New experiences with an Old Pastime

I used to be quite athletic growing up.  No matter what time of year I was always playing or watching some sport.  But I've never been much into professional sports.  I think the only professional game I've seen in any sport was when Michael Jordan with the Chicago Bulls played Muggsy Bogues with the Charlotte Hornets (am I showing my age?!).

Brandon loves to watch sports so I have gone to plenty of NC State, Duke and Durham Bulls games.  Although it's not major league a Durham Bulls game is a fun afternoon.  You can enjoy your foot-long hotdog and beer, watch a couple double-plays and maybe even get a suntan - what girl wouldn't love that?! Really I enjoyed it because it was some time to spend with my husband doing something he enjoys.

Last weekend we thought it would be fun to take the big girls to a baseball game.  We've learned our lesson in the past when Summer was about Bella's age that any event where you sit for long periods of time is not fun with an 18 month old.  So, Bella had her own personal date night with Grandad while Caroline and Summer joined Brandon and me for 9 innings.  At least we thought it was going to be nine innings.

We had spent all morning and afternoon that day at Caroline's soccer game, followed immediately by a cupcake fundraiser for Sixtyfeet.  We were so pleased that we somehow avoided all the storms headed our way.  So of course on the way to the game it started to pour.  Once we arrived the game was on delay so we spent way too much time in the gift shop trying on hats and explaining the difference between a baseball and a football.  We walked through the halls and finally decided rather than eat our dinner standing against a wall or on a dirty floor we would make a run for the Tobacco Road restaurant overlooking the ballpark.  Unfortunately everyone else had the same idea so we waited about an hour for a table.  The girls were so patient sitting in my lap in the one chair we could snag.  They played a video game on my phone and just enjoyed some time with Mom and Dad.  We finally sat down to a nice dinner with a great view of the field just in time to see them pull the tarp and warm up.

After dinner we headed to our seats.  It was still misting a little, but we were armed with loads of paper towels and two excited little girls.  Summer and Caroline's eyes were as big as saucers when we sat in our front row seats.  There was so much to take in with the players running around, the giant "cow" in the outfield, and the anticipation of a foul ball coming our way.  I was so glad to have dealt with the rain just for this one moment.  We only watched half of one inning, and part of it included the sprinkler system going off around the pitcher, but that time will be etched in my brain for years to come.

Finally the downpour began again, so we promised the girls a treat from the snack bar and headed for the car.  Their smiles continued all the way to their car seats when I handed them their giant bags of popcorn and bottle of Sprite for the ride home.  The game was cancelled in the 3rd inning so our tickets are good for another game.  We have already booked our tickets and I can't wait to try it again.

These days any game is a little less about the score and a little more about the experience.  It's so great to enjoy them together and we're counting the days until we can do it more often.