Trying new things, Part I: The batting cage

Happy Presidents Day! Three-day weekends are right up there with dark chocolate and cheese, in my opinion.

This weekend has gone by really quickly so far, but it has not been without adventures. Sunday was a "try something new" kind of day, and it started out with...

...a trip to the local batting cages!

I played on my company's softball team last summer — which was my first time playing softball outside of gym class in school — and it was so much fun. (Related: the push-up challenge/tequila story. I still refuse to drink tequila, by the way.)

I got pretty good at hitting the ball last season, but I could never hit it very far. So the purpose of this batting cage adventure was to: a) brush up on hitting, and b) work on hitting the ball farther than usual.

Yeah... about that. That blue machine is called Iron Mike, and he was shooting balls at about 60 miles per hour.

It. Was. Scary.

The few times I managed to actually hit a ball, the impact made the bat vibrate intensely and hurt my hands. Later, I switched over to a less-scary softball machine and hit a few more balls, but that hurt, too! I learned that there's a big difference between hitting a softball that someone underhand-pitches to you and hitting one that's viciously shot at you by a machine.

Aaron hit tons of balls, of course, because he's much stronger and much less of a wimp.

He also has much better aim.

Despite my wimpyness, this was a fun experience and it really got me excited for softball season (which doesn't even start until May). The North Seattle Batting Cages are available for hourly booking, and it's really easy to book a cage online. Give it a try the next time you're bored on a weekend!

Tomorrow, I'll post Part II of "Trying new things," in which I tackle a new food for dinner...

It's squash... but also spaghetti... but still squash... and definitely the weirdest thing I've ever made!

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