This past Saturday (February 5, 2011) the Atlanta Braves Caravan made a stop in Nashville at the Academy Sports and Outdoors in Madison. We were expecting a lot more fans to be there this year since Nashville resident Dan Uggla and All-Star Martin Prado were scheduled to appear. We arrived two hours early and were #210 in line. We felt pretty sure we’d get to say hi and get a few things autographed for Carter’s collection.

It took almost an hour to reach them, but it was well worth the wait. After talking to Uggla and watching him interact with Carter for only few seconds, I’ll have to say I’m a big fan of the Braves newest 2nd baseman. Upon seeing Carter in the line, Uggla immediately perked up and greeted Carter with a “Hey there big guy, how are you doing today?”

Carter decided this year he wanted the Braves to sign the Brian McCann bat he got at a game last year. It’s not a full size bat, but probably little league sized. I will admit, it looks pretty cool with all their signatures on it.

I told Uggla that I was excited to see him with the Braves, since we both grew up in the same small town – Columbia, TN. Based on his demeanor and attitude, you can tell he’s a small town guy. Martin and the rest were equally cool and I didn’t know until the day before that Braves pitcher Mike Minor grew up about 30-minutes from me in Chapel Hill, TN.

There were at least 500 people there this year. That’s a big difference from the 100-200 that were there last year for Jason Heyward and Mike Minor—that was a month or two before most people knew who Heyward was.

With Jill and I tagging along, Carter was able to add 5 more baseballs to his collection and a few autographed cards. Hopefully we can add a few more baseballs over the season at a few games.

Overall, I’m ready for baseball to get started. After watching a few specials/countdowns on the MLB Network and the Braves Caravan, I’m ready for Spring training and the season to get underway. We’ve already looked at the schedule and have an idea of which games we’ll try to hit this year.

With Uggla added to the lineup and Chipper hopefully making a return at 3rd, 2011 looks to be a great year for the Atlanta Braves.

Check out my February 2011 photos for a few more images from the day.

Seven years ago today (tonight), you arrived in our world changed it forever. It’s true what everyone says, the birth of your child will change you. There’s no way to describe the feeling in a way that will make someone understand the relevance of the experience.

It’s been an amazing and crazy seven years. As I looked back at the photos in the video above, I not only wonder where that baby went, I wonder what you will look and be like in another seven years. Everyday is an adventure with you. I love seeing all the things in you that you have picked up from your mother, from me and the others around you every day.

I look at this young man who can name every dinosaur and recite every detail about them and see myself 30 years ago. I watch you read an entire book in a day’s time and remember when I used to do the same. I look at your face and see the beauty of your mother’s features transformed into a handsome young man. Watching you play baseball, I see “grandma’s” enthusiasm for the game transferred onto the field, having picked up a love and understanding of the game after spending summers watching it with her. I see “grandpa’s” engineering mind in your amazingly complex Lego and Lincoln Log creations. I see you holding “Granny Pete” to her promise to go looking for the Crystal Skull when you turn 16. I look at you now and see all that and more.

My mind cannot fathom what I will see in another seven years.

As we celebrate your birthday this year, I hope the Braves won the game against the Cardinals that we went to see. I hope they make to the World Series, so we can see Game 2 together. I hope you have added another autographed baseball to your collection. I hope we found the pack of Braves Logo Bandz that you wanted so badly. I hope you have enjoyed every minute of this weekend and the things we did together as a family. Most of all, I hope you know how much your father, your mother, your brother (yes, even Riley) and the rest of your family love you.

Happy 7th Birthday son.

Made it to our second Atlanta Braves game this past Sunday. It’s was a great game (Braves won). Close all the way until the end with both teams playing great.

Carter ran the bases once again after the game and I managed to capture it on video.

On a side note—I think it’s time for a new glove. That one is starting to look small.

He was attentive, fast and ready for every hit. He knew where to take the ball every time and if he got an out, he’d turn around and check the other bases.

Here’s a video of him getting an out at first and then running home to try and get another:

Our regular first baseman had left for vacation (since school was out) or Carter could have thrown it to first, like he did at a previous game:

I couldn’t be more proud of him. He loves playing ball and wants to play (and practice). I won’t push him to play, but I do encourage him – because he’s good.

I’m looking forward to Fall Ball. I’ll be stepping up as head coach and hopefully we’ll have another fun season.

This past Sunday, the wife, kids and I were making the 1-hour drive home from visiting my grandmother. Most of the trips if Interstate or Parkway travel through undeveloped areas.

It’s shortly after 6 p.m., it’s dark and the boys are both asleep in the back. I’m doing about 75 MPH and I notice something crawling out of the median.

I quickly hit the brakes and I fully saw the gray coyote walk directly into the road. I started to swerve a little bit and I realized if I swerved any more it would put us and the van directly in the median. Not a place I wanted to be,

Sorry, Mr. Coyote. It was either you or my family.

Wile E. did have his revenge. The impact cracked the front bumper on the passenger side and knocked a cover off behind the front passenger tire.

All things considered, it was an even trade.

This has got to be one of my favorite costumes (although he’s only dressed up 5 times). I think I like it because it’s partially homemade or not a store bought kit. It looks more real.

Anything is way better than the plastic shirts and masks we had as a kid.

Riley is dressing up as Charlie Brown—because what baby doesn’t look like Charlie Brown. Photos of that to come.

I’ve not posted a whole lot on the site lately and that’s for several reasons.

One reason is T-Ball. Never in a million years would I have imagined I would enjoy coaching T-Ball (asst. coaching) as much as I do. I was thrown into it in the Spring when Jill volunteered me at Carter’s first practice.

I’ve never been a big sports guy. Imagine that. A web developer/comic geek/pop culture geek not being into sports. Cliche much? Anyway…

I managed to take it in stride and appreciated her encouragement that she wanted someone out there to help the kids that would push them to have fun and encourage them. The first season in the Spring was so much fun that two of the other Dads and I decided to keep our kids together and coach a team this Fall.

Fall T-Ball is busy. Two games a week and none on the weekends makes for long days, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Not only is Carter doing great, but we’ve got a great team. Every kid has improved over the course of the season. It’s amazing. I’ll be sad when we play our last game next week.

I’ll be anxiously awaiting the Spring season in 2009 and hope that we can keep as many of these kids together as we can.

Went to pick Carter up and he and his cousin were sitting outside with Jill's Dad (Papa).

He did amazingly well considering the show started at 7:30 and lasted for almost 2-hours. Not once did he complain or ask to leave. Quite the contrary, for most of the songs he tapped his toes, pretended to play drums or simply sat and watched intensely.

As we took our seats near the front of the hall, I noticed nervous looks from the older couple seated next to us, no doubt thinking “great, our peaceful night out is ruined, thanks to this kid.” However, at the intermission, the gentleman asked how old Carter was. He commented on how well behaved he was and that he’d never dream of bringing his grand-kids of similar age.

Yes, I’m bragging and it’s because I’m proud. I’m thankful that I have a son that is willing to do things like this with me. I’m thankful he’s well behaved enough to go to something like this and even appreciate something like this at 4 years old. I’m thankful I have a son that can say in the middle of the show “Dad, I think this was a great idea.”

The program couldn’t have been planned any better. There were enough pieces he was familiar with to keep his attention and with Star Wars being the final piece, we counted down the songs until it was time for his favorite.

• Raiders of the Lost Ark
• The Cowboys
• The Pink Panther
• Jurassic Park
• Bridge Over the River Kwai
• Somewhere in Time
• Sound of Music
• Intermission
• Gone with the Wind
• On Golden Pond
• Jaws
• Star Wars – Leia’s Theme
• Star Wars – Main Theme
• Star Wars – Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme)

The program only listed Star Wars as the final selection, so there were a few puzzled looks when the orchestra started when they began playing Leia’s theme. There was a small break between Leia’s theme and the Star Wars Main Title. For a moment, I was afraid they weren’t going to play it.

The Main Title theme got the biggest response from the mostly over 40 crowd, but I was the least impressed by this piece live. Not the orchestra’s fault, they were flawless. It just seemed like a constant march or pounding. Not enough subtlety or pauses to appreciate what was happening.

When the Main Title theme was done, Carter was ready to go and had started walking to the end of the row after the applause died down. He stopped dead in his tracks and began grinning from ear-to-ear when he heard the first few bars from the Imperial March (Darth Vader’s theme).

Overall, it was an excellent show. It was the first time I had heard many of those songs in a live setting. Jaws was probably the biggest surprise. I love the movie (and the music), but the impact that piece of music has in a live setting is amazing. Every orchestra member seems to be playing something different. Notes are out of harmony. The increase in in tempo. It all builds an amazing amount of tension.

There was one bad thing about the evening, the audience. It was a sizeable crowd, but there should have been many more people there. If I had to guess, the majority of the audience was over 40-50 years old, with only a few children (less than 10) in attendance. That’s just sad. Something like this was perfect for families wanting to introduce their kids to something other than typical music on the radio.

Thankfully, the new season for the Murfreesboro Symphony is about to begin and they’ve got a similar performance planned showcasing music inspired by literature. If you’re in the Middle Tennessee area, it’s a great, inexpensive night out. Keep checking the Murfreesboro Symphony web site for the updated 2008-2009 schedule.