Disc Golf

Zach has a new hobby that he has been pursuing during any free time this summer. When he isn't playing baseball, at a baseball camp or doing baseball drills, you can find him at one of the local Disc Golf Courses!

I picked him up after he spent the ENTIRE day playing disc golf He wanted to try to 'ace' a hole, so Sophie and I joined him as he tried...

and tried...

and tried...

He got closer every time, but didn't make it! He still had fun trying! Sophie loved running around the disc golf course too - she would let out a small bark when Zach would throw the disc and she even helped scope out where the discs landed.

Later that night, Zach and I hung out on the deck under the gazebo and ate dinner and just chatted - not really about anything in particular, but it was SO nice to spend this one on one time with him. I really needed that!

U of I (Fighting Illini)

And, He's OFF.... Again!

Not even home a whole week and he is back at it! Zach found a camp in Champaign, IL - which is the home of the University of Illinois - Fighting Illini.

One of the guys Zach met at the ShoMe camp in MO is also going to the Illinois camp.They have planned it so they will room together in the dorms!

We headed out on Saturday afternoon, after watching a few innings of Cody's game in Champlin.

The weather was pretty stormy for most of the drive! We thought for sure we were going to see a tornado, but we didn't. We stopped at a hotel with about an hour left to go and stayed the night. Got up the next morning and enjoyed a yummy breakfast at a local truckstop! We were then back on the road! We made it to Champaign just in time for check in. Zach found Josh right away, got checked in with their room keys and got settled. They didn't have much time to settle in however, since they had to be ready to go, in their baseball gear in 30 minutes.

Zach had 3 keys: 1 for his room, 1 for the bathroom, and one for building access.

 

Once all of the guys were in their gear and huddled up, the coaches went through the expectations of the  camp. Here are a couple things the head coach addressed: (this is a assessment/exposure camp for players 14 to 19): "No Drinking, No Drugs, No Smoking - if you get caught doing any of theses, I will first call the local police department, then I will call your parents, and finally I will make a call to your highschool coach. This is about baseball!" and "You will take your hat off when you eat. You can eat as much as you want, but you will not pile your plate up and then decide you don't like it."

Zach and Josh

This is the Dorms that Zach stayed in

  

Once the huddle was done, Shane and I headed out and drove home. We made a couple pit stops at rest areas, stops for gas and food. We made it home early enough to stop and pick up Sophie! She was so happy to see us! We got home by about 10:15pm!

6 week post cast-off

So, I went to the doctor today for my 6-week post cast off appointment.... After 6 weeks of Physical Therapy, 2 times a week, he took another X-ray and said that he thinks the bone graft is starting to "flatten". Unsure of what this meant, I asked. He said that we will re-assess in another follow up appointment in 6 weeks to re-X-ray. Bottom line - if it appears that the bone graft surgery wasn't successful, they will have to go in and do another bone graft, fusing 2 of the bones together in my wrist with pins or something... followed by another 9 weeks (possibly longer) in a cast!

So he ordered up 6 more weeks of Physical Therapy and rescheduled my appointment for 6 more weeks.

Say a little prayer! I go back for another visit on September 1. (Hopefully to hear some good news!)

Zach's haircut

Zach decided after spending a week in 100+ degree temps at baseball camp that he needed a haircut.

Here are just a few shots of him posing for me!

We thought it would be funny for Zach to pose with the Biebs! LOL

 After his haircut, we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for some wings and to play a little trivia! Here are a couple more shots of his haircut.

(I think it makes him look older - Sad!)

He's Home!

Zach is HOME!

Shane, Dan, Shelley and I jumped in Tupper's van and headed out of town at about 6:00 am on Thursday morning. We stopped a few times on the way to get gas, use the bathroom and eat. We finally made it Zach's baseball camp at about 6:30 pm. 

Their game was just starting and Zach was catching and then played first base. They did a nice job of rotating all of the players around the field giving everyone a chance to try out different positions.

After his game, Dan, Shelley, Shane and I found our way back to our hotel to clean up and then went for a bite to eat in Downtown Branson.

The next morning, we got up and headed back to the camp for their last game of the camp. Zach caught and pitched. Camp wrapped up at about 2:00 pm, and we jumped in the car and headed home!

Zach made some lasting friendships at this camp and he is looking forward to seeing them at future baseball events/camps. I put together a slide show so that you can enjoy all of the pictures from his games.

SHO ME Baseball Camp

We made it!

All the way to Branson, MO to drop Zach off at a baseball camp!

We didn’t end up getting on the road until about 2pm on Saturday because of bringing Sophie to the vet, etc... We got to Springfield, MO by 2am and stayed in a hotel. Then got up and checked out of the hotel by noon, went to the Waffle House for breakfast and then drove another hour to the Camp near Branson, MO.

We pulled into the camp resort and there was a perfect photo opp!

We were impressed with how clean everything was and how much land they had.

When we walked into the main office and there were a few kids that had already checked in and were just hanging out. I guess you would call it their "rec center". There was an indoor batting cage, a ping pong table and huge TV with couches. The kids were sitting around watching a baseball game on TV and playing a little bit of ping-pong.

Upon checking in, a coach (camp counselor), helped us grab Zach's bags and showed us to his "dorm".

We got him all settled! Turns out that he will be sharing a room with one other kid, and he is from MN! Funniest thing is, Zach actually knows this kid! He goes to Blaine H.S. and is in the same grade as Zach.

 

After we got Zach settled in his room, we walked around and checked out the "grounds".

We left Zach at about 3:30 pm yesterday, and got on the road and drove straight home, with the exception of stopping for gas, food and potty breaks! 

We were completely impressed with the camp set-up and staff! So that was good. We didn’t know until we got there yesterday that they play a baseball game every night that we could go and watch if we would have stayed. So the plan is for us to leave at 5am Thursday morning and head back down there so we can catch 1 game (Thursday night), and then stay in a hotel in Branson, and then the closing ceremonies and stuff starts at 9am on Friday.

The weather outlook for Zach's week at camp is going to be a HOT one!

(Hopefully he listens to mom and applies plenty of sunscreen)

 

The way the camp was set up and stuff made it easier to leave Zach. I had my melt down on Thursday, so I think I got it all out of my system. It will be weird these next few nights without his mess around the house though! LOL

 Bye Zach! See you soon!

Shortly after we left, the temp in MO reached a whopping 104 degrees!

Fourth of July Weekend

The Fourth of July weekend was a BLAST!
The Luttman’s invited us to their cabin on Martin Lake over the weekend. Monica and I headed up on Saturday afternoon and the rest of the family met us there on Sunday! What a beautiful day Sunday was – the sun was shining so BRIGHT and HOT! Zach, Blake and Rachel had a good time just hanging out, while Monica, Al, Shane and I went for a pontoon ride around the lake. And our little Sophie just couldn’t get enough swimming time in.

Luttman's Pontoon

Enjoying the beautiful weather!

On Monday the 4th, Grandma, Mom, Sherri and Ryan came over. Zach and Ryan took off right away to go play a round of disc golf while us girls basked in the sun! It was so hot, that Shane created us our very own “Bunker Beach” by putting the sprinkler on the hose and setting it in between our chairs, spraying only our feet.

When Ryan and Zach got back, we challenged them to some lawn games. We played Lawn Jarts (of course the lame, safe ones), and some badminton.

Shane played it cool and stayed inside and watched the Twins game – Dan and Shelley came over, and Jesse and his girlfriend joined us a little later.

Everyone started getting hungry so Mom fired up the grill and grilled some chicken, hamburgers and chicken brats. There was so much good food! The desert cake was the best and very festive! (ice cream bars topped with cool whip, strawberries and blueberries)

After a little while, Grandma, Mom, Sherri and Ryan left, and the rest of us hung out on the deck in the new Gazeebo!

What a wonderful LONG weekend!