Carson enjoys sunny Christmas

The first pitch was a swing and miss. So was the second.

Cash Gilles, 8, threw down his bat in frustration and tossed the ball back to his dad, Jason, on the makeshift pitcher’s mound cleared out of the mud and snow on the softball field at Eagle Valley Middle School.

Picking up his bat, Cash squared up for the next pitch. This time, he connected, hitting the ball over his father’s head.

The two were in Carson City on Wednesday, coming from Reno to spend time with Jason’s parents, Dave and Casey Gilles, for Christmas. After opening gifts, Dave, Jason and Cash headed out to break in Cash’s new Wiffle Ball set.

“I got it and I really wanted to play with it,” Cash said.

Dave, treasurer of the Capital City Gun Club, was happy to oblige his grandson.

“It’s a beautiful day,” he said. “With this kind of weather, we’re going to be outside. It was either this or going shooting.”

It also was a good way to burn off some holiday energy.

“This is killing time, getting the little kid out of the house and getting some exercise,” Jason said.

While it was the sunshine and highs near 50 degrees that drew the three generations of Gilleses outdoors, it was the lingering snow that tempted Brandon Cardenas, 5, visiting from San Jose, Calif. He did his best to press together handfuls of the icy remnants of recent snowstorms in the shady spot of his cousins’ yard near Mark Twain Elementary School.

“This is fun in the snow!” he exclaimed. “Look! I’m making a snowball.”

His sister Sandra, 10, played in the snow alongside him, but said Christmas meant more than gifts or the weather.

“We like spending time with family,” she said.