Best Week Ever!! June Trip, All Star Break!

ALL STAR BREAK! For 3 Whole days I get my husband all to myself (well and the girls) with no interuptions at 2:00 pm to go to the field and i'm not going to be lonley til 11:00 pm! Woop Woop! (Yes im a Woop Girl)

The girls and I headed out to Salem, Virgina for a whole 7 days! So exciting! They hadn't seen Brew since he left for Spring Training. It is crazy expensive to fly all 3 of us out that far so much, and we know I've already learned my lesson on buddy passes. Yikes! So we packed all up, brought our two dogs to doggy daycare, and set sail. Or Took off. Whatever. The first 4 days we went to every game. Three were night games and one was a day game. Every day we took Brew to the field at 2 and roamed around Salem. The 1st day we got mani, pedis and the girls got cute B's on their toes and fingers. We went cupcake hunting and found some pretty ones at Bubble Cake in Salem, although I got a mean text from a baseball wife who was very unhappy with me that I went there instead of Viva La Cupcakes! (Ha-ha Love you)! I even found an indoor Jump place to kill a few hours in and attempt to drain their energy.

At the games, we made friendship bracelets, played on our electronics, colored, played on the jumpies at the kids center and went broke with the girls wanting their daily nachos, dippin dots, pretzels and other various ball park foods. They about drove everyone crazy running up and down the stairs yelling and screaming! The jump center was a relief for awhile to let them burn it all off. Every game though from about the 5th-9th inning we had our butts in the seats.

Believe it or not, this is the first time I had seen him pitch all season. Other trips were not on his Pitch Days. Lame! They should schedule that crap on days wives are in town. I'll call somebody. Anyway, Brew pitched on the 3rd night. He pitched a few innings and gave up one run. I felt terrible that I ruined his streak but am still proud of how well he has done lately. He wasn't the most thrilled husband right after the game but like I told him, there wouldn't be baseball if there wasn't a run now and then. I love seeing him on the mound. It gives me a rush of something I can't explain.

Here is Brew and the girls after the games and us before the game in the tunnel!

Aside from Baseball, we took the girls fishing, we as in Brew did, I got a magazine and watched. =) The creek was beautiful. The girls caught fish, Went sliding down the creek, and I enjoyed the shade and the greenest area I have ever been in! Averie stuck by my side most of the time. She is a chicken like her mama. Madison is a little tom boy! She likes to get in that water, and get all up in those fish! Uck! Whose child is she?!!! While in Salem again, we went to my favorite, Fork in the Alley. The girls caught fire fly's and we enjoyed the outside music, while they played corn hole and played with the fly's. Averie had one on her hand and kept petting it and it would light up! Too fun!

Every night the girls slept in the living room, on an air mattress. While we were there his two roommates were home and one of their girlfriends, but both left for All Star Break for 3 days, as one was in the All Star Game and one went back to Atlanta. Of course, I was all panicked the first few days with a 3 bedroom apartment full of 7 people and making sure the girls were on their best behavior and not screaming and running. They still did. Every moment. They did however, get lucky since I couldn't scream like I normally do or his roommates would think I was a Physco! So they got a nice mom for the week. Luckily, all 7 of us were hardly ever there at the same time aside from when everyone was sleeping. So it all worked out. The girls got a kick out of sleeping on an air mattress. 

Finally, All Star Break, we headed out on a 5 hour road trip to Myrtle Beach, SC! So excited!!! We stayed a hotel near the beach and near the Boardwalk which is an amazing outdoor, mall, food, entertainment venue around a body of water! Fabulous! We spent the entire day at the beach! So much fun! My daredevil child got a board and went way out, further than Id ever go, caught live conch shells, found a crab and more yucky  creatures, while Averie and I layed out, played in the sand and found sea shells! My kind of girl! Overall, we had an amazing time, getting fat, eating fast food (Don't even get me started on Bojangles and their sweet potato pie and chicken and biscuits!) and out every single day, every single meal (I'm now on operation starve myself), spending so much time with Brew, going to the games, and being in his presence. He is an amazing man and we are so lucky to have him! Leaving was the hardest thing to do. I know I won't see him until the season is over and that breaks my heart every day. It makes me so happy that the girls get to experience so many new cool places we would never normally visit. Now we are on a countdown that hurts to see so high, but with Skype, Facetime and the phone, it sometimes, makes it a little easier. 74 More Sleeps. 

Doing his thing and doing it well!

Player of the week! Brew was player of the week the week of May 25- June 3rd in the whole minor league club with the Sox. One of his two roomates was also player of the week! Go Roomies!

Players of the Week, May 28-June 3: Travis Shaw & Ruben Flores

Last week's SoxProspects.com Player and Pitcher of the Week honors were taken by a pair of Salem Red Sox: Travis Shaw and Ruben Flores.

Shaw wasn't the nominee with the highest batting average (.370) or the highest on-base percentage (.500) but what he brought to the plate was power (slugging .889) with six of his ten hits (in 27 at-bats)going for extra bases, four home runs and two doubles. He also scored eight runs and batted in 12, took six bases-on-balls and swiped a base. Shaw is second, to teammate Jackie Bradley, in the Carolina League in batting average at .337 and has an on-base percentage of .427 and is slugging .574 to round out his season triple slash line, with seven home runs, 18 doubles and three triples in 190 at-bats over 52 games. He is the twenty-eighth ranked prospect in the organization by SoxProspects.com.

Flores made two appearances last week, working three no-hit shutout innings in each and fell just short of perfection by allowing a single base-on-balls. It was nine-up-nine-down for Flores at Lynchburg (ATL) May 30 where he struck out five and earned the win and three days later back home against Myrtle Beach (TEX) June 2 when he was less flashy but almost equally effective, walking one and striking out one. On the season Flores owns a 1-0 record with two saves and a 2.01 ERA in 13 appearances over 22.1 innings pitched, striking out 24 while walking only two and holding opposing batters to a .156 average. Flores, 28, was signed out of the independent Frontier League in September 2011 and is a former 12th round pick of Seattle in 2003.      

He has had an amazing streak of perfect scoreless innings! He had about 12 perfect innings and was throwing great! Still is!! Woop Woop! So proud of my man!

A week of Peace...should prepare for a Chaos

With my husband gone from March to September, one would think I would be very lonely. Yet with two kids and two dogs, its not a feeling I experience in a real "lonely" definition too often. Some would say that's a blessing....I beg to differ! =)

This summer for the first time, I let the girls go away for vacation without mommy. Brew parents, my in laws, have been begging for me to send them to Texas so they can visit with them for a week. I finally caved thinking the girls are now old enough now and it would be nice to have a week of peace. So after the girls left for Texas for a full week, my house was peaceful! The first 4 nights were like heaven, quiet, nightly wine, catching up on my DVR, and no stressing out in the morning getting them up and ready while I am trying to leave for the office. However, after the 4th night my loneliness really set in and I really missed them being here. I missed the noise and their voices. I went to dinner and drinks with one of my best friends and tried to just pass the time at night since my days were so busy with work, thank goodness. 

Finally, Saturday I got the girls back. They had an amazing time in Texas. They were active from dusk til dawn. They went fishing, went to the Dairy Farm, went to two baseball games, saw the cousin baby MJ, went to an amusement park, went swimming oh and get this, they took naps. NAPS! Daily at that. They seriously have not taken naps since they were babies. I don't know what my mother in law was feeding these kids, but I about died when I heard that. Madison told me she wouldn't take them at home, because there is never any peace and quiet. Too funny, shes right about that one. They went on and on about the things they did and how much fun they had. I was happy I sent them since we only visit Texas a few times each year in the fall/winter.The day I got them we snuggled, gave huge hugs all day, rented a movie, played, talked & I remembered why I missed them so much those last few days.

Well, let me tell you, its like when  you take a vacation from work, sometimes, it isn't worth it, because you know what a disaster your going to come back to so you skip the vacation, or just regret it once your back. Later that night, no more than 20 minutes was I not giving them my undivided attention, while quietly playing in there room., (that should have been my first sign of a disaster), Averie and Madison decided to Picasso their expensive beds and dresser. Oh my Goodness, I about died!!!!!!!!!Nail paint ALL over the white wood, Averies name written in Nail paint, finger marks of paint ALL over the bed and the carpet! I was so upset. 20 minutes...Once I was over being upset, I made them sit there and scrub it for an hour. It did not come off. I used nail polish remover, big mistake. Made the wood worse. So I stopped and was fighting back the tears. Ugh! Finally I just gave up, took all the makeup, nail polish and paint out of their room and took them for a walk to get a movie. I called Brew and he said to leave it til he comes home in September. If you know me, I cannot handle things unkept and looking like that, so this makes me crazy!! How can two little girls make such a disaster? Very very easy!

Well folks, back to my world of Chaos and reality! I realized I didn't drink enough wine when they were gone, because someone knew I would need some leftover for when they came home! Moral of the story: My Kids will Fool you! Fool you! (but I do love them very much)

Brew is Striking Em' Out

So since Brew has been off the DL with the Salem Red Sox he has had 3 outings. The first inning in another post as you saw, he gave up one run. First time in 3 weeks he pitched, moving on...

The next two times he pitched the last 3 innings of each game! He typically does not pitch 3 straight innings as a closer/reliever. So that was exciting. The first one was against the Lynchburg Hillcats. He pitched 3 solid innings with only 1 walk and 5 strikeouts!

Some Tweets and articles read:

"Ruben Flores has struck out four in two perfect innings out of the Salem Sox bullpen... Salem leads 6-3"

"Ruben Flores became Mr. Perfect in the final three innings tonight, retiring all nine batters he faced with five strikeouts. Salem wins 6-3!"

"Flores arrived in the last of the fifth and slammed the door shut, dealing three perfect innings out of the pen to earn his first Carolina League win. Flores struck out five and now has 23 strikeouts and just one walk on the season."

The last game he pitched was against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. He pitched another 3 solid and scoreless innings! He current  has a 2.00 ERA and is doing great! So happy to see him doing well! Hopefully he pitches a lot when the girls and I visit for All Star Break so I can see him kick some ***! So proud of my husband! He wont always be perfect, he wont always throw strikeouts and have perfect innings, but his determination and heart on the mound is always there. To me, that's all that matters and I am always proud.