Ladd Photos

The 4S All-Stars team won the Section championship game, but it was a close one. Peninsula made a good push to come back late in the game, but we held on and won 11 to 10.

The 4S boys won their first Section tournament game, against Peninsula Little League, with a score of 4 to 2. Before the game started, Gavin was chosen to lead the pledge of allegiance.

Gavin’s All-Star team won the district championship by sweeping Poway in a doubleheader! Now they get to play in the Section championships.

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, but one of the moms got some picks of the team after their win:

Gavin is having a very memorable season. His team, the Dodgers, won the district championship. Then he made the All-Star team, and that team won the District’s Skills Championship!

All-Star Day started off with the teams getting announced, and all the players saying their name and something about themselves. Gavin said: They call me the Magic Man (the nickname his coach gave him). Then they competed against the other All-Star teams in a timed around-the-horn and relay race competitions, which they won.

One of the moms got some good shots of the boys after their win:

Because of the pandemic, the league didn’t get to have their normal opening ceremony. So, we did a closing celebration instead.

All the teams were announced and got to parade on the field. Gavin’s Dodgers team was announced as the champions, and later on he was announced as an Intermediate All-Star and given his hat.

After nearly two year wait, thanks to the pandemic, we were finally able to see a live baseball game. It felt great to be out, even with the stadium at limited capacity. Unfortunately, the Halos didn’t win, but it was a nice day nonetheless.

While I was out for a hike at Lake Hodges, I decided to take some shots of the wildflowers and a few of the birds.

Connor had a busy game, spending two innings catching and an inning pitching.

Connor stepped up to double digits this year! After opening presents in the morning, he spent all day playing baseball or watching his brother play.

He got to try out his new catcher gear, and it must work because he made a big tag at home to prevent a run, allowing his team to win the game. Connor must have been good luck for his brother too, because Gavin hit a single for the walk-off win in his game, against the #1 ranked team.

My little Bub is now a teenager. He spent his day among the animals at the Zoo, which we hadn’t visited since before the pandemic. Afterwards, we feasted on Gavin’s favorite Woodstock’s pizza.

We bid Joshua Tree farewell while visiting the Cottonwood Oasis in the south section of the park.

A cool desert iguana greeted us at the desert oasis we explored to kick off our second day of the trip. Then we headed further into the park, to hike amongst and climb around the boulders. Somehow, no bones were broken in the process.

We finished off the day at Keys View, admiring the dust storm and smog filling the Coachella Valley. Before Los Angeles had so many cars, I’m sure that the view was amazing.

We spent our first afternoon in Joshua Tree learning about the geology and wildlife at the visitor center. Then we did a short hike to Barker Dam, getting some up close experience with joshua trees and meeting some friendly ground squirrels.

We had to spend another Easter at home, due to the pandemic. The boys still enjoyed their baseball themed baskets of treats and decorating eggs.

Enjoying the sun outdoors, first at Balboa Park and then on drive downtown and along the bay. We ended up at Harbor Island, looking at the city from across the water.