Fall Ball

Well Fall baseball has come to a close, but Daniel had a great season with his new team, the Cardinals. Here in Flower Mound, if kids will be 5 years old by the spring season, they are moved up into 5U (5 yrs and under) baseball, which is also coach-pitch for the first time. We take our sports seriously here! Well Daniel couldn't have been more excited than he wsa playing baseball this fall. We had a great season and look forward to Springtime, as all of the kids stay together for several seasons which helps them all tremendously. Here are some shots from the season and there is more at the team website (yes, that's right):
http://web.me.com/mdehafa/Cardinals/Cardinals_Nest.html

Here are some shots that I took (as always, click on any to expand):



Team photo:



On the basepaths:



Mucking it up in the dugout:



Talking trash:



Hey, I know it's almost Thanksgiving but Spring practice is only three months away!

A Busy Time of Year

Cool animation huh? Well ... not really, this is a picture of me over the last 60+ days or so. This is a busy time of year with a lot going on. Work has been crazy as we try to get through the "mortgage meltdown", and there is always something going on between fall baseball ...



... and the State Fair of Texas ...



... and the arrival of Fall ...



... and Halloween!!



No excuses, I know and I will do a better job posting in the days ahead. I didn't even mention the Sox missing the World Series again by a couple hits or my beloved Alabama Crimson Tide the top-ranked team in the land! Indeed, there is a lot to post and I will fill you in as best I can in the coming days. Until then!

Red Sox Nation extends to Texas

Well this past weekend, the Sox were in town, and don't you know yours truly went to every game. Darn right! Of course, the Sox annual visit to Texas is right up there with Christmas and the Pope visiting around this house. Granted, we're still 2 1/2 games in back of those stinkin' Rays, but we'll catch those wanna-bes before the season closes. Here are some pics from this past Sunday. Enjoy!

Dustin "MVP" Pedroia:


Newsflash: you're ugly and you should switch to "diet":


Big Papi minutes before going yard:


Peedey cranking one foul:


Jacoby:


8-2, final:


Papi mugging it up for NESN's Heidi Watney:


WHIPPED!!:

Remembering ...

On this the 7th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks, take a moment or two and remember the fallen, the heroes that day and the resolve of one nation to come together and overcome.

The end in sight ...

Well the last two days here in the Florida panhandle have been nothing short of fantastic. Sunny skies, a brisk ocean breeze, and pounding surf. We leave with countless memories, a little sunburn, and the understanding that we will return again someday. Tomorrow, the trek back to Dallas and reality begins. For those of you that have never come to the Emerald Coast, as it's called here, you really should ... provided you like white clean sand, clear aqua waters and warm sunshine (mostly). Although it has changed over the years, it still has that feel of a well-oiled baseball glove whenever we come. There's a sleepy familiarity and comfort that I don't think will ever leave. Here are a few final shots ... I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Storm Front

Double red flags ... just what we didn't want to see today ... meaning the waters are closed today. Thirteen hours of driving to get away from the Texas heat and here we are, landlocked. Actually, it was more like house-locked today, as wave after wave of thunderstorms pounded through. As I write this, the moon is out and tomorrow is promising to be much better than any of our days thus far here on the Florida panhandle. Today was pretty impressive to the kids, though. Just check out this video of the surf today (and keep in mind this was just from a few thunderstorms. I can only imagine what a hurricane kicks up here):


There were still things to do along the beachfront though. I swear I can walk for miles in the sand and not realize how far I've gone. And every now and then, we'd notice something fun to play with ...



And of course we did some beachcombing for seashells ... which we'll save for a later post as every day Claire and I find something new. But even with less than perfect weather, we know we are surrounded by beauty and wildlife, just a few of the little things that makes a vacation so worthwhile.

In between breaks in the clouds

(As always, click on any photo for a full view)

Crazy weather here today, with tropical thunderstorms coming in off the gulf and every now and then, some sunshine. During one brief respite, we managed to get back down to check out the surf, which was kicking up from the storms. It's good in that they cleared out a lot of the seaweed in the gulf ... but we have to be even more careful now in the heavy waves.

Here's Daniel and Claire doing their best to avoid the undertow ...



Down here, the surf levels are communicated with a flag system, by color; green being calm seas, red being rough waves ... see Seemore the Safety Crab over in the right margin. Well you can see by the waves today where the flags were ...


That didn't stop Super-D though:


When the sun finally popped through this afternoon, I took a nice stroll and snapped a few more pics to share. Here's "Shell Shocked", our home for the week ...


Some views from the top patio in the lookout tower ...



And just some sights from the Florida coast. Can you smell the salt air? Enjoy!

Things we're doing when it's not raining ...

Well Sunday was a beautiful day here, but since then we have had nothing but downpour after downpour!! Every so often, the sun will break through and we'll go run down to the beach, but right now we're in a holding pattern waiting for the sun to break through. Here's a few shots from the other day ...

Claire searching for shells ...


In deep concentration ...


"Did someone see a shark out there?"


"Please! Not the tail feathers!!"


Who's got it better than me!!


Whoa ... wait, is that the sun breaking out? Sorry ... gotta run!! See you next time!!