Chicago.........well, kind of

So, early on in the season, after we have played in a bunch of tournaments, we find out which "big-time" tournaments we have qualified for at the end of the year. This time around, it was the CABA World Series in "Chicago" and the Disney Elite in Orlando. I use quotation marks because apparently "Chicago" is a very loosely interpreted term. We did see the beautiful skyline and all the glimmering lights of the city whilst sitting in bumper to bumper traffic on I-90 but the real actual site of the tournament was in the quieter, more distant suburb of Woodstock, IL. Home of countless cornfields, and boasts the claim to fame of being the site where the movie, "Groundhog Day" was filmed. And since I am pretty sure I have seen that movie at least 37 times, it was cool to walk through the town square which looks much the same as it did in the movie.

The younger three and I met up with Travis and Jordan for the last four days of the games, Emma had soccer and well.....I don't think my sanity would have held up much longer than that (they were there for a total of 8 days!). We arrived to a sweet-smelling bachelor pad at the Holiday Inn that had been shared by at least 8 people before we arrived.

(piles like this were found occupying every area of floor space)

After fumigating the place, and heading to the local laundromat for a few hours, we were able to get rid of most of the lingering aromas.

Eli was a big help with the uniform-washing.

After the girls' hopes and dreams of visiting the American Girl store or the top of the Sears Tower were crushed, they played in this sandpit for four straight days. And consumed roughly $500 worth of snack bar treats. Hmmmm, this whole "Chicago" trip they had been looking forward to seemed awfully similar to most weekends at home.

Travis did a lot of contemplating in the dugout. I keep trying to steal the signs so I know what is going to happen next but I always get lost at about the third forehead tap/shoulder brush-off part.

Eli kept track of all the bats....he even had his name announced over the loudspeaker as our starting batboy.

Here is part of the crew hunkering down in the VFW building during an actual tornado (think 200+ people in one small room for a full hour) Luckily we all made it through unscathed for the most part.

Eli managed to make his way onto the field during the ensuing rain delay and tottered all the way to the extremely large mudpit surrounding homeplate. He fell face-first into the mud, and with perfect timing, the announcer exclaimed, "SAFE!". I really should have reconsidered wearing white shorts that day.

As for the baseball......these boys just could not be stopped. Here they are getting pumped up before the Championship Game with some wise words by their coach. They won 8 straight games against some very talented and determined teams to make it to the final game.

Yep! They won! Jordan even made the winning catch to end the game. I think Travis ran his fastest ever 50 yard dash out to second to scoop him up into his arms and get dogpiled by the whole team. Now, that was a moment to remember.

**We all piled into our cars in record time to get on the road headed back home. I took all the kids, and Travis took all the trophies. We got home at around 3:30 a.m. and then the boys caught a plane a few hours later to get to our next baseball-themed trip in "Orlando". I head down tomorrow morning......... gotta go pack!!

Have I mentioned how much I love our life? I honestly do. My sense of humor has gotten a great workout lately due to the conditions that I have found myself in. Being able to laugh amidst the craziness is a great thing. Now, I just have to remember that this week as we try to somehow combine the wonders of Disneyworld with 24/7 baseball.