There is parental life after baseball

Great idea for a thread Goosegg!  I'll bite.  My wife and I went hiking, ziplining and climbing in Slovenia (Julian Alps) back in May 2018.   Ljubljana (capital) is a fantastic city to visit on its own.   When youngest son graduated college (May 2109) we were off to hike and 4-wheel in Utah before he headed off to Basic Training. 

We're hell bent on seeing the world!  Great trips!  More to come.  

I'm in. We've traveled to the UK, Gibraltar, Spain. Hiked in Santa Fe NM, Bryce Canyon UT, Red Rock Canyon, Valley of Fire & Mount Charleston all three in Nevada. Stood on that corner in Winslow AZ. Attended Spring Training this year. Did I mention, we moved from NorCal to the Las Vegas Valley. 

I thought that we would be saving money with no more state taxes and no kid on the payroll any longer. So far, that hasn't happened.

Life after baseball is good! I still miss watching my son and his teammates play. We all gathered last week for the 4th annual wine tasting. Great seeing everyone. The best part of the trip was looking in the rear view mirror of the 15 passenger van and seeing there smiling faces. Not to forget the singing and pounding on the interior roof. I was the DD. The five roommates "Let's Go"

Son graduated last May but took an assistant coaching job with the local college summer league team.  I went to 8 or 10 games.  He's going to be a volunteer assistant this year, then 2 years of graduate assistant at a local NAIA school, so I'm sure I'll get to several of those games....so it's not really "after baseball" for me....yet.   I have managed to have some free time.  I've been to a couple single A games and a AAA game.  Spent a day at a casino....and lost ....and a little more time on the boat than last year.  It's strange not having him playing for the first summer in 15+ years....guess I'm still getting used to it

Great idea!  It takes time to fill the void, but eventually you realize you're mostly free to do your own thing and the void gets filled pretty quickly with all those things you wanted to do!  If nothing else the "flexibility" one learns from following their child through baseball is put to use as new adventures await.  We moved from NH to NC and now to FL to live 6 blocks from the beach, but also have a place in NC as our hurricane escape plan and for our youngest to have somewhere to call home while he starts his life after baseball and lack of desire to finish his degree. Our oldest got married last year and now they're making us g-parents in Nov. Middle son is a lawyer in Charlotte and recently engaged (planning wedding #2 for next Dec.).  In between all that, just when we thought we were going to be able to do whatever, whenever - last summer I found a biological brother through Ancestry (both of us were adopted after being taken away from the parents in different parts of the country). Spent some time getting to know him and his family and vice versa.  This year we're going to Paris/Lyon for a 10 days followed by time in Boston with a grandchild.  Who knew, life just goes on and it moves fast just like Ferris Bueller said it would.

Yup, it's been a nightmare trying to find things to do since baseball ended and the kids all moved out 

I spent three years looking for the best high school and colleges games in the area. When my son graduated I inherited a responsibility at the other end of the age spectrum. Now that this responsibility has ended I giving consideration to where I want to travel and live.  

By some weird scheduling quirk, my wife and I wound up in a nice hotel in Austin off of sixth street without any kids last weekend.  It was really nice.  Strange, but nice.  Maybe a hint of things to come.  Daughter just entered high school this week.  Four more years.

Awesome pics, guys,  looks like a ton of fun. 

I'm at the point where I can see both sides. Most of our family's baseball is behind us - only 2 more possible years of college baseball ahead.  As empty-nesters we're already having our share of fun - in fact, I'll be on a plane for Lisbon in a few hours.

But I went to the cage today - here is my son stretching out.  If I had to spend the next two weeks tossing baseballs to him instead of drinking port and eating grilled sardines, I would be more than ok with that. (and I love port and sardines)

JCG - We love Portugal. I didn't mention my wife and I visited in 2016.  We hiked down the Portugal coast...beautiful.  We've been tossing around the idea of retiring there. Enjoy your trip.  Ps..I'm right there with you on the grilled sardines and a bottle of good port.  

Picked Off posted:

I'm in. We've traveled to the UK, Gibraltar, Spain. Hiked in Santa Fe NM, Bryce Canyon UT, Red Rock Canyon, Valley of Fire & Mount Charleston all three in Nevada. Stood on that corner in Winslow AZ. Attended Spring Training this year. Did I mention, we moved from NorCal to the Las Vegas Valley. 

I thought that we would be saving money with no more state taxes and no kid on the payroll any longer. So far, that hasn't happened.

Life after baseball is good! I still miss watching my son and his teammates play. We all gathered last week for the 4th annual wine tasting. Great seeing everyone. The best part of the trip was looking in the rear view mirror of the 15 passenger van and seeing there smiling faces. Not to forget the singing and pounding on the interior roof. I was the DD. The five roommates "Let's Go"

Thanks to you and your better half for making the 4th annual another memorable one... I was definitely not the DD   I'll just post a few of the "safe" pics...