The Kruger Family: August 2020

Back in March when all of our lives shut down we thought we would be done with everything until who knows when. We enjoyed the time we were forced to slow down our lives, all the time we were forced to just stay home and find new ways to pass the days. The introvert in me kinda loved it. There was no pressure to be places, to go to functions or to be "on," no one was feeling left out of things because NO ONE was doing anything, I did not have to get dressed if I did not want to, and forget about putting make-up on! I missed my family tremendously and of course the stress of schooling the kids at home and wondering how Kruger's would fare from this was stressful, and all the other confusing and scary feelings from global pandemic were looming. But we were forced to slow down. We were over scheduled and over booked and all exhausted from just living and trying to keep up and getting everyone everywhere all the time. So in a way, there were some good things to come out of the shut down.

All this to say, when we started getting e-mails about baseball starting back up in June we were very hesitant. For all the obvious reasons--how in the world can they play baseball when everything is shut down and there are stay at home orders in place. IS IT EVEN SAFE???? Is this the right choice? Surely it will get shut down and never happen even though they are trying. How can they do this safely? Our kids are starting to go crazy and we need to also look after their mental health. Do the pros outweigh the cons? How could they possibly? The most important thing was the health of our kids and our family. This was something we really had to think about and get more details on how they can do this safely. If we said yes to Owen, how could we say no to Cash?

Owen's team was all committing to play with safety measures in place. The whole team was on board....ugh. Honestly, we said yes assuming it would not actually happen. Every day we were waiting to be shut down. The kids and coaches had to wear masks in the facility, get their temperature taken before being allowed in and must sanitize their hands. No sharing of equipment and social distance as best as you can, and parents were not allowed inside. Anxiously, we decided to give it a try. Owen had worked really hard on this team and if we had said no, he might have lost his place on the team. I spoke with some of the moms and we all hestitantly said we would give it a try. There was an understanding that we all had just decided that we were all now part of each others quarantine bubble.

At the same time, a group of coaches/dad from Oak Hill were putting together some select teams that would allow them to play during this time since OH was shut down. Again, surely they will be shut down...and since we said yes to Owen, we felt like we had to say yes to Cash....so we did. It was scary and honestly, never felt like the right thing to do. Blaine and I felt anxious about it every day and felt like we were being irresponsible. Now that it is behind us and all over, we are relieved that we all (and everyone on both boys teams) stayed healthy and that it all worked out. We felt like we did what we could do keep everyone as safe as possible--Eli always stayed home as to not expose him to anyone if it was not necessary, we always wore masks, sanitized, kept our distance from other parents. I am not in any way saying it was the right choice, I still sometimes feel like it was totally irresponsible but here we are and honestly, it was a sanity saver! It gave us something to do (all outside), the boys got exercise and were able to socially interact with friends and so were we! Not to mention the baseball was fun to watch as well.

We ended up playing A LOT of baseball this Spring/Summer. Cash had practice 3/week and Owen had it 2/week. They both ended up playing 8 or 9 tournaments!

Cash's team had a little trouble finding their legs, but for their very last tourney they finally put it all together and came home with the WIN after fighting their way to the championship (it was a 6 game weekend!). Cash played short stop the entire season. It was a super fun group of kids and parents!

Here are some highlights from his very HOT season.....

Owen's team had a great season. They ended up in second place twice and one championship! We spent SOOOO many hours out on the fields and it was really so, so hot. The friendships Owen has made from this team are the best. I am so very grateful he became part of this team a year ago. He has honestly has had the best quarantine of anyone I know. We decided that since he was already exposed to these kids, that he would be allowed to hang out with a few of them outside of baseball. And hang out he has! Owen, Huddy and Hayden have seen each other more days than not--sleepovers, meeting up at the Circle C Cafe, bike riding, hanging at each others houses...you name it!

Back to baseball...here are (A LOT) of pictures from Owens season....