Silly Monkey Story: The Many Faces of Baseball

Our 8 year old son has decided that this is going to be his last season of soccer.  He wants to try his hand at baseball next Spring, so his Dad has been trying to get in some practice whenever they can squeeze it in, which hasn't been too much considering all the rain we've been getting for the past month or so.  I must say that our son has been doing very well.  With a little bit more practice, he will be a great player.

These photos were taken on Mother's Day.  When I was looking through the many photos I had taken, I just had to pull a few aside.  The expressions on our sons' faces and even my husband's are priceless.  What kind of mother and wife would I be if I didn't publish them online for the world to see, right?

(Click any photo to enlarge)

Click here to read all my Silly Monkey Stories!

4 New Books for Young Baseball Fans

Baseball is most certainly America’s favorite past time, so it’s no wonder that so many young children love baseball. Baseball has bred some true heroes for children to look up to, so books that encourage the legacy of baseball and foster a love of the game in children would be a great addition to any collection. Candlewick Press was kind enough to send me four of their newest books that are all baseball-themed, and we loved them all.

1.  There Goes Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived by Matt Tavares is about the baseball great, Mr. Williams himself, who was not only a great player for many years, but also a war hero. Ted Williams played for the Red Sox at Fenway Park for a span of 20-something years, but his life was defined by so much more than the game he loved. This book is filled with statistics for the baseball lover, but more biographical in nature with lively, realistic illustrations and the story of a great man’s life and his love for the game. $16.99

2.  Chris Crowe’s Just As Good: How Larry Doby Changed America’s Game follows Larry Doby, an African American baseball player back in the 60’s who fought hard for the right to play the sport he loved. The book follows a young African-American boy who see Doby as an inspiration and views him with hopefulness for a change in the future. Doby certainly defined baseball and gave hope to many when things seemed hopeless. This book also very realistically illustrated and follows the true story of Doby through the eyes of a little boy. $16.99

3.  In Zachary’s Ball, also by Matt Tavares, a young boy finds magic in a baseball caught by his father and it changes his views of life and baseball. With beautiful, sketch type artwork and an engaging story about a boys’ love of baseball, this book is sure to be a favorite of your little baseball fan. $15.99

4.  Finally, Randy Riley’s Really Big Hit is the fictional story by Chris Van Dusen of Randy Riley who is a science nerd who loves baseball, but isn’t very athletic himself. When he realizes Earth is set on a collision course with a fireball, he builds a giant, baseball-playing robot to save them all. This story is adorable, fun, and any child is sure to love it. It is also brightly and wonderfully illustrated, which just adds to the fun. $15.99

You can find all four books at many major book retailers, such as Amazon.com and Candlewick.com.

Thank you to Candlewick Press for providing complimentary product samples for us to base this review upon.

Giveaway & Review: Backyard Sports Sandlot Sluggers (Wii Game) [CLOSED]

As I may have mentioned in the past, the main reason I agreed to purchase a Nintendo Wii for our household is because it seemed like a great way to keep my family active, especially during the hottest days of summer and the coldest days of winter. Although, we have tried some excellent exercise-based games, Backyard Sports Sandlot Sluggers allows my children to be active without a formal exercise routine.

We already had a baseball bat attachment for the Wii remote that came with an accessory pack we had previously purchased. Although it definitely is not necessary to have this attachment to play this baseball Wii game, it certainly adds to the realism of the role playing.

My children are 6.5, 3.5, and 3.5, so the Mini Games mode is the one that best fits their attention span. Each Mini Game is fairly short and allows the player or players to choose the activity they happen to be in the mood for at that time.

My children enjoyed being able to choose their team and their character. It really makes the game go faster having set choices rather than creating a completely customized character. In other games with that feature, my 6 year old can spend quite a long time just designing a character, which is fine when he is playing by himself, but not when there are multiple players.

Out of all the Mini Games, "Break Out" is the one that all our children enjoy. It is focused on only batting. Since we do not usually allow our children to swing big sticks around in the house, they really enjoyed this activity. I never realized how much giggling and laughter from delight could come from swinging a pretend bat until my 6 year old son played "Break Out" for the first time.

The great thing about Backyard Sports Sandlot Sluggers is that even preschoolers can enjoy the different activities. Our twins actually do not care about their scores or who wins. They just love playing this interactive baseball game and being able to affect the character on the screen.

Even though batting is clearly one of their favorite activities, I think the one that my 6 year old enjoys the most is Pickle. In this game, the player needs to shake the Wii remote to make their character run between the bases and try to tag the opposing runner's team out. I have never seen him laugh so much. Plus this game gives him quite a workout.

Needless to say, this game was a huge hit with our children. My husband did not like how much he had to adjust the way he hit in order to time his swings correctly, but such things were not an issue for the children. They cannot wait until the next game Backyard Sports Rookie Rush comes out this November.

To learn more about Sandlot Sluggers for Wii, DS, or XBox 360, visit BackyardSports.com . This game retails for just $19.99 and is currently available at Amazon.com, GameStop, Best Buy, Target, Toys R Us, Walmart, and other major video game retailers.

Thank you to Backyard Sports for sending us a sample game free of charge to base this review upon and for providing another game for our contest prize.

What you can win:
One lucky reader will receive Backyard Sports Sandlot Slugger (for the Wii).

Limitations:

This giveaway is open to U.S. entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. If you enter anonymously and do not include a valid email address in your comment entries, I will not be able to notify you should you win this random drawing.

How to Gain Entries:

Browse the selection of Sandlot Sluggers characters. Then leave a comment telling me which character you or your child would like to play the most. You MUST do this to be eligible to win this contest.

Extra Entries:

1) For 5 extra entries, leave a relevant comment on one of my non-giveaway posts. Then leave FIVE separate comments with the name of the post on which you commented. You will earn 5 extra entries for each different non-contest post you comment on.

2)

For 5 extra entries, enter one of my other contests. Leave FIVE separate comments here telling me which contest you entered. You will earn 5 extra entries for each contest you enter.

3) For 10 extra entries, blog about this contest linking back to this post AND BackyardSports.com . Then come back here and leave TEN separate comments with the link to your blog post.

4)

For 1 extra entry each, if you are a Friend of mine on Facebook and/or if you have "liked" the 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires Facebook page, then leave a separate comment here telling me so with the link to your Facebook profile.

5) For 1 extra entry, "Like" Backyard Sports on Facebook. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Facebook profile.

6)

Follow me on Twitter. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Twitter profile.

7)

Tweet about this giveaway linking back to this post. Then come back here and leave the link to your tweet in a separate comment. You may do this once per day until the end of the contest.

8)

Subscribe to this blog's feed. Or you can follow me through Blogger or subscribe via email (widget is on sidebar). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

9)

Subscribe to A Blog of Goodies' feed (the sister site to 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

10)

Add my button or blog link to your blog's sidebar. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your blog.

<br /> <a href="http://www.3garnets2sapphires.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd206/Busymonkeez/Graphics4Me/NEWBlogButton125x125.jpg" /></a><br /><br />

(All entries will be verified prior to awarding this prize.)


Random Drawing:

This contest will be closed on Monday, September 6th, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. A random number drawing will be held shortly after. The winner will be announced here and will be contact via email or through their blog. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new number will be drawn.

Good luck in the drawing!