he got the game ball with this hit.....

after each game, the coach awards the game ball to the player who did an outstanding job during that particular game. this one was a triple and austen runs so fast that when he slid into 3rd base he overslid and had to double back...
he made it, though and was safe... and just so pleased with himself. he was named in our local paper for this game and got a big kick out of that. we have had lots and lots of baseball around here. austen has games every wednesday night and saturday. don is playing softball on tuesday nights and so our weeknights are pretty full. we enjoy it though and austen's friend nick is on his team so that makes it doubly fun. austen has a great field trip coming up next week that i am going on with him. we go to bay city and sail on a huge boat. they call it "the bay sail" and i can't wait. i will be sure to post pictures about that trip. last week we went on another field trip to the flint county courthouse and jail. his class got to sit in the juror's box and watch actual court cases. prisoners being brought into court in orange jumpsuits and chains. policemen being cross examined in the witness chair. a young man being sentenced to 2 years in the county jail for drug possession and use. lawyers...judges....defendants...the whole shebang. we then took the bus to the county jail and got a tour of that facility. lots and lots of cold, hard surfaces...hard chairs, metal doors, clanking and echoing noises all of the time. tiny cots with thin mattresses. the kids didn't seem too fazed by this until i mentioned to them as we watched the security monitors that looked directly into the prisoners rooms that they had to go to the bathroom...every time....with someone watching them...pee and poo. no privacy. most of the kids stared at me in disbelief when i mentioned this and then a slight realization came over them. i heard lots of ugh's and eeeeww's and yuck's....we were going to actually go into the common areas while the prisoners were in lockdown but the jail was over crowded and they could not lock everyone down while we were there. i would have liked them to see the people in the cells close up instead of just behind the glass like we ended up doing. in the end, i hope that that tour of the jail will deter at least my kid from any kind of life of crime.