Take me out to the ballgame...

We had been talking for months about taking Mabes to her first baseball game. Thanks to a father who enjoys sports (to put it mildly), she's been watching baseball her whole life but other than Uncle Dave's little league games, had never been to one. So when our friends called to invite us to a minor league game that evening, I was pretty bummed because Mabes had again opted for quiet time over a nap, despite being cranky. The previous evenings, she had crashed around 7:30, so paying $25 to take a crabby toddler to a game with a 7:15 start didn't exactly sound appealing.

Much to my shock, she fell asleep on her own right before "quiet time" ended. Suh-weet! I let her sleep until 5, we ate a quick dinner, then headed to the ballpark. When we got there, there had been some sort of promotion and people were handing out free tickets--it was like we were meant to go. Mabes was so excited to be there. She didn't pay much attention to the game, but was thoroughly amused by the fouls that kept popping up, and the dragon mascots running around.


We took a break to get some funnel cake, only to find that the children's play area was right next to the funnel cake stand, so Mabes got to ride on the merry-go-round. We got our funnel cake and were back in our seats just in time for the seventh inning stretch--unfortunately, Mabes was too upset that we didn't also get cotton candy to notice everyone singing the song that at one time had been her bedtime lullabye. (Yeah, Dave used to sing her that and the Cougar Fight Song before putting her to bed.) She calmed down and really enjoyed the funnel cake, declaring it the "best ever dinner." On the drive home, a very tired Mabes kept saying "I had so much fun at the baseball game! Fank you for the baseball game!"


This morning we finally broke out Mabes' new Big Wheel! She loves her "motorcycle" and is starting to get the hang of peddling. She's still figuring out the whole steering-and-peddling-simultaneously thing, but loves that she has her own toy to ride.


Oh, and Laura: your friend Wolsey (the cardinal she named while visiting here) is either having vision problems or is trying to attack us. He just flew straight into our sliding glass door twice--and it's not that clean. If you don't hear from me soon, avenge our deaths. Ugh, I never should have seen The Birds.