameday shirts. I made up the design and Ritchies printed them. I thought it would be a neat idea for all 8 of us to wearing the same shirt for the game. Even, Jared had one on.

WE WILL NEVER FORGET. Hopefully, that still rings true. Sometimes I wonder. Six years ago we were attacked. Thousands lost their lives that day and the days following. Now, we are losing soldiers everyday. We need to get the job done. I doubt this will happen with the Democrats in control of the House and Senate. They want to be done with this war. Yet, if we leave now, we will be open to future attacks. I guess I hope I'm not in New York, Chicago, or LA when the next wave of attacks happen. We knew Osama bombed the WTC in 1993 and President Clinton did basically nothing to stop these attacks.

Kudos to MSNBC for replaying, in real time, the events of Sept. 11, 2001. It was bone chilling to watch the events unfold again. We went into the PATH station located in the WTC site and you could not help but feel like you were on hallowed grounds. Being there last weekend, brought a new sense of what happened 6 years ago. Please, President Bush and congress get the job done right the first time.

Til next time,

Bayou

Today was the first day of school. This is the first day in the new building. There are minor things to be completed, but the building looks nice. I have a new schedule for the first time in 7 years. I have 2 junior high class to start the day. There is no longer rotation class, but full semester junior high technology education. I still have yearbook, photo and high school technology education class, but at different times than last year.
New York Trip review.
This was the 13th Labor Day trip. We returned to the Bronx, mainly for my sons. They needed to see a game in Yankee Stadium, before it becomes the "old" Yankee Stadium. I picked up our rental SUV (Durango) on my way home from school. The kids loved it. T and I loved it. It has 3rd row seating, which our kids love. It took about 8 hours to drive to Piscataway, NJ. The Drive was peaceful. The kids had plenty to do during the drive. We stayed at the Radisson.
Saturday we slept in. Jared and his family arrived at the hotel about 10. We drove over to Staten Island. We took the ferry into New York. The kids saw the Statue of Liberty as we sailed by. We walked to the WTC center. It was moving to say the least. We then headed to Coney Island for a Nathan's hot dog. We could have stayed there and watched a minor league game, but we headed back into the city. We went and found a statue to Balto. B read a story on Balto last year and wanted to see the statue in Center Park. Jared spotted Abe Vigoda walking just outside Center Park.
Sunday morning we left early for Yankee Stadium. We were able to get into Monument Park. It was like walking into a baseball history book. The game was a blow out for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The won 8-2. The Rays are K's second favorite team right now. We saw them play last year on the cruise.
Monday we let the kids swim before heading home. We only made one stop near State College. The kids slept most of the first part of the trip so I kept on driving. We arrive back around 7pm. All in all, it was a fun trip. It is now time to start planning next year's trip.

Labor Day Trip 2007! We just got back from our annual baseball trip. It was a full group this year, 8 in all. I don't think we will take the kids again next year. It was a handful with them. Normally, it is an adults only trip.

Here are a couple of pictures from the trip.

Something is missing. It was difficult to look at the NYC skyline without the WTC buildings standing over Manhattan. We did walk to Ground Zero. It was an unreal site even 6 years after the attacks. We went to the church that withstood the attacks. It has a very small sample of stuff left at the site in the days and months after Sept. 11, 2001. This was my first trip to NYC since 1999 and seeing a big hole brought back memories of that day.

After we visited Ground Zero, we hoped an a subway and went to Coney Island. Jared thought it would be neat to at Nathan's Original stand. We picked the wrong day. There was a ton of people eating hot dogs. BTW, the hot dogs were pretty good.
Sports news today: Michigan lost to Appalachian State (1AA). It is the first time a 1AA school beat a ranked 1A school. Ohio State beat YSU handily 38-6. Mogadore won 42-0 over New Middleton Springfield Friday night.

The highlight of the trip for me was visiting Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. It is really a history of baseball. One day I will be able to tell my sons about some of the people honored there. I thought of my uncle while I walked around the park. I am not sure he ever visited it, but it would be a place he would have enjoyed. I always seem to forget his birthday was Sept.1 I am always on a baseball trip on his birthday. He really got me started on visited baseball stadiums in 1991 with a trip to Chicago. I think we went to 2 games at Wrigley, 1 game at the new Comisky, and a basketball playoff game at the old Chicago stadium. I still miss him. I will post a couple of more pictures later and a full trip recap as well.

Bayou Out!

Today was painting day. We bought all the paint and stuff yesterday and we finished 2 coats today. We will trim all the wood in white. The shed is painted to match our house. We hope to have it finished next week.

This has been the summer of detours. First of all the bridge over Perry has been closed for 90 days. This little detour forced us to use Nave Rd to Genoa Rd. That was until Genoa was closed at the school or the other side of Lincoln Way. At different times this summer Perry was down to one way while they repaved it. Jackson was closed for most of the year. I hope we don't run into any detours this weekend.

I forgot to report the final score of the Mogadore-NL South Range game. The Cats dug a hole in the first half. SR had a 12-0 at halftime. But, the Cats clawed back to a 15-12 lead. The lead did not last. The Raiders won 26-22.

Also, the MNFFL held its draft this past weekend. The league welcomed Full Throttle as a new member. We are going on line this year. It will be easier for all of us. The Bayou Steelers are looking to repeat as champions this year. We did win the first two MNFFL Super Bowls and our the only team to repeat as champions. I will post the Steelers roster later.

Til Next Time---See you Down By the Bayou

Here is the birthday boy.

This is the backyard where Rich's party was held.

Today was the first day of school for the kids. B is in the 4th grade and K in the first. I went to Mogadore for a CPR class. Then it was off to Price Park for some picture taking of my nephew, Nick. The pictures turn out great. Kerri loved them.

K had flag football practice again tonight. I need to work with him on throwing and catching. It was about 90 degree during practice. Thankfully it only lasts an hour.

Football time!

I met up with Keith Moore tonight at the Canton South game. It was good to see him. We need to get together soon with them. I missed having them at Atwood.

SORRY!!!!!!!!!

I am sorry it has been 2 weeks since I lost blogged. I will try to update you on what has happened since Aug. 8.

August 11. We had a 70th party for my dad today. It was held at Dawn's. We made a shirt with hand prints for dad. We had all 10 grandkids put one hand each and my siblings and I put our hands on as well. There are a total of 70 fingers on the shirts. I will add a picture later.

August 13. I traded the Saturn in on a Focus. Actually, we are driving the Focus as a rental until the Ion is done in the shop.

August 14. Happy B-Day, Kerri. My sister is 31 today. We drove to Uniontown, PA to see Amana. We stayed at the Hampton Inn. Amana took us to Red Lobster for dinner.

August 15. We had lunch at Amana's and dinner at Bob Evan's. The last thing we do when we visit her is go hungry. We had a great time visiting her. She loves seeing the kids and watching them play. B and K tried to show her their Webkinz, but she was lost. We did manage to take J's pictures in her front tree. They look great. I will add them later as well.

We went to the camper Aug 17-20. The weather limited us on what we could do. It was cool and rainy on Sunday. But, it is so nice to go there for a few days. WE went to Rich Anderson's 50th b-day party on Saturday. It has been at least 5 or more years since we saw some of the old friends. I hope we can go out and visit with them again.

Today was K's dentist appt. He did wonderful. I hope this is the last time any of my kids have that much work done. We went to meet the teacher at school. It looks like the kids have wonderful teachers. Speaking of school, Mogadore will not start until after Labor Day.

T is on her way home. She should be home while the next 2 hours. It has been a long 5 days. I am thankful to my mom for taking B and my in-laws for taking K for a couple of days.

Yesterday, I went to Mogadore. I was able to set up my room. It is not even close to being done, but the basic layout is done. I still have 20 or so box to go through, OK maybe 30.

Last night I was watching ESPN with my 2 sons when Barry Bonds hit his 756th home run. While I was glad to watch history with them, but I cant help but think about him cheating to get the record. Someday, K and J will ask about Bonds and I will tell them I think he is a cheater.

I was glad to have a couple of days with just J. I never get to spend alone time with him. As the kids get older, I will want to spend quality alone time with each one of them. I had a blast with B at Geauga Lake last month and going to a ball game with K in June. I think that is the hardest part of fatherhood is spending quality with all your children.

Changing gears to MNFFL.

The 742 Ho's have left the league and Full Throttle has taken their place. FT is owned by a fraternity brother in Michigan. We will draft teams later this month and the Bayou Steelers will draft last because we are the current MNFFL Champions!
There is one big change to the league this year, we are going to yahoo.com for their online fantasy football. It is about time we move the league online. I will be glad I don't have to add up scores after the games. I always felt bad if I missed something.

Til later--

See you Down by the Bayou

Today was Hall of Fame Day in Canton. The Dallas Cowboys have another player in the HOF. Micheal Irvin will be presented by Owner Jerry Jones tonight. I am blogging while the ceremonies are going on at Fawcett. I took the kids with Mom to the parade. We left about halfway through, after Micheal and the Perry Band.
On a side note, Teresa left today for her CM convention. It will be a long 5 days. She better get her business going or she should give it up. She has not done much in business this year or done much scrapbooking at all this year. I think she just stay on as a consultant to go to convention. There is more to a business than a big party every year.
If you get a chance, read this blog: tiffanyandjason.blogspot.com
I saw an article in the Rep today and checked out the site. It is a heart warming story.

Bayou Out!

It cost $45 to put a Happy Birthday greeting on the scoreboard during the game, but you can text in a message before the game. Unfortunately no one else from my family saw it at the game.
14 years ago, T and I went to Oshkosh with dad. On the way back, we stopped in Chicago and saw a Cubs game on his 56th birthday. The traffic was bad and not everyone got to there seats to see all of the game. The Tribe beat the Rangers 5-0!
After the game, we ended up at Nana and Papa's for a "everyone bring your own dinner" night. Most of us went swimming. I cant remember that many people in the pool at one time. Even, Papa got into the 86 degree water.

Were to start?

Team Ohio did not win the Kieb Golf Outing in Michigan. We were 5 off the winner. Jeff and I drove up together Saturday July 21. We meet Rick and Gary just inside the Michigan line. We left close to 5 shots on the course and could have won it with a little luck. OK, we needed alot of luck. Jeff did ok since he has not golfed in 2 years.
We talked about his domestic troubles. It is sad when a family is going to split apart. I hope and prayer something will happen and they can find away to stay together. However, I doubt it.
When I got back from Michigan, I headed to Atwood. T took the kids down earlier. We spent a wonderful week fishing, boating, biking, etc.... The weather was like in San Diego, 70s and mostly sunny. B did have swelling on her hands again. Dr. Maki put her on claratin and prednazone (sp?). He would like her to take claratin before we go to Atwood next time.
We went to the Akron Aeros game on Saturday July 28. It was PHBA night. K and I got to parade around the track. We took Anthony Tolin back to the camper. We had a good time with him on Sunday.
The van took a crap on us Sunday afternoon. A camper looked at the van and said it could be the fuel pump. I was able to get it started on Monday and drive it home. Zeigler is going to fix it. I hope we are not throwing away $$$$ on this vehicle. I would rather trade it in on a new van.

The full moon rises over Atwood Lake.

It is nice to know my child is not the only one that get their legs stuck in something.

WSOP Pictures.

Jared is enjoying his free Milwaukee's Best Light!

Ryan Elson is all smiles after winning a pot. That is Gus Hanson in the white shirt.

Humerto Brenes is leaving the poker room after busting out of the Main Event. He was at the feature table when he was eliminated.

Scotty Wynn (not the correct spelling) signs a shirt before the dinner break on Saturday.

These pictures where taking with my camera phone. No flash photography is allowed in the poker room. I was at the WSOP on Saturday July 14.

Vegas trip review:

Friday. I flew to CLT from CAK. I had a nice long layover before my flight to Vegas. I was in first class. I beat Jared to Vegas by about 45 minutes. We got to the Stratosphere, but Jared's host did not make his reservation. It was about 30 minutes before we could get into a room.

Saturday. We both were up early. We did some video poker before we headed to the Sahara for the morning poker tournament. I did really well at video poker. For a short time, I was 4 of a kind guy. I played really well for about 3 hours at the tournament. I called an all-in with pocket aces. The all-in had pocket fours. She hit a four in the flop and I was out.
After lunch we headed out to the Rio and see the World Series of Poker. B's second grade teacher's husband was in the field of 6,000+. He was still playing when we got there. Jared and I wondered around making to the seats by the ESPN feature table and the Milwaukee's Best Lounge. Watching hold'em is nothing like on TV. There is little action most of the time. Even when there is action, ESPN's camera swarm the table so the fans can't see what is going on. When we where there we saw Huck Seed, Scotty Wynn (not the correct spelling), Humberto Brenes and Gus Hanson. Gus was at Ryan Elson's table. Maybe we will be a back round shot or something when ESPN airs the WSOP. Ryan went out in 24th place and earned over $330,000.

Sunday. More video poker. I was planning on heading to the Rio to watch Ryan, but never made it. He busted out today in 24th place. Jared and I went to Marino's for dinner. It is the restaurant in Hooters. They have good food and spirits. I did some wandering around saving my last few dollars for tomorrow.

Monday. We ended up downtown at the Golden Nugget and Binions. My good video poker luck did not follow me downtown. When I made it to the airport, my reservation had been changed. I ended up flying to Denver on Ted(United) then transferring to Frontier to CAK. Kerri met me and I was home by 12:30am this morning.

I did better gambling this time than last year, but being with Jared is always a good time.

Quote of the trip: A group young 20 something get out of a car with really loud music playing, to which I saw " I don't care how loud the music is, you're still driving a KIA."

VEGAS TIME

Jared and I stay here most of our trips to Vegas.

We did spend one night here.

T and I have stayed here twice.

We might stay here with the kids. This is the new pool at the Golden Nugget. There is a fish tank in the middle of the pool. There is a waterslide that goes through the fish tank, which has sharks.

PICTURE TIME

The front of the new Mogadore Jr/Sr High School.

It was rather windy on the bridge to the waterpark from Geauga Lake.

Rachel Scava enjoys a swing with Kent at her graduation party.

This was the funnel cake deluxe I had for dinner last night.

This is post 100!

We have been camping at Atwood since July 1st. We were only going to stay til Thursday, but we had so much fun, we stayed til today. However, we made more than the planned number of trips home.

We planned on driving home on Thursday, but I took B to Aultman North with water bumps on her hands on July 4. Then T took to ER on the evening of July 5. The bump swelled all her fingers. By Sunday, most of them either "popped" or the swelling went down. Today we saw Dr. Smith and she did not have any new resasons on what could cause the swelling or bumps.

On July 1, Christie and family can down for a picnic. Of course, Kent and Briley found new friends to play with. We made friends with Zoe and Kyle and their mom Bobbie. Then Bobbie's BIL's family came in from WV. They had kids to play with as well. We shared a fire with them last night. It would be nice if the Moores were their, but I like having Tim and Sharon to talk with.

B and I leave tomorrow for our overnight. She got all her clues and is looking forward to going to Geauga Lake on Wednesday.

K and I went to Jacobs Field today. We saw the Indians beat Oakland 4-3 with a 3-run homer run in the seventh. I used the tickets from the snowed out Opening Day.
We celebrated B's birthday along my mom's and mother in law last Sunday. It was a beautiful day.

J was letting his cousin drive him around during the party.

We call Alpine Structure on Monday to let them know we are almost ready for the storage shed to be built. T and I put down a ton of rocks down. It also was the one of the hottest days of the year. We only could get one load of stones on Monday. We were going to wait to get more later, but Alpine called on Wednesday and said they could built it on Thursday. So we spent most of Wednesday getting and spreading more rocks. While K and I were at the game, they built the shed. It looks good. It is 10X14, plus a self for more storage. We should start moving thing in there tomorrow. I will add a picture of the shed before we paint it and after.

See you Down by the Bayou

Friday B turned 9. She had a couple of friends spend the night. I think they had a fun time. They swam at Nana's first then back to our house for a fire and play time. Nobody got much slept but they had fun.

Today we did not do much til late afternoon. T and I started and finished leveling the beams for the shed. I have failed to mention the shed we are putting in. We ordered it in May, but had to do the site prep ourselves. We rented a tiller to help turn over the dirt in the backyard. We ran out of good weather and time to get the shed installed before we left for vacation. We will call on Monday and set a date for them to assemble the shed. I will add pictures when it is done.

The other thing I failed to mention is the hail storm hit Mogadore on the last day of school. Both the car and van got hail damaged. We called state farm and told them not to hurry with our claim. Yesterday we went to a claim center and got a check for $3600 to repair the car. We are going to call about the van.

Tomorrow is the party for my mother in law. She turned 60 last week. It is actually my mother's birthday. We will have to get her a gift and have her over later next week.

See you next time, Down by the Bayou.

Planes waiting for a gate at Chicago.

Final Trip review.

Monday. We were awaken to a major thunderstorm. The kids did not wake up, but the adults did. Helen's rain gauge showed 5 inches fell overnight. Her stream in the back yard was flooded. There was flooding all over north Texas. We made it to 6 Flags shortly after opening and stayed until 10pm. It was a fun day. Everyone got to ride the rides they wanted to, except me. The parachute ride was closed due to high winds. I rode that ride with my cousin over 20 years ago.

Tuesday. Helen had a few errands to run before she leaves for Idaho, so we did some of our own. We had breakfast at Krispy Kreme before heading to the DFW National Cemetery. I still miss my uncle. Then it was off to the Dallas Cowboy Golf Course for the 3rd time. I finally got the right sized shirt with a logo. We made it back home for a late lunch then swimming at the splash area. The pools in Hertiage were closed due to the heavy rains on Monday. The kids went up to Lauren and Matthews, while we packed. It was a fun trip even if I did not get to see 2 baseball games or ride 'Chutes over Texas'.

Wednesday. We left Helen's house at 4:45am during another heavy t-storm. We saw a lighting strike hit a tree or a house about 100' from our car. It lite the night sky up like it was daytime. Our flight to Chicago was on time. It was bumpy for the first 40 minutes. When we landed in Chicago we had to wait on the tarmac for 75 minutes. United's computers shut down while we were flying to Chicago. We finally went to a gate and then bought lunch. The flight to PIT was delayed, but not too long. We landed in PIT, got our luggage, went to the parking place and headed home. We made it to the parade for Briley. On the way home from the parade we picked up a pizza,ate, and then crashed.

I will catch everyone up on things that happened since we got back.

Til then---See you Down by the Bayou!

Friday: We left for San Angelo in the late morning. We stopped for DQ for lunch. It rained for most of the drive towards Abilene. The gates opened at Foster Field at 6pm for the game between the Colts and the Laredo Broncos. I met up with Ken Franz and Frank (the voice of the Colts). Ken was able to talk me into being a human bowling ball for a between inning promotion. I would post pictures of me in the steel "bowling ball" but thankfully T did not take a good picture. B was in the "Dress like a Colt" promotion sponsored by John and Patti Ballard. K was a base sweeper later in the game. Then the lighting and rain hit the area. The game was called after 4.5 innings and the Colts won.
Saturday: We drove around the San Angelo area, hitting the local movie theatre to see Shrek the Third. The kids also did some swimming before we headed to Foster Field. However, the storm last night made the field unplayable. I was very upset that I would not get to see my Colts play. We ended up going to Zenter's for dinner. They have steaks that are out of this world. I ordered a huge t-bone well worth the price.
Sunday: We drove back to Ft. Worth. We ate at Sonic for lunch. In the evening We had a Father's Day gathering at Aunt Helen's. Marc and Amy came over with Anna. Wes and family come down as well. It was good to spend time with Marc and Wes. Wes had to work while we were visiting and I did not get to visit with him much. There was some "Ladder golf" (aka Hillbilly horseshoe) played, with the Bracken father daughter combo lost to the Carr team.

I will finish the trip review tomorrow.

We arrived back from Texas today. I will recap the rest of the trip tomorrow. Here are a couple of pictures from the trip.

B took part in the "Dress like a Colt" on field promotion sponsored by John and Patti Ballard.

This is what the Jeep said as we pulled into the gas station near Aunt Helen's house.

This is bridge to the Tot Lot. The flood water from the 5 inches of rain knocked down the metal guard rails on the bridge.

K and his cousin Matthew show off their cowboy hats.

Maybe it was my kids that caused the United computer failure. They visited the cockpit before our flight from DFW to ORD. The captain loved K's cowboy hat.

Trip Update.

Tuesday. We had an uneventful drive to PIT. It is only 80 miles via Rte 30 to the airport. Our flight to Chicago left and arrived on time. We eat lunch in the airport while we waited for our flight to DFW. We arrived a tad late due to afternoon t-storm we had to dodge on the way into DFW. Aunt Helen had BBQ waiting for us when we arrived. Kelly and the kids greeted us as we pulled into the driveway.

Wednesday. Today was Briley's picture day. We drove to the Texan and spent an hour taking her picture at various locations. I saw Lou Holtz walking to a meeting while we were getting set for our first pictures. Helen meet us at Grapevine Mills for lunch. She and T took the girls shopping for the rest of the afternoon. I took the boys back to Lankford Trail. After the ladies returned, everyone went swimming. So far it has been a smooth trip.

Thursday. We drove to Gainsville, TX and visited the Frank Buck Zoo. It is a small zoo north of Ft. Worth. The kids got to feed a giraffe. We sent about an hour there looking at all the animals. We had a picnic in the park at the zoo. After lunch, we rode the train around the park. The kids loved it. We return back to Ft. Worth. I had to go return a shirt I bought yesterday at the Cowboys Golf Club. T and J went with me. J fell asleep on the return to home. Currently, the kids are with Helen at the pool. I will sign off and join them.

I will update everyone when we return from San Angelo.

--Bayou

Saturday was the last day for teachers. I don't think I will miss my temporary room. I left early to go to Kent's last t-ball game. He played catcher. He looked like he knew what he was doing behind the plate. After the game, Alex Ross watched the kids while I went to Mr. Byer's house for a cookout. It was a fun time, but very sunny. Teresa got sent home early and we all went back for a campfire. We bought stuff for s'mores. I thought it was a good time. I hope Terry and Linda did as well.
Today was a fundraiser at the Aeros game. We had 11 people working and we needed everyone. It was busy from the time the gates opened until we closed in the 8th inning. I am not sure how much $$$ we made, but alot more than last time. We have another night for July 9 at the same stand. When I got home I cut up the branch dad cut down earlier this week and mowed.

That is all for now,

Bayou

Today was the day all teachers live for-----------LAST DAY FOR STUDENTS!!!!!!!!! T brought the kids up to Mogadore for lunch. She helped me move my stuff into my new room. We made about 5 trips before we let B and K to see my room. During the 6 trip, a major storm hit Mogadore. There was a tornado warning, complete with a siren, and golf ball sized hail. Yes, the Saturn received hail damage again. It looks like the van was spared. I have to go in tomorrow for teacher in service, but I will leave early for Kent's game at 11:00am. He is going to be the catcher. I am sure he cant wait. He was suppose to play a game tonight but the weather cancelled it.
I still haven't made up my mind about the wrestling job. It is a major pay cut, almost 40%. I think the best thing to do is let Vinny take over as head coach and his pay would go from 11% to 10%. I will waffle on this for awhile. I haven't sign the contract yet. I will talk thing over with Vinnie after I get back from Texas.
I haven't forgotten about the Cavs. The truth is, I don't really like the NBA at all. I miss the days of Mark Price, Brad Daugherty, Craig Ehlo, and Ron Harper. I am happy that a local kid is leading the Cavs to the Finals. I think they are one player away from winning it all. However, LeBron could take over this series and bring the first championship to Cleveland since 1964.
If you have nothing better to do and want to listen to the San Angelo Colts, go to sanangelocolts.com and follow the links. I have been following them almost nightly. They have a 23 year old announcer who is pretty darn good. If you listen, you might here my name. They have nightly trivia and most night I get it right and Frank says my name. I haven't won game tickets yet, but I think living in Ohio might have something to do with it.

See you Down by the Bayou!

I went to Columbus for the state track meet. I met up with Jerry, Kevin and Charlie Somerville. I arrive to see the D1 state record in the shot fall. The new record is a half foot short of 70' There were plenty of state records set this weekend. We stayed at the Hampton Inn about 10 miles from Ohio State.
Mogadore held its graduation on Sunday. I don't know how MHS can have 55 graduates and take 2 hours to graduate them. It is a nice service, but it could be shorter. I think they are making changes for next year.
I played golf tonight. I will blame the weather for the bad round.

Til next time, Bayou

Today was the last day for seniors. Thank God!!!!!
I will not miss them. They have alot of growing up to do. It is almost like they expect everyone to do things for them. There are some very lazy graduates entering college or the workforce.
We had the track awards last night. It was quick and to the point.
K had a very good night at t-ball last night. He was at pitcher's mound for the first two innings and stopped several ball. Him and Dan made a couple of outs. He did better at the plate last night.

It has been a couple of beautiful days. I hope it continues through the weekend.

Til Next time,

Bayou

Sorry far not blogging in a week. I am sure how many people actually read this, but it a good way for me to remember what is going on.

Last week was the first week without track practice since early March. In a way it is great not having anybody in regional, but that means no one advanced which is a let down. I will be heading down to Columbus on Friday.

I still have not made up my mind about wrestling. I have thought about leaving everything to Vince. I have thought about staying on as a volunteer on my schedule and I have thought about staying on at 10%. Maybe it is time to move on. It is apparent to me they want to do away with wrestling, so why should I stand in the way?

Friday, we made our first camping trip to Atwood. We arrived about 6, just in time to set up and eat dinner. We sat around the fire at Ranger Larry's.

Saturday, we went back home to pick up Briley. She had a slumber party at the Poorman's. Then we went on to Kelli Pollock's graduation party. The kids had a fun time. They have an awesome house. Big yard. Basketball court. Swimming Pool. Then it was back down to Atwood. It rained during the overnight, but we slept right through it.

Sunday. T had to go to work....oh wait...They called her off at 5:30am. She was already in Bolivar. It was sunny most of the day. K and I went fishing off the boat. We actually caught a few bluegill. K did his own casting and catching. The sky started to get dark and we headed back. It stormed for about 15-20 minutes, then Christy and Mike arrived. We had a nice visit and boat ride. It did rain a couple of short times while they we here.

Today. Briley did a ON with McKayla (Ranger Larry's granddaughter) last night. She did not get back til 1pm. So while she was gone this morning, we went back on the boat. K and I caught fish at the same time. I had one almost to the boat and K caught his. These were the only two fish we caught today.

Just a side note about gas prices. It went up to $3.49 on Wednesday and it is "back" down to $3.19 today. I am so glad we are flying to Texas next month.

Friday: It was a fun day with the talent show. The talent was pretty good. After the talent show, Rich had a brief meeting of the Athletic Council. He let everyone know there will a tag day for the booster club. Then he passed out the new pay schedule for the coaches. Everyone pretty much stayed the same, but the wrestling coaches. We got cut by over $2800 between the two of us. Oh, by the way the AD got a raise of about $2800. Unbelievable. Just another shot at the wrestling program. I have not decided what to do yet. I am trying to look out for Vince more than myself. He will be hit hard by the cut. I spent the entire ride to Norwayne fuming over how something like this could happen.
We did not advance anyone to regionals next week. So, the season ended. Lets see how long it takes to get paid.
Saturday: K went to practice, then we all went to Atwood. It was camper wash day. Jeff and his family came down to the camper. We all had a nice dinner. Jeff took the kids out for a quick boat ride. It was raining off and on while we where there.
Sunday: We started the site work for the barn. We also started to do some other work around the yard. We could not really get into working because T was scheduled to work. Well, she got called off about 2pm. So we had some more time before my track meeting at Rootstown. We are going to plant some pumpkins on the side yard, so we spent time working to get that area ready. We will get a tiller tomorrow and hopefully finish all the work. We will then need to get crushed limestone for the base of the barn.

Later,

Bayou

K lost his second tooth today.
The wrestling team worked a food stand at the Akron Aeros game. We made over $100. I am not sure the total, but not too bad. We have 4 more times to earn $$$.

Me and K before one of his games.

Sorry again. I try not to go so long without writing things down. It just seems something is going on every night.

Recap of the week:

Saturday: Mogadore boys team finished ahead of Rootstown! We did not win any events, but did manage to score in most of the events. I went to the "post meet" gathering. We talked about the pros and cons of the first team/second team awards the coaches must go back to Rootstown and vote on.

Sunday: Akron Aeros game. We had 7 people working. We need to get 10 and we should have that next time.

Monday: K had a game. K has changed his swing. I am not sure why, but he is now doing a check swing. I will need to work on that. He could be getting more power in his swing.

Tuesday: Best day of the year, weather wise. It was 85. I mowed the yard and tried to straighten up where the stumps used to be. I will be rented a tiller soon and getting the yard ready for the barn.

Wednesday: What a difference a day makes. A storm front went through in the middle of the night. I was awake most of the night, only J made his way into our bed. The temp dropped into the 50's. The district track meet was held at Norwayne HS. It rained on and off most of the 7+ hours we were there. We managed 1 point. Zack Trainer was 8th in the shot. We will have chances to score tomorrow night. I doubt we will have anyone or relay team advance.

Thoughts on the Cavs: I actually watched 2 games so far in the series with NJ. I hate pro basketball. Give me the NCAA any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Thoughts in the Tribe: There are some in the national media that think the tribe can make it to the World Series. Are they kidding. This is Cleveland. Nothing good happens here in sports. The pitching is ok. The closer has 2 blown saves where he was one strike away from the save. I watched him give up a hit and homerun to tie the game on Sunday. Then the next 2 guys get hits and then a 3 run home run to win the game for Oakland.

That is enough for now,

Bayou

I am sorry I have not blogged in a few days.

Monday: It was golf night. I shot a 44. I did hit some good shots tonight. It was only 4 shots better than week 1, but it felt better. I birdied 7. I hit a monster drive, good 3 wood across the water. My pitch shot was 15 feet from the cup. I hit the putt!

Wednesday: Day one of the PTC Championship. We did not advance as many as we thought we should. The Mog coaches ran the girls discus. We missed most of the first part of the meet.

Today: Mogadore hosted the JR High PTC County Division Championship. It got off to a rocky start. Some of the coaches we upset that we changed the format from what was sent out. The coaches meeting took alot longer than it should. It got heated. In the end, the "games committee" (me and Rich) have the right to change the format. It went alot quicker than a high school meet. Here is the link to the results: http://baumspage.com/track/ms/ptc/county/res07.htm

Tomorrow: We will be at Ravenna for the high school PTC meet.

I missed Kent's game on Wednesday night and tonight. I feel bad about missing these things. But Coach Tom is doing a good job with the kids. I will be there Monday for the game.

Have a good weekend,

Bayou

Thursday: The track team did ok at Dalton. I spent most of the night talking to Jerry Somerville while watching the relays. Our best finish was in the shot and disc. Both teams finished in 2nd place. The weather was beautiful.
Friday: My tooth is hurting more and more each day. T tried to call Dr. Cohen, but he is not in til Monday.
Saturday: We were at Avondale. We did not look as good as the other night. We need to continue to work on defense and backing each other up. Kent hit the ball pretty well. He is practicing with his own tee in the backyard. Grandma picked up the kids so T and I could go to Prom. Prom was held at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It was a good time.
Sunday: We had K's birthday party today. It was a wonderful weather day. The kids played nice together. K got plenty of gifts, but he did get his bike. It is a tad big for him now, but he will grow into it in no time.
I have golf tomorrow. The weather should be nice. I hope to play a ton better than last time.

5 weeks of school left!

Bayou

Yesterday, I received an email from United about a flight number change. So, I went into their website to copy down the new information. I noticed they changed B's seat assignment. They moved her 3 row behind us. I called their 800 number 2 different time and no one could help move her back to her original seat because the plane is full. Today, I called one more time. Brian at United was able to "open" a couple of seat together and move me and B a couple of rows in front of T, K, and J. I am amazed by fact Brian was able to help me, when no one yesterday was willing to help.
We ran against East Canton last night. We were able to get the meet in before the rains came. There was heavy rain and thunderstorms at bedtime. We even got pea-sized hail. We will be at Dalton tomorrow for the Toby Grimm Relays. It is the "funniest" meet of the year.

Keep on Smiling, Bayou

Tonight was K's first t-ball game. We played at Navarre. There were some good plays and some bad plays. We don't have another practice for almost 2 weeks, but we will play 4 games between now and then. K did ok. He made good contact with the ball when he batted. When we got home, he went to the back yard and hit off his tee. He still needs to work on his fielding. He played first base and right field. One of the rules of the league has everyone playing every position during the season. Coach Tom has each kid playing 2 positions per game. Tom is doing a good job. He does ask for the coaches' opinion. We play again Friday night and Saturday afternoon.
The rest of this week is busy. We ran at East Canton tomorrow and Dalton on Thursday. A jr high meet is squeezed in on Wednesday.
I ordered our shed today. We are buying a 10x14 shed. I need to get the site ready. I have 3-5 weeks til it is ready. The shed is built in pieces and put together on site. We will need to paint it when they are done building it. I would like to have this done by the time we leave for Texas. Speaking of Texas, I purchased the 10 game flex package for the Colts. We are going to see them play on the 16 and 17 of June.
B is sick. Nana took her home from K's ballgame. She won't go to school tomorrow. Her temp is 102. T will take her to the dr tomorrow.

Good Luck to the Eagles (k's team sponsor is the local Eagles' club.)
From the Bayou

What a night last night. It was a cool damp night for the Wildcat Invitational. I managed to stay dry, of course I was in the press box. We had some problems. Mo Raddish said he had everyone for the finish line. Well, we did not have anyone and Dave Ross recruited the stands for workers. Then I was told I had to let coaches make substitution for the races. I was not happy. I gave all coaches until 8pm Thursday night to turn in their lineup. But Rich told me I had to let them make changes. It wasn't to bad only a couple of changes that did not figure in the scoring. The results can be found at http://baumspage.com/track/mogadore/res07.htm
This morning we had t-ball pictures, then practice. It will be interesting to see our first game. The kids don't know all the basic rules. It is hard to keep their attention long enough to do some work. Jeff called during practice to fill me in on the draft. The Browns were able to draft Joe Thomas, OT from Wisconsin and Brady Quinn from ND. It had to be like Christmas for Phil Savage. The Browns traded with the Cowboys to get Brady. Jeff brought the boys over for pizza and draft watching. Ok, the kids played and Jeff and I watched the draft.
Tomorrow we are heading to Atwood to put in the dock. Tim W should be there to help out. He will be camping on the Moores old lot and sharing our dock. It will be nice to have a familiar face at Atwood since the Bates and Moores will not be there.

Til next time....Bayou Out!

Guess what happened today? Kent lost his first tooth. I was wiggling it and he moved his head and pop! He didn't even know it at first. It wont be long until the neighbor tooth is gone. I havev a feeling he will lose a bunch of teeth in the next couple of months. He had t-ball practice until the rain came.

The entry deadline for the Wildcat track meet has come and gone. I am waiting for Gary to email me the files to upload the data. I am using the school's laptop to run the meet. I do not trust our old computer. I will be glad when the meet is over. It is a lot of work, but hopefully, everyone has a good time.

The Indians are on a little winning streak. They have won 5 straight and 6 of 7 since the trip to NYC. I am glad they are off to a good start. It seems like most years they get off to a horrible start and can't recover. I hope to see them in person soon.

See you Down by the Bayou

0.5 seconds was the difference between winning and losing. The 4x400 meter relay team lost by 0.5 seconds to Rootstown. We were leading the meet 63-60 going into the 4x4. We ended up losing 65-63. There were a couple of spots we should/could have picked up points. We had a good showing against Garfield, but still lost.
Against Rootstown winners included: Kirkpatrick (1600, 3200), Bauer 300H, Green 200, and Holland 400. The 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams won. We could have picked up a couple more points in shot or disc. Trainer is getting pushed by Seymour. Hopefully this will push Trainer to work even harder. Seymour needs to work on his work ethic. He could be a 45' guy in the shot, if he worked harder and listened to coach Cat. He is a big boy and can only get better.
The weather will turn rainy for the next couple of days. Hopefully, by Friday, the sun will return.

Til next time,

Coach Bayou

Tonight was the first night of golf. I shot a 48. It was an ugly 48. I putted the ball better than I hit it with the driver. I will miss next week due to Kent's first t-ball game. The weather held out long enough. It started to rain as I was driving home. It kinda reminded me of the hail storm of 2004.
I gave the hytek disk to Anthony at school. He was able to install and run the meet manager. I hope things work right when I get the computer tomorrow. I want Gary Baumgartner to send me a "dummy" meet to run. I need to refresh my memory on the program.

Bayou out.

What a beautiful weekend. I mowed the lawn yesterday before t-ball practice. J was out "mowing" with his bubble mower. The kids are happy to be playing outside. It was in the 70's all weekend.
The t-ball team has a name: McKinley Eagles #2370. It is the one the Moores belong to. We went there once with them. The team looks ok. We have some talented players. I include K among them. We will have a couple of practices before our first game on April 30.
T and B went too a girl scout camp for their first over nighter. T said they had a good time. I hope she keeps with it.
I tried to load the hytek software on to my computer on Friday. It is not working. I will be talking to tech support tomorrow. I need to get a new copy or get this worked out. I CANT run this Friday night without. It works with baumspage. I will talk to Rich about our options. I hope we don't need to spend $200 for the software.

Pray for dry weather on Friday.
Thanks,
Bayou

We did not fair as well as I thought we would do. Zack and Steve did not score in the shot. Zack did place in the disc. Sean scored in the 3200. Our times are coming down as they should as the weather warms up. Here is the link to the results.
http://baumspage.com/track/aurora/res07.htm

The sun was out for most of the meet tonight. Woodridge adn Streetsboro invaded Wildcat Stadium. We got beat bad versus each team. However, we ran some of the best times of the year. Sean Kirkpatrick set personal bests in both the 1600 and 3200. The throwers did well against both teams. Steve Seymour stepped up big tonight winning the shot put. We found out today we have a meet Thursday night at Manchester. I am not happy and neither is Gary, Jen and Dave. We all planned other things for that night. Rich forgot to put it on the schedule.

I was saddened to hear the news out of Va Tech yesterday. But we had good news today. Mrs. Muncy had a little girl today. I am sure Jeff is very happy to welcome a little girl. I am sure she will have him wrapped around her little fingers.

See you next time Down by the Bayou.

This was about 30 minutes of fun tonight. As you can see, Jarret got his foot stuck in the ball shot of this toy. We were on the verge of going to the ER to get it out. I tried one more time to bend his foot and slide it out. He did cry a little bit, but once it was free he was ok. He is walking fine and has just a little swelling and red mark on the top of his foot. But, we did not go to ER, thankfully.

On a happier note, we finally booked cabins for the cruise. T went over to see Jackie this morning. We are in a JS and mom and dad in a D1 balcony. Dawn booked her family in a JS about 4 door down from us. Craig called tonight and he will book his family before he leaves for MN. I think we will have even more families join us on the cruise. We all "Can't wait til '08".
We run against Woodridge and Streetsboro tomorrow. The meet will go along way to determine the PTC regular season champion. Of course that would between Woodridge and Streetsboro and we are just hosting the meet. The weather should be dry, which will make everyone happy.

Til tomorrow,

See you Down by the Bayou!

We ran at Ellet HS on Friday night. We ran against mostly city series schools. We were able to beat Kenmore. Zack and Steve placed in the shot, but Zack scored in the discus. Sean placed 3rd in both the 1600 and 3200. There are not online result available. We are home on Tuesday night and at Aurora on Friday. I will post updates latert his week.

T and the kids come up and had lunch with me at school. They even stayed for 8th grade rotation. We are in the middle of building our CO2 cars. I think they had a fun time. After school the wrestling parents and I had a meeting. I think we will be able to staff the food stands at the Aeros games. Hopefully, we will be able to raise over $1000.
I did some checking on cruises. I found an August cruise that is cheaper than the Bermuda cruise. We could save over $1100, plus get 2 more nights on the ship. I will talk to Craig about it and see what he has to say. I am pretty sure he doesn't care where and when.

See you Down by the Bayou

First, I forgot to mention, K had his first t-ball practice last Saturday. We went indoors for practice at a local church. The weather was cold and snowy outside, but we were warm inside. We will have 11 players. In t-ball, teams play with 10 boys in the field. There is some talent on the team and some kids ready to learn baseball. I am just a coach and not the head coach. I don't have the time to be the head coach. But, I am going to help out as much as possible.
Tonight we ran against Waterloo and Lake Center. We did not kept score against LC, because they have only 12 runners. I am ready to start keeping score against them, because we are not much bigger then them. Waterloo was stacked and will have a good season. We held them under 100 points. Sean Kirkpatrick lead the team with wins in the 1600 and 3200. He also ran the 4x800 and 4x400 relays. Jordan Douglas showed promise in the 100 and 200. He also looked good in the 400. He ran a 12.2, 25.0 and a 55.5 split in those races. Now, those times are going to get him to Columbus, but they are not bad. He does not practice with us, due to baseball. He only practices with us when it does not interfere with baseball. We did manage points in the field events. Zack Trainer and Steve Seymour scored in both the shot and discus. They are so close to breaking 40' in the shot. I think once they do that, they both could be close to 45' They still need work in the discus, but are improving. We will run at Ellet HS on Friday night. I will let know how we did here on my blog.
Here is the link to our opening meet at Western Reserve on 3/31/07
http://baumspage.com/track/wreserve/neodiv3/res07.htm

Til next time,

Bayou

Happy Birthday to me and my brother in law Tim. It snowed again last night. I never know what type of weather to expect. I have had b-days in the 80's, thunderstorms, snow, sleet and tornado warnings. I guess that is par for the course in Ohio.
It is also Easter Sunday. We got up early and the kids got baskets from the Easter bunny. We saw his tacks in the snow by our front door. We went to church and enjoyed the service. Then it was on the my parents for lunch. There was an egg hunt. It was funny seeing all the kids run around trying to find their numbered eggs. Then it was off the T's parents. Less congestion, but still a hunt for eggs and good food. I did get cupcakes at both places for my b-day. T went with her mom to the hospital to see Aunt Jeannie. She is having surgery tomorrow morning. Our prayers go out to her for a speedy recovery.
The tribe still has not played their "home" opener. A double header was called yesterday and today. There is a double header schedule for tomorrow. We will see if that games gets played. The Mariners will need to come back to Cleveland and play 2 at some point in the season.
I talked to Mom about the cruise. We believe the price for the Bermuda cruise is too high. The sail dates and prices will be released tomorrow for the Caribbean. I think we will head back to Florida to sail. There is talk of dad not going next year. I know he wants to go to Oshkosh, but we will miss him if he doesn't go with us. Speaking of Oshkosh, dad is talking about going this year. I will need to talk to him about the plans. I am thinking about taking Kent. I believe he can hold his own camping with us. We will see.

Happy Easter from the Bayou!

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

Today was Opening Day at Jacobs Field. Jared drove down to see the game. I was suppose to go to Opening Day in Detroit, but I went to Atlanta. I am glad he come down. However, due to snow, the game started an hour late. There was a delay in the second inning. Mike Hardgrove got the umps to delay the game with 2 out and 2 strikes in the top of the fourth. One more strike and it would have been an official game. The game was finally called at 8:41pm. The entire game will be played over tomorrow at 1:05pm. I will not be able to go due to t-ball practice.

Before I left for the game the kids colored Easter eggs. They had some fun. I am glad there was not a huge mess afterwards. We are going to have a hunt at mom's on Sunday.

Here are a couple of pictures from the trip home. Troy rode back with me. I dropped him off in Columbus. He slept most of the way home. He partied pretty hard after the game. I tried to drive about 3 hours between breaks. Thanks to the satellite radio, I did not have to try to find radio stations. I listened to ESPN radio and Blue Collar Comedy channel. I am glad I made the trip. I wish the Buckeyes could have won, but you need to be in it to win it.

We changed our cruise date to June 28, 2008 this afternoon. Jackie did everything over the phone. The price is higher than I thought, but we can change it again. We are on Explorer of the Seas in a Family Suite. There will be 7 of us in the 2 bedroom suite. We will be sailing out of Cape Liberty in NJ. I will be talking to Craig and other to see if they are interested in booking the cruise. Hopefully, we can get a small group together for the cruise.

See you Down by the Bayou.

Do you know who the person in the red shirt on the aisle? That is Jimmy Jackson former OSU great and NBA star. You cant see him, but Lawrence Funderburke(sp?) in sitting in the row in front of him. During halftime of the game I moved to Section 108 with Troy and Rick. There were 2 open seats. The picture below is from Section 108, last row. These seat were in the seats the Georgia Dome brings in for basketball games.
I wish the Buckeyes could have won the game. They had a great season. Winning 35 games is nothing to sneeze at. I am almost 100% sure Greg Oden will head to the NBA. A 10 million dollar contract is tough to turn down. The Buckeyes will have a good crop of returning players for another deep run in the tournament next season.

After the game we headed back to the hotel. A couple of player come to Troy's room. They were upset with the turn out of the game, but were upbeat about next year as well. We ended up going to bed about 3am. I was up at 6 to start the trip back to Ohio. I will post a couple of pictures of the trip tomorrow.

Bayou Out!

I made it back from Atlanta. I drove down to Mike Yost's house on Sunday night. It was a quick 3 hours to his place. I was able to get a "normal" night's sleep. I was up early Monday morning and on my way to Atlanta via I-75. I arrived at the hotel about 5pm. Troy and his friends were in the room and had a pre-game party under way. I was able to buy a ticket at near face value from a Buckeye fan. The picture below is from Section 302. The view wasnt as bad as I thought it would be. There almost was a fight between Gator fans 2 rows in front of me.

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