While we were in Florida, one of the fun things that we decided to do as a family was go to a spring training game. Chris's favorite team is the Cardinals and they just happened to be playing while we were there. We decided to make it a family event, so Chris bought us tickets.
It was exciting standing in line waiting to get into the stadium.
We got there a little early so that we could watch some of the pre-game events. Chris thankfully got us tickets on the "grassy hill". The great thing about the "grassy hill" was that it was close to the cardinals locker room. So, as they came out- we were right there "up close and personal". The other great thing about the "grassy hill" (and really more important for our sanity) was that it gave our three kids a larger space to run around in. I think that they would have gone stir crazy if they had been confined to assigned seats! We took a blanket and snuck in some picnic food and we were ready to go. The kids all three got baseballs from the warm-up that came into our area. (picture above) We were pretty excited until we realized how dangerous letting 3 kids ages 5 and under play with baseballs was. Those things are hard! Not exactly the ball that you want to have them throwing around at each other. Or at the people around us.
Emma was very proud of her ball.
Walker chose to pick grass and roll around in it.
The girls with daddy.
The girls with mommy.
And look who I got a picture of! I know nothing about baseball players, but I realized that everyone was really excited about seeing this guy, so I made sure to get a picture of his jersey.
The players lined up for the National Anthem. It really hit me how "out of touch" our family is with american customs. When they were singing Emma said "Mommy, what song is this and why are they singing it at a ballgame?"
We realized as the game started that there was a downfall to getting there early. By the time it started, our kids were already bored! And when they get bored, they tend to start picking on everyone, especially each other.
This is what Walker did. It is always important to have all of your ducks (or shoes, water bottles and balls) in a row!
Walker and Olivia resorted to wrestling (on top of me).
We tried to get Emma to get autographs on her ball, but she said that she wanted to decorate it instead. She drew everything that she thought could be found at baseball games on her ball: baseballs, bats, people, icees, hotdogs, sunshine and I can't remember what else. It was pretty creative though. And what mother can argue with her child saying that her own signature and drawings were way better than some guy's that she doesn't even know!
Again, same guy. I don't know him, but I gathered that he was pretty famous since everyone was fighting to get close to him for autographs as he headed back into the locker room.
We ended up having a great time, but Chris and I didn't get to watch much of the game. And by the time we left (which was well before the end of the game), everyone on the "grassy hill" knew all of our kids' names and said "bye" to them. I was curious if they had actually endeared themselves to our children or if they were just so thankful that we were finally leaving so that they also could watch the game. One lady told me that she would love to know how many miles a day Olivia walks. I lovingly refer to that day as "Chaos on a Blanket", and that is exactly what it was.
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