A Little Catch-Up (Not to Be Confused With Catsup) (Or Ketchup)
Thursday, April 19, 2012 at 10:53PM So. Many things have happened since I last posted, none as dramatic as that opening makes it sound. And none which include me getting up before the sun has peeped above the horizon. That is a lofty goal that I am still tossing around in my noggin.
One of the more exciting things (Oh, you are going to be so surprised when you hear what is exciting for me!) is a trip to the ballpark. We were blessed with some tickets from our friend at church who has seats just behind the dugout. I think I took about 300 pictures. Don't worry, I'll only show you a few.
The big kids sat in the front seats. The other two seats were directly behind those two. Pretty great set-up. Eliana sat with Mike and then with me, and then with Mike, and then with me. And on and on. Actually, he held her most of the time, and let me take pictures.
I kind of like the Texas Rangers. Did you know?
You will find that there is an inordinate number of pictures of Elvis Andrus. He didn't even play this day. But...he was totally posing for me!
It was a day game, and warm (not blazing like the summer day games)...Christian wanted to check out the kid zone. He was disappointed that we didn't go over there. This was the first game that we stayed in our seats the whole time (not even a potty break for anyone...awesome!) and did not buy any food or drink. I brought snacks (and we had just eaten lunch on the way). We'll have to go on a dollar ice cream night (that certainly beats $6 for a scoop and a half, even if it is in a cute plastic hat).
Eliana got a ball. It was a bit odd...one of the guys in the dugout (a bat/ball boy or one of the security dudes) rolled a couple of balls onto the dugout. The lady next to Michaela reached and grabbed the ball really quickly and I said/breathed much more loudly than I ever think I would have intended,"Aw, come on!" Then she turned around with a bright smile on her face and handed it to Eliana. I was mortified. I have no idea if she heard me, but I really wanted to apologize. We thanked the woman, and then the man sitting next to me (just behind the lady who snatched the ball, apparently in order to give it to my daughter) (I am such a jerk!) said,"Let me see that..." and he took the ball from Eliana, took out a pen, and wrote the teams who were playing and the date. Only, he got the date wrong, so he tried to fix it. Does anyone else think that is strange? He did give the ball back. I thought the whole thing was weird. But, Eliana got a ball!
Young, Murphy, and Moreland. (Just like it says on their jerseys.)
The Captain came to visit. You wouldn't believe how long it took to get my kids to get next to him for a picture.
Yu Darvish was the big news for the Rangers this winter. He is one of their new starting pitchers and I caught him and Elvis Andrus chatting and dancing. Too bad I couldn't remember how to take video with the camera...Mike said,"You could have had a video on YouTube that got a million hits."
Elvis was quite jolly that day. He kept turning around and pointing to someone up in the stands. Then he seemed to look straight at my kids and toss a ball directly at Christian. You can see it here. There were no other kids on the front row where they were sitting, just adults. There were some kids in the second row, but...he was clearly lobbing the ball to my children!
If you look carefully below, you can see the ball dropping onto the dugout where the "G" is, just over the red hat in the photo. As it hit the dugout, the lady next to Michaela snatched it up and handed it to a little girl on the stairs who had come, hopefully, to get a ball. Ah, well. It would have been cool to get a ball directly from a player. (Our kids have plenty of game balls...it's not a big deal. I just thought it was neat that he tossed it himself, because I don't think that happens very often, that a player turns and interacts like that. They mostly keep to themselves and the team in the dugout.)
At one point, Andrus was behind home plate, acting like a catcher. He was being so goofy! Having a lot of fun! And clearly smiling right at me!
I love how they all watch and support those who are on the field.
And they won this game, which is always fun to see live. They are on a tear right now, with a seven game winning streak, and an 11-2 record. What a great start!
Here is something new: I've decided to add a section to the blog. I like to compartmentalize (or pretend I'm just like the Pioneer Woman) (oh, my, that is one of the funniest things I've written...as if I were anything like her!) (I'll be laughing at myself for a while over that one, feel free to join me). The new section is for recipes, and is aptly titled "A Recipe for Disaster". If you know anything about my exploits in the kitchen, you would see right away how right that title is. So far I have a recipe for the best salsa I have ever eaten, and one of my favorite desserts. "A Recipe for Disaster" is just like a food blog, minus the beautiful pictures of fresh produce and lovely garnished dishes on gorgeous plates. But! You get the charming quirks that only I have to offer.
As spring sprang we have been playing games and hanging out outside.
Are you a Sturdy Birdy? You should definitely find out.
I am sturdy enough to get to the next level, but not sturdy enough not to wobble and make crazy faces while I am trying.
Guess who likes to swing?
If you said,"Christina!" you are wrong. If you said,"Eliana!" you are correct!
We have wrapped up the class that Eliana and Michaela were a part of, celebrated their (and their classmates') accomplishments at a party, and watched a lot of baseball. (And the season has only just begun!) (Yay!) Christian is about to be done with school (he has around 20 days of school left...doesn't that sound crazy?), I am way behind on laundry, there are still enough shoes at our front and back doors for an entire city (or at least city block) of people, and there are pink goggles on my living room floor. Next to a stuffed dog.
So, a lot is just as it always is.
I have many things to write about; it seems like I am always "writing" (brilliant) posts in my head. It is just a matter of finding time to sit down and write coherent sentences. (At least, I hope I'm writing coherent sentences.) It is a goal to do more writing than I have been. I have to remind myself, I don't always have to try to be witty and clever. That is a bonus, of course, but really, I would like to be better about documenting our days. If you continue to read the blog, I thank you so much! It's fun to have company as we go along on this journey.
Reader Comments (3)
Great pictures. And that is totally weird about the people sitting around you and the ball - especially they guy who wrote on it!
I think it's so fun to see how you went from completely phobic about the ballpark to having it be one of your favorite places. Even as adults we can learn and grow, huh?
Great pictures, as always.
What a super fun day at the ballpark! I'm glad that I'm not the only one counting how many days of school left. We are down to 22 more and I can't wait! Heading over to check out your recipes now. I love recipes and pretending that I am a great cook like PW, but alas I'm not. I'll just keep trying.