Breck shares his birthday with India’s Republic Day (so he always had a school holiday when we lived in Mumbai) and (as I learned yesterday) Australia Day. So happy birthday to all of them.

He’s having a Guy Party this weekend – he made up invitations that invited friends to “explore their inner guyness” as they play video games and watch PG-13 movies – so that’s pretty exciting. Bookended between baseball games on Friday night and Sunday afternoon, he’s got a full schedule.

For his birthday evening, we ordered in McDonald’s, ate the birthday cake his sister made, opened presents, studied for his math test, and watched War of the Worlds. Not too shabby for a Thursday afternoon!

Apparently we have to move all the way to the far east for Breck to be able to play baseball. There was nothing in Serbia, nothing in India (unless you count cricket), and we always got back too late/left too early in the summers to participate in the USA.

But here in J-Town, there is a thriving baseball league. Populated in large part by Indonesians (of course) and Japanese (which makes sense), the league is a well-structured ways for players to both learn the basics and hone their skills. Breck’s birthday determined that he was in the majors, so he is a first-time player on teams with much older boys (and a few girls).

After a practice on Thursday, the Phillies (ugh) had their first game on Sunday. Yeah, there wasn’t really a whole lot of “prep time” involved, but for many of the kids that didn’t seem to make much of a difference – they are good!! In a Thrilla Near Manilla, Breck’s team won 7-6 at the bottom of the last inning. Breck got in to play 2nd base, and his older teammates were very helpful in guiding him along.

Susan was a little overwhelmed at the length of the game (we arrived around 3:45 and left at 8:00), and Breck took a little dinger to his hand, but all in all it was a very successful afternoon of the “American Pastime” – in Indonesia!!

Not much going on in Jakarta, other than a middle school social, but WOW!! Did Breck ever go all out as an Orc Zombie:

Back from Bali – all wiped out.

In case you want to see some pictures, and you haven’t looked at Facebook, you can follow this link…

The middle school had its annual track meet, and Breck has been practicing with the team to get ready for things. There were over 300 students in attendance from 5 international schools, so to say there was a lot going on is a huge understatement!

Since I’d volunteered to run the javelin competition, Susan and Alea were holding down the Stutz cheering section duties (and they apparently did a great job). Breck ended up getting 5th overall in both long jump and javelin, and Susan got to taste Jakarta’s infamous Fatburgers!