"Take me out to the Ballgame..."

(Magda in her batter's helmet, which she wore to bat and to field!!!)

Well, we may not have had peanuts, but the hot dogs were plentiful... and the spirit of the games just as enchanting! Summertime comes around, and some of the greatest memories I have are of late-night softball games in the glow of headlights, the feel of the ball smacking into your glove, or the bat cracking as your teammates and fans scream and cheer... good times ;)
Last Friday night, the workers and kids of CVE invited the personnel from DIF (the social services organization we work with here) and a few of their teachers from school to a baseball game and cookout.
Showing up perfectly on time (which in Mexican culture really means an hour late), everyone pounded mits against knees, squared up to bat, and screeched around the bases to the accompanying cheers and yells from the sidelines. Although I couldn't say who won the baseball game, the outing seemed to be a hit with lots of laughter, dusty knees, and new friendships.

Candi sits in the wagon, "guarding" the baseballs; Gabriel tries on the catcher's mask... managing to keep it on for the 2.5 seconds it takes to get a picture before it slid off and hung around his neck as he ran back and forth as the "ball boy."

Ready for the pitch: the outfielders display their "ready" stance... notice Magda still wearing the baseball helmet... lol

Safe! Michelle makes it home just in time; at left, Francisco gets some "words of advice" from Jo-el on running the bases....

After the game comes the food! The kids and staff gather around the burning tree stump to roast hot dogs... the first hot dogs brought back were still slightly frozen, so we had to help the kids understand how long to roast them!

Gonzalo, a worker from DIF, holds Eduardo before getting ready to eat; Paola relaxes in one of the chairs surrounding the fire...

Hot dogs with beans, tomatoes, and onions, watermelon, nachos with cheese, and - of course - s'mores for dessert... AC's usually do the "food thing" pretty well... lol

At left, the kids toast (or in some cases, like me, beautifully burn to a blackened crisp, which is the absolute best way to eat a marshmallow... lol) their giant marshmallows. Joan found these at one of the grocery stores in town, and the kids had a blast with the extra gooey-ness that ensued; Gabriel tries to feed part of his marshmallow to Limón, who in turn tries to avoid the sticky-coated mess... it was quite amusing to see the little guys smear marshmallow goo all over their faces and then run up to the older guys for hugs and kisses... and the dancing, quickly-defying movements that took said older guys out of the reach of marshmallowy hands... ;)

Francisco, Federico, Lili, and Jose finish their nachos while watching the sunset...

A small tribute to the burnt log - which has now been permeating the air for three days... ;)

And Moises' face perfectly expresses how all the kids were feeling at the end of the night... very, very full and ready for bed... lol. He kept pulling his shirt up over his stomach and putting my hand on his bulging little belly to tell me that it was very full and could I help??? Hmmmm... ;)