Day 5

Today is the official beginning of the Western National Softball Tournament 2008. Alex and Dan had to head out for practice this morning ~ we are at 6000' which is a change for most of the teams at the tournament. No sense in Brenna and I being punished so she and I spent a lovely morning at the hotel, enjoying a really nice breakfast, took an exploratory walk and spent some time at the pool where Brenna made some new friends from Denver.

This afternoon was the Opening Ceremony and an opportunity for the girls to meet players from other states. They do an informal pin exchange, which involves each girl from each team having a bag of pins from their team or city and trading with girls from other teams. It seemed to start slow and then really took off. It was so nice to see the girls laughing and talking with these new friends, who they hope to clobber on the field tomorrow! They then all lined up and paraded onto the field into a wagon wheel shape (I had to make a western reference!). Two teams were then introduced and would come down the first and third base lines to meet at homeplate. There they exchanged gifts with the other team.

Our team was able to exchange gifts with the team from Cheyenne and received really, really neat Western-styled frames that had a thoughtful card inside the frame welcoming them to Cheyenne and the tournament. Really well done and an awesome memory for our team to take home with them.

This was followed by skills games, similar to what occurs at MLB All-Star games. Homerun derby, speed, and fielding drill. Alex was asked to participate in the homerun and fielding challenges and did well. The hitting was tough with a strong wind blowing towards homeplate. She hit well but not quite a homerun. Oh well! Most of the girls ahead of her struggled greatly with the effects of the wind and failed to connect but she hit everything that came her way.

Long story short, they did well but didn't win. Then a band from Denver performed ~ Boogie Machine. HUGE afros, 70's garb, disco music.... a lot of the girls got into it and had fun dancing with their friends, new and old. Our team made a nice connection with the Cheyenne team and were extended an invitation from the host team to get together and see Cheyenne with them. We'll try to make it happen!

Now, we were kind of disappointed today that we missed the earthquake! The funny thing is that I was working and talking to Rich in Texas when the earthquake occurred. While Rich was talking to me, he was also talking to Luke in our office in Laguna Hills who told him that an earthquake had just occurred, which Rich shared with me. Just seemed funny to me that even in Cheyenne, I knew about the earthquake almost as quickly as if I had been in the office! And knowing that the earthquake was just 5 miles from my dad, I was able to quickly get on the phone and check on him (things off shelves and walls but he's ok, thankfully!)

So, we figure that since we missed the earthquake at home, we at least deserve a really great lightning storm, don't you?