Nate's Birthday Homerun

Hi, everyone: Today is Nate's birthday. He's 21. We find ourselves in Maryville, Missouri, where his team is playing four games with Wayne, Nebraska--two today, two tomorrow. The games were supposed to be in Wayne, but they had something like 20 inches of snow a few days ago, so the ball fields are unavailable.

Nate was up to bat in the third inning of the first game and stroked a 3-run home run over the right center fence. The distance marker on the fence said 365 feet, so he probably hit it about 375 feet. Was a joy to watch, especially on his birthday. You really have to go to a lot of games to see that, and I am really glad we drove down. He had no idea we were coming, so that made the whole event a little more sweet.

Regrettably, they lost both games today. We're hoping for better tomorrow.

Temp here hit about 40 today, but cooled as the wind picked up later in the afternoon.

Best to you all.

(If you want to comment on this post, click the "comment" link in the lower right hand corner and leave a message. If you want to leave a message about your family, click the "blog this" link at the top of the page. This blog is for everyone, not just the Koppi's.)

Katherine and Scott spent one day with us at the ball park. Otherwise, the two of them were off doing other stuff. Scott managed to come up with some Cuban cigars through one of his contacts in Chicago. Nothing like watching a baseball game and smoking a cigar. I could do that a lot!

Nathan at Spring Training

Well, spring training didn't go as well for Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU) as the team would have liked. They finished the week with a 4-6 record. Their pitching is struggling to stay in the games. Once the starters have to leave the game, the relievers have trouble. However, Nathan did manage to crack his slump. In the last game, in five appearances at the plate, he was 2-3 with two sacrifice flies for two RBI. So that was nice. (That's Nate in the photo--number 15--hitting, just in case you weren't sure.)

We do keep busy when we're in Ft. Myers for baseball. The 10 games keep us driving back and forth to the playing field--about a 45 minute drive for us. Then, one night during the week, the parents who are there take the team out for dinner, and sponsor players whose families couldn't make it. This year, Nathan invited three of his teammates. In addition, Katherine and Scott joined us, so we had a table of eight. Katherine kept the ball players entertained with conversation. She was a riot. And I think the boys really got a kick out of her.

We're already looking forward to going again next March.

Char and I had lunch at the Lazy Flamingo on Sanibel Island. This is the restaurant that we visited last year when we were here with Claudine and John. We shared a platter of oysters on the half shell with Katherine and Scott. The atmosphere in this place is great. It's kind of a bar-grill place--fried foods are the norm.

Sanibel Island is a fun place to visit, and so is the sister island of Captiva. Katherine and Scott went back a second day to rent bikes and go kyacking. They spent a day full of exercise and were exhausted by the time evening rolled around. But from the sounds of it, they had a pretty good time. Perhaps Katherine will post a note on the blog to tell you a little more about their activities.

And, of course, I have to comment again on the great weather. You folks in California perhaps cannot appreciate it the way we do, but it was just wonderful. The air has a particularly delightful humidity to it--enough so you can feel it, but not too much to make you uncomfortable. I would happily spend a few months here every year.

Baseball, Florida, and the Sun (as in NOT-SNOW)

Greeting from Ft. Myers.

Char and I have been splitting our time between between going to Nate's games and spending time with Katherine and Scott, who joined us for the week. The weather is, of course, wonderful, and we learned that we missed a major snow storm on Sunday and Monday at our house. Also learned that there is more snow headed our way and that we may still get lucky enough to have to shovel snow one more time this winter. :-(

Nate's team is 4-3 here in Florida with three games to go. They have a young team (only three seniors), and their pitching is mediocre. The team is not hitting well right now--don't know if it's early season jitters, or what. Nate in particular is struggling with his hitting. He came off of the field last night and just hugged his mom because he felt so bad about his performance at the plate. The odd part is, he is playing great defensive baseball. It is very difficult to watch a .400 hitter struggle this way, but we know he'll figure his way out of the slump. We're meeting him for breakfast this morning to see if we can lift his spirits.

Tuesday was a day off for the ball team. Prior to going to Ft. Myers, we had purchased a pair of tickets to one of the Twins spring training games. But by Monday, neither Char nor I wanted to go to the game. Nate decided that he wanted to go to the beach, so we gave the tickets to a couple of the ball players. Then, Char and I went with Katherine and Scott to Sanibel and Captiva islands. We drove to the end of Captiva and took a walk on the beach--well, Char took the walk, I watched as Katherine and Scott went swimming and played with the waves that were rolling in. Very sunny that day, and very warm.

We had lunch at the Lazy Flamingo on Sanibel Island--a repeat visit for Char and me. We ate there last year as well with Claudine and John, when they were here. We had oysters on the half shell for lunch and we all had grouper. However, the most amazing thing was our server, Gina, who remembered me from last year. Of course, that didn't really surprise me--women always remember me. (It's tiresome, really. I just don't know what to do about that!)

We're staying at the condo of a friend of Char's. The complex has a workout room, which I have worked into my routine here. I's happy for that, because I've started a nice routine at work in the workout room there, and I'm able to continue without missing a beat. Very nice. The exercise machines in the room are different here, as you might expect, but the result of that is that I learned a couple of new exercises that I will be able to bring back to Minnesota and incorporate into my routine there.

We certainly come to Florida at the right time. The quality of the air here has a soothing humidity that I really enjoy. And with the Florida temepratures at this time of the year, we have been enjoying a wonderful change from Minnesota. Maybe I'll ask the proprietor of Java By The Sea (the internet cafe in which I am now writing to you) whether he cares to sell his business.

Well--I hope you all find this. You know, this is the FORST family blog, not the Koppi family blog. Please post information about what is happening in your families, too.

So long from sunny Florida.

FORST REUNION 2006

This is the big Hawaiian Forst Reunion!

Friday, June 30: Evening gathering at the farm with food and great conversation.
Saturday, July 1: Reunion at Finstad's Campground (Hwy. 15 North)
Brunch: 11 a.m.
Dinner: 7 p.m.
Entertainment to follow.

RSVP to Toni Gleisner
Address: 1508 South Franklin St., New Ulm, MN 56073
Phone: 507-359-1026
Email: tgleisner@newulmtel.net

Wear your Hawaiian shirts. For those of you who play instruments, bring them!

Need Email Addresses

Forst Family Update
Hi, Everyone. I'm looking for family email addresses so that I can invite everyone to join this blog. If you have an address for anyone named below, please send it to me at jjkoppi@comcast.net. I need the following:

Marcia--Need Billy's and Mike's addresses, have the rest
Claudine--Need Jane, Jim, Mary, Jenny, John, Paul
Ruth--Need Ruth, Tom (Jr), John, Ron, Julie, Susie, Nikki, and Bobbie
Toni--Need Beth, Joe, Katie
Charleen--all accounted for
Greg--Need Allana, Justin, Brandon, and Rachel
Nick--Need Nick and Paulette (but I don't think they are online)
Chris--all accounted for
Chuck--Need Chuck's address if he's online

I'll appreciate your help. Let's get this thing going.

Hi Dad!

What an awesome IDEA to start a Blog for the family. I think it is a great way to communicate with everyone all at once. I am glad to be a part of the community.
Katherine Forst Knoepke

Forst Family Update

Forst Family Update
Hi, all. I thought it was time to create a Forst Family blog (web log). I need your email addresses so that I can send you an invitation to join. This is a members-only blog, which means that we are going to restrict it to the Forst Family, kids, grandkids, and so on. Everyone who wants to participate needs to send me their email address at jjkoppi@comcast.net. When I receive the address, I will invite that family member to join the blog. This is something that would be great for college kids and anyone in the family who would like to keep up with family happenings. Please pass the word that the blog is established. All you need to do is check in. After that, you can either post a message or comment on an existing message. Don't worry, you'll figure it out after you've checked in a couple of times.

Thanks, everyone. Be looking for you here.