Escargo...From Long Ago

Raymond found this fossil on a job site north of Waco, TX. He brought it home with permission. A plant worker told him that they have found other fossils, including teeth and giant tusks. If any of you readers have any insight as to the species, cleaning, or renovation of this giant snail, use the "Comment" button or shoot us an email.

~m~

Cozumel: Cell Phone Pics

Here are 2 pictures that they took on their cell phone. I'm thinking this is the last of the bunch...


~m~

Cozumel: Underwater Pics

Want more pics? Here they are!!
(Dad mentioned that none of the color really came out well in these pictures. However, perhaps you can get a taste...)







~m~

Cozumel: From Suzy

Hello,
R & I made it back from our week in Cozumel. We had a wonderful time. Spent the whole week on the island (vs going back to the mainland for things to do). Rented a scooter and drove around the island. The east side has no electricity, so the restaurants on that side (about 3 or 4) close at 6 pm. We got to "talk" with some locals...my Spanish works only to a point!

We also went snorkeling all but one day. Mostly just off the shore from our hotel...but one day did take a boat tour to 3 other reefs off shore. Cool fish and fan coral.

The hotel was just my speed. Casual, yet staff was very attentive and helpful. Rooms okay.

Checking in at the airport on our way home, the clerks started laughing when they saw R's info. One of the clerks name was Raymond Valadez. He is from Mexico. He has 2 uncles named Victor Valadez in Austin.

Now its back to the real world....yuck....
Hope you are all doing well.
suzy

Cozumel: Scenery Pictures

In honor of their 20th wedding anniversary, Dad and Mom took a week off and went to Cozumel. They went snorkeling, shopping, swimming, scootering, and eating. Twenty pictures were brought back (not counting the underwater, which we're going to get developed later today). Take a look!

The view from the hotel:

The hotel balcony:

The moped & the beach & Mom:

The beach & Dad:

The beach:


Once we get some digital underwater pictures (later today, hopefully), I'll upload a few. :)
~m~

4th of July

So you've been waiting a week for pics from the 4th of July parade. I'm not going to elaborate much on it. If you've ever been to a small-town parade, you got a taste. Not a big taste (i.e. the battery-operated jeeps with little kids inside = 1 float), but a taste nonetheless. Samuel's all-star team got their own float (one of the all-star perks), which was fun.

This first pic is that lovely boredom spent waiting for the parade to start...

These second two pics are of the all-star float.

~m~

4th Game

(editing complete)
Well, we lost the game, which means we're out of the tournament and done with baseball. :( Still, we stayed in the game two games longer than was possible, so we're all pretty cool with it.


1st Inning: We were home (for the 4th time in a row!) and Mat opened up our pitching (3 batters/10 pitches/2 strike-outs). The first batter hit a pop-fly to the shortstop, and the second and third batters struck out. P got out at first, Mat struck out, and J hit a pop-fly. SCORE: 0-0.

2nd Inning: Mat pitched to 6 batters (21 pitches/1 walk). Two hits went to P (2nd) who threw them to S (1st), and one grounded to S (1st). Two runs were scored. On offense, S struck out, Samuel got out at first, Mas to first, Dr got to second (on errors), and Da got out at second. Both Mas and Dr crossed home plate. SCORE: 2-2.

3rd Inning: Mat pitched to 5 batters (15 pitches/1 strike-out). Then Samuel came in after one out to pitch to 6 batters (14 pitches/0 strike-outs). Besides Mat's strike-out, they hit a pop fly to second, as well as a hit to second that was thrown to first. Fredericksburg scored five runs that inning. Co was the first to the plate; he got to second on a bunt (errors). P and Mat then walked. J got to first, and S got to second (he got out while stealing third). Samuel got out at first, and Mas struck out. Co, P, Mat, and J all crossed home plate. SCORE: 6-7.

4th Inning: J pitched to 9 batters (20 pitches/1 walk). The first batter hit a pop-fly to Mat (shortstop), and the second batter hit a grounder to P (2nd) that was thrown to first for an out. It was the ninth batter that got the last out the same way. They had four runs. On offense, Ch (in for Dr) walked, G (in for Da) got out at first, and Co bunted and got out at first. SCORE: 6-11.

5th Inning: J pitched to 5 batters (21 pitches/1 strike-out/1 walk). The first batter got out (on another play) at second, the fourth batter hit a pop-fly to Mat (shortstop), and the fifth batter struck out. We were at the top of our lineup again. P got out at first, Mat got to first, J got out to first, and Mat got out running to home. SCORE: 6-11.

6th Inning: J pitched to 4 batters (8 pitches/1 walk). The first batter hit a grounder to P (2nd) who threw it to first and got him out. The second batter hit a grounder to J (pitcher) who threw it to first and got him out. The fourth batter hit a pop-fly to Mat (shortstop). On offense, S struck out. Samuel had an hit (unfortunately not recorded on video) and got to first. Mas hit a pop-fly. Dr and Da got to first, but Dr got out at second. Samuel made it across home plate. FINAL SCORE: 7-11.

We went to a Mexican restaurant in Austin in honor of Raymond & Suzy's anniversary.

Pictures & details of 4th of July parade to come...

~m~

Happy Anniversary

**************************************************

**************************************************

*** Happy ***

*** 2oth ***

*** Anniversary ***

*** Raymond & Suzy ***

*** Valadez ***

********************************************************

********************************************************

3rd Game

(updating complete)
Good morning all!
Well, we were glad to have a win last night. The boys were definitely "on."
PRE-GAME: As you know, our game was scheduled to begin at 8:00 PM. The game before us (Blanco vs. North Shores) went extremely long. While we waited, we finally took the team pictures we've been wanting to take (minus Asst. Coach Amy, who was out of town). Here's a few of those (and more).
We began our game at 9:08 PM. Everyone was a little worried, because Little League rules state that:

1. No inning can begin after 11 PM.


2. If 11 PM is after the 4th inning, then that is ball-game. Whatever the score is...is.


3. If 11 PM is before the 4th inning, the game is suspended.

None of us wanted to have to suspend this game that we'd already waited so long for. The teams took the field in record time; there was no line-up, only a hurried Little League Pledge. Then the game began.

1st Inning: We were home, so Mas opened up pitching (3 batters/11 pitches/1 strike-out). His second batter hit a pop fly, which was subsequently thrown to 1st base for a double play. Mas struck the next batter out, and no run for Comfort. Offensively, P and Mat walked; J got to second; S and Dr struck out; Da walked; Samuel got to first (He had a great hit on the first pitch; unfortunately, the camera wasn't ready so we have no video.); and Mas hit a pop fly. P, Mat, and J crossed home plate. SCORE: 3-0.

2nd Inning: Mas pitched to 5 batters (16 pitches/1 strike-out). He caught a pop fly, as did Mat (shortstop). The last batter struck out. We took the field again. Co hit a pop fly, P, walked, Mat struck out, J got to first, and G (in for S) got to first. P got out running to third, and still the SCORE was 3-0.

3rd Inning: Mas pitched to 4 batters (14 pitches/2 strike-outs). One bunted and got out at first, and two were struck-out. Ch (in for Dr) led off for us and hit a pop fly. Da got to first, where they subbed in S for him (S eventually crossed home plate). Samuel got to first and Co struck out. During P's batting, Samuel got out while attempting to steal home. SCORE: 4-0.

4th Inning: Mas pitched to 3 batters (6 pitches/0 strike-outs). The first hit it to Mat (shortstop), who threw it to first and got him out. The second hit it to first and got out. The third hit to P (2nd), who threw it to first and got him out. On offense, P and Mat got to first. J struck out. S got to second. Dr struck out, and Da got out at first. P, Mat, and S crossed home plate. SCORE: 7-0.

5th Inning: Mas pitched to 3 batters again (12 pitches/1 strike-out). The first was a strike-out. The second was a pop fly to Mat (shortstop), and the third was a pop fly to the catcher (Co). Samuel led off the batting with a walk. Mas got to first, Co struck out, P walked, and Mat struck out. (Mas and P crossed home plate.) SCORE: 9-0.

6th Inning: Mas pitched to 3 batters again (8 pitches/0 strike-outs). The first batter got to first base. The second batter hit to P (2nd), who scooped it up and tagged the runner going to 2nd. He then had the presence of mind to throw it to first, where the batter got out. Double play! FINAL SCORE: 9-0.

Although we heard that a few families were going to Sonic, we opted to go home. Even without a post-game celebration, I still tumbled into bed at 12:45 AM.

Bracket is updated!

~m~