More from the Americans!

That would be Brooke's softball team. :)

She is turning into quite the athlete...that I never thought she'd be (just being honest). She LOVES softball. Is one of the few (namely 2!) girls on her team that really really WANT to be there, enjoy it, and try really hard. She has come great strides, since just the few practices and games they've had. Since never even knowing what softball was, knowing how to wear a glove or what it was for, or even how the game worked! The other night at her game.... she got 2 hits (off a pitch, not a tee!...in this league, if they 'strike out', they get a chance to hit off the tee next..but she got 2 hits off a pitch!), scored twice, AND threw 2 runners out at first!!! She would've gotten a third runner out if the first baseman/girl would've caught the ball.

Anyways, so, I am quite proud of her and how well she is doing for this being her first go at it. She's already looking forward to next season and has started talking about wanting to do basketball too! (ahhh...basketball...... :)

Here's some pics from a recent game:

In the dugout...

On deck...

Her first hit this particular game...

She's pretty fast too! (she's always loved running! Remember her winning fourth place at the Reindeer Run at her school?) Here she is getting to 1st base...

And she scores! :)

Her coach is awesome (have I mentioned that yet? :P ) He encourages them, teaches them, reminds them to have fun, and even gives them pep talks when other teams aren't as friendly. He makes them all play every position and even rotates the batting order so they all get different chances throughout the game. I mentioned her playing catcher before. The other day when she got the 2 girls out at 1st, she was playing short stop. But this night, she got another chance to catch (even each inning they switch positions). She did a great job! And is actually the only one on her team that doesn't complain about wearing the whole catcher get-up. :)

After the game (and another win!), the teams always line up to shake hands.

I do feel sorry for Brenna. She's not old enough yet, but is dying to get out there! She's always running with me to and from all Brooke's stuff. Pick up Brooke from school, go home, wait while Brooke does homework, wait while she practices piano, take Brooke to piano lessons, take Brooke and watch her play softball. Very very soon...she'll get her turn at it!

Edited to add some videos from recent games! Brooke has gotten the chance to play pitcher a couple of times too and threw 2 girls out at first AGAIN! When given the chance and playing in a position that gets balls hit at her, she almost always gets the girl out. That's impressive! (in my opinion anyway)

She is also hitting well....most times getting a hit off pitches (as opposed to a tee). Here's some proof! :)




Here's her scoring, beating a girl out, after the above hit....




And another time, getting a hit....






Just for fun, here's a video of her playing catcher (and for reference, most girls just stand there ;) ....





And yet, one more hit, at a different game.... (we're actually sad, there's only 3 more games! :( )





I'm so impressed with how far she's come in such a short amount of time! I had no idea how much she'd enjoy softball! :-D