#36 - Which should have been - "Do something with the Amazing Minniears""

Yup I crossed off #36 Do Something Amazing with the Minniears - this weekend.   I spent the last 4 days with my friends the Minniear Family.  And yes it should have been on the list as "Do something with the Amazing Minniears" - doesn't that have a nice ring to it?  It's like they are a super awesome circus act?  Of course Jodie might not want to be associated with the circus or the carnival but they are "truly amazing people".  I'm so glad I can call them my friends.  

I showed up and was greeted by Jodie who is all smiles and was fixing supper possibly for the whole neighborhood (but one cannot be sure), and I was given a Evan's lovely Taylor Swift - penthouse suite, and some Castle Football gear so I could be properly outfitted to cheer Logan and his football team on.  Dennis is quite the fan - he insisted we cheer for the offensive line because the don't get any credit and Logan plays for the defensive line - LOL!  He got so hyped up they had to warn him to simmer down.  They did score their first points of the year but sadly they were defeated. But WAY TO GO LOGAN!  I took some photos at the game however the memory card seems to be missing them??? Don't know what's up with that but Jodie is the team photographer so I snagged a few for you.

Photos by Jodie. 

The next day after some work I had lunch with Dennis and Jodie and then we hit the antique stores and flea market which sadly didn't have anything we couldn't live without however we did spy a "vintage" fredricks of hollywood garter which I made Jodie promise to get for me when I get married as well as the perfect dress for her to wear as well - and in true Jodie & Katie fashion there was some trying on of vintage hats.  Mine which could have very well been a synchronized swimming cap - yes Aunt Thea seriously I will will all sychro swimming competitions now.

Photo also taken by Jodie although on her phone.

After all that purchase-less shopping we headed to Kentucky to see our friend Stephanie.  She was ever so nice and had made us supper accidentally or on purpose whichever ;o)  And we made some cards with her and visited a while. Poor Stephanie broke her foot a few weeks ago but she was still as happy and cheerful as ever as were her boys.

Sadly no photos were taken :(

On Saturday after a super awesome homemade biscuits and gravy made by Dennis - we went got our cars washed by the football team fundraiser bright and early, then we hit yard sales and did some thrift store shopping where I scored this awesome vintage thermos for $2 - I'm not sure it was ever used.  Jodie found some goodies for her nieces and nephews, as well as a set of plates for $4.  Oh and even Evan and Carlos found some bargains - Carlos bought a fanny pack for $.25 - LOL!  

Back at the house Logan tried to teach me to play Call of Duty.  Which is a GIJoe video game - Logan was very patient trying to make it easier for my old schooler skillz  (I who grew up playing 2 dimensional Mario Bro's and Donkey Kong), but sadly I still cannot remember to turn my head when I move so I pretty much got shot up repetitively.

Finally the Schreve, Alicia and Lil Schreve arrived and we headed out on the boat.  Since it was late in the afternoon we pretty much had the river to ourselves and we tubed and swam and did the rope swing on into the sunset.  Alicia and Lita did the rope swing and they were much better and braver than me at it - pretty much everyone is I'm sure. Photos again were taken but cannot be found on this memory card? - so you will have to envision what we look like having a grand time.

Sunday we all got up Dennis made us more yummy breakfast and went to church together.  And then out for mexican food with Carlos's (Carlos is Jodie's faux mexican son).  We did take some photos there.

Then we had to dart off to Isiah's football game as we were having so much fun we were running late.  Little I  plays Corner Back for the Castle Youth Football league. And he did so good getting like 3 or 4 tackles or take downs whatever you want to call it.  He's #34 below (thanks to Carlos and Logan for taking the photos I need to send all 100+ to Jodie)

Evan was even able to play in half time with his nerd glasses on. Notice how these boys think that sticker makes them fresh?  I think it's dumb and wanted to rip it off the hats numerous times.

 

Oh and look Dennis was there too - we did get a picture of him. Did you know back in the day Dennis played football at U of I?

And Jodie had to work the concession stand although Dennis tagged her out so she could hang with us for a bit too. 

Thanks so much for having us Minniears we had a great time!  See you soon. 

I am a fan

I am a fan of happy spoons
I am a fan of things grown in my garden - tomatoes, peppers, cilantro, basil, and sunflowers
I am a fan of ceiling fans
I am fan of clean sheets
I am a fan of jean weather
I am a fan of someone else taking out the trash
I am a fan of balloons
I am a fan of the color green and pink
I am a fan of new music on my iPod
I am a fan of black and white photography
I am a fan of postcards
I am a fan of lists and goals
I am a fan of root beer and Patron (not together)
I am a fan of paper
I am a fan of bubble gum
I am a fan of Mondays that are almost over

Ohio Cup - Day 2

And for the second day of the Ohio Cup.  The Blues faired much better on sunday - the weather warmed up and so did the guys.  They started out the day playing Union something or Something Union or perhaps it was really the Ground Squirrels with a bunch of Union somethings thrown in. They ended up winning by a landslide which was a great way to start the day.

Jono and Rabbit - I would say the oldest and youngest members of the team but I think Trouble is a tad older than Rabbit.

 This is other teams but I love this perspective.

Ash and I practiced our trashy magazine reading I'm all caught up on gossip about people I don't know now just quiz me. 

 Back to the Blues - Wildcat batting - if you click to make it larger you'll see his expression which I think is great.

And Preacher

And Trouble trying to get the cranks rallied.

And then he's batting.

And look there's Shawshank (you can be mad now I think I photographed everyone)

And there's Limpy

And next up Rusty who also has a priceless face he looks like he's shocked at that hit

Update on the Score.

After that we grabbed some lunch and hit the Muffin Meadow field which I think is the coolest field they have a cool scoreboard and there are apple trees in the outfield.  And I was half imagining that strawberry shortcake and blueberry muffin lived under the bridge in the way out field - or at least a troll.  But they did not surface.  Lita and I played catch with Shawshank before the game and I must say to play without a glove is harder than it looks I really only wanted to catch it after the bounce.

 See look how cute this field is that's an apple tree right there. 

 

And even the ump is got on his top hat.

The ball looks like this the threads cross.

Seriously are you not thinking a troll is going to run out from that bridge snag an apple and run back?

Hawkeye running to home

And Rabbit catching the ball.

everyone running in to bat.

Look an action shot.

And the Blues win again.

Hip Hip Huzzah

Then for the last game of the day.  The Minniear Family came to see Shawshank in action (they were in town for a wedding).  I do so enjoy the whole Minniear crew  - Logan took some pictures for me and so did Jodie. Thanks for coming out.

First I need to comment on these cool socks that the team that played before the blues had - can you say nifty?

Okay back to it - look there's Shawshank making a play (photo by logan)

And there's more fielding. (photo by logan)

And Shawshank and the bench.(photo by logan)

And who doesn't love a shot like this - Jasper giving Limpy five for a job well done isn't that awesome!  You might also notice that tin cup - that's for the whiskey.(photo by logan)

And Shawshank batting and look there's Jodie with her fancy camera in the background. (photo by logan)

And the Blues won again.  3-3 isn't so bad.  Hip Hip Huzzah!

Thanks for a great weekend Jones and Coers and thanks to the cranks that came to watch with us Minniears and Jen and Dave.  See you next year.  :D

Guess what's back?

Yup that's right my point and shoot camera. And I thought I should share this photo from this weekend - it's me sitting on a bench in the bathroom - Ash and I have special place in our hearts for benches in bathrooms.  Perhaps I should get one for my house.

Tuesday Tutorial - How to Lose Your Camera

I had all these grand intentions of making this a super fun tutorial but I have now misplaced my point and shoot camera with most of the pictures on the memory card.  I swear I can't win with little cameras.  Anyhow so instead we'll have a tutorial on how to lose your camera...

1. Carry it everywhere
2. Hang it on the back of the bathroom door when at the bar.
3. Forget it
4. Put it in your pocket
5. Wash your jeans
6. Ruin it
7. Set it on the table when you come home
8. Cover it with mail
9. Lose it
10. Drop it in your backpack
11. Add in some random traveling gear
12. It's missing again.

So perhaps this will help me locate it again.

Around Columbus

Ohio Cup - Day 1

I just finished cleaning my bathroom and starting laundry so I figured that was worthy of blog time.  So the Ohio Cup is a two day vintage baseball tournament.  Saturday we got up early snagged breakfast at Krogers near our hotel and headed to the Ohio Village for the days games.  Can I just tell you it was also cold - I'm so glad I had a hoodie and the quilt in the car so I didn't freeze as we were not anticipating such a cold labor day. Anyhow for the first game the Indianapolis Blues played the Columbus Capitals - the blues had lost in Detroit to this team at the recent big vintage baseball tournament in August. The Blues didn't fair so well in the early morning sunlight and ended up losing the match but Shawshank does have a uniform now and matches the rest of his team.  The Columbus Capitals are pretty good  and they do have a cool uniform - I think their mix-matched plaid shirts are fun.

I think this is very much how vintage baseball players would have looked as they wouldn't have been smiling for the camera - now we just need to photoshop that highway in the background to make this more authentic. ;)

See how cool their uniforms are?

Trouble and some Capital

Eye on the ball or being blinded by the light.

This is where if this was a cartoon Preacher and Shawshank would have bumped into each other and dropped the ball (they did not but we can pretend they did).

 

I think Shawshank is saying good morning to the ladies momo and ash.

 

Rabbit pitching - in 19860's baseball they pitched under hand and they also could tell the pitcher where to throw it - how's that sound.

 

Hip Hip Huzzah for the Capitals on their win.

After that disappointing start to the tournament we visiting the Ohio Village Museum.  Which I must say I thought was going to be super cool and was rather small and didn't seem to be too terribly interesting.  I wish the village houses had been open because that would been cool but only one was open.  We did enjoy the old trolley car and the train though.

 

One of my favorite things about the museum was this vintage baseball collection which was actually one of the Muffins and he set it up for visitors to see - oh and TOUCH!  I was so excited to put my hand in the old gloves I always have trouble resisting the urge to touch things.  I think Ash enjoyed it too.

Then it was back to baseball.  I was under strict instructions from Shawshank to take photos of the whole team.  I tried to humor him so he wouldn't stab me with a shiv later ;o)  They played some team who's name I can't recall next and my friends Jen and Dave and their kids came by to be cranks too (you might remember when I was featured on Jen's blog).  Dave helped me out with the photo taking so I did not disappoint Shawshank.  Thanks Dave!  Here are the players in no certain order...

Preacher

 

Buckeye

Shawshank

Preacher, Rusty, Buckeye, and Shawshank

Jasper

Rabbit

Hammer

Hawkeye

Oh there's Shawshank again - I also like that you can see momo watching him in the background.

And the bench - Trouble, Shawshank, Rabbit, Limpy, Rusty, Buckeye

Mom taught Lilly how to crochet during the game - and Cohen liked the idea of yarn. I however did not take a single photo of Dave or Jen at the game (what the heck is up with that Katie).

Unforunately again the Blues lost, but like true gentlemen they tipped their hats to the other team.

Then after some lunch we came back for another game, against the Grangers - in which the Blues proceeded to lose a third time (this apparently was not their day).  Don't the Grangers look snazzy in their suspenders?

Shawshank - in the background you can see how they keep score on the little chalkboard and how the officials are all vintage too.

 

And for some more photos which I'm too lazy to label.

After all three losses we headed to the hotel and then off to explore Columbus more on that soon.