Hot Time in Kalona!

We had (actually Allison had) three games today in Kalona, so Bob, Ann & I were on the road at 7:30 AM to be there for a 9:00 game! The 9:00 game was hot, but the 10:30 game was even hotter! Thank God for a little breeze! I had a golf umbrella in the car - that was all that saved me from melting!! The girls did very well - they won both of those games. At 9:00 we played a team that we'd played before - I can't think where they're from. At 10:30 we played the Ottumwa team and Allison pitched! She did really well!! At one point she had the bases loaded because no one could catch a ball today!! However, even with the bases loaded and 2 outs, she struck out the next batter!!

After the second game we went downtown to the Kalona Family Restaurant for lunch. It was packed today! Then we had to get back to the ballpark for a 1:00 game. This game wasn't very pretty - we lost 15-5! The coach let a girl pitch the first inning, who has only pitched once before - she walked in 5 runs! Then the second inning, another one of the girls took over and she let them score 5 runs! She also pitched part of the 3rd inning and they scored another 5 runs!! I know the coach is trying to get some other girls used to pitching, but when they walk in 5 runs, no one but the catcher is doing any work - everyone in the field is just standing there looking off into space! Allison was catching and she had to chase down all of the errant balls the pitchers threw! It started raining on us in this third game, but it at least cooled us down. It pretty much rained the whole 3rd game!!

I've included some pictures from last night. These are pictures of her league team - not the same team as today.
Then this is a picture of her delivering a pitch last night. Unfortunately they got beat last night - that was the first loss I'd seen this year!
Dave worked at Habitat all day. Tomorrow is the house's dedication and they had all kinds of problems today. So he'll be going to the house to work in the morning instead of going to church. As for me, I'll be going to church and then I'm planning to attend the dedication.

Today in O-town was the funeral for the soldier who died in Afghanistan this past week. I guess there were a few protestors there - but only about 5 or 6. Mostly, however, there were many, many people holding flags and lining the streets of Ottumwa, showing support for the young man's family. The pictures I've seen on Facebook are wonderful. The Patriot Guard was here in full force too. Very impressive. I would have liked to have been there too, but I could only be in one place at a time!!

More later...