New Neighbors!!

Rex, London, Maddie & I have been spending a lot of August at our beach house in Bay Head, NJ, but we drove back this morning for a bunch of errands...we're waiting for a delivery from Wine Library, Maddie has a pitching lesson with Kristyn at RBIs in Randolph, NJ, we need to pick up our Summer Stars DVD at Annie's Playhouse in Far Hills, NJ, London has a munchkin rehearsal tonight for Hexagon Players' Wizard of Oz, and we're hoping to have a swim in the pool and dinner with our NEW NEIGHBORS!! They moved in across the street last month and have THREE GIRLS...yippee!

Meeting our new neighbors got me thinking that I really, really need to update this blog and all of my Roxy's Best Of... local sites so that our new friends will have the latest information on all the cool things to do in the Greater Roxiticus Valley (Morris County and Somerset County, NJ). As London and Maddie have grown up and their interests have changed, I realize I should be posting a whole new set of recommendations....and reminding everyone about some of our old favorites with staying power.

Maddie's Found a Home at RBIs Baseball (and Softball) Academy in Randolph, NJ

While it has taken my tomboy, Maddie, a little longer than her older sister, London (the dancer), to find her passion, she's found it in softball and just can't get enough. This spring, Maddie pitched for our 3rd and 4th grade rec league team, the Mendham Minors Mets, who went 13-0 in the regular season only to lose a heartbreaker to the A's in the championship game, 12-11 in the 9th inning...she used a highly accurate slingshot delivery, earning the nickname Maddie "K" for all of her strikeouts. After seeing the 10-year-old all-stars and some of the local travel teams play ball, however, we quickly realized that Maddie would need to learn how to throw windmill to speed things up enough to be competitive. Through a friend, we found pitching coach Kristyn Depasquale at RBIs Baseball Academy in Randolph, NJ...and along with Kristyn came so much more...we signed up for a family membership at RBIs and have year-round access (one hour per day) to air conditioned, indoor batting cages (with a softball pitching machine) so that I don't have to try to throw 60mph to give the girls batting practice. So let it rain, let the temperatures heat up over 100 degrees, Maddie won't stop pitching...batting....fielding....and when it comes time for Fall Ball with the Branchburg Blaze, she'll be ready.

You can join Maddie for RBI's Fall Ball Baseball and Softball Workouts coming up on August 23rd, 24th and 25th. Continue reading...