Baseball Farewell

We had a work-related function tonight. Several people are leaving work in the next couple of months and we bought group tickets to the local minor league baseball game. There was also a "picnic" included with hotdogs and hamburgers, sodas and ice cream, etc. I say "picnic" because it was held in a covered area to one side of the field inside the stadium. There were picnic tables and a concession stand where they served the drinks.

Just to show what an airhead I can be, I gave the organizer my check on Tuesday. This morning Patrick asked me where the tickets were, and I said, "What tickets?" So I called the organizer and he said that he had all of the tickets (except for the people who had already picked theirs up), so we met him before the game at the first base gate. We got there super early to meet him (about 5:30) and they wouldn't let us in the gate until 6pm. In the meantime we sat in the shade. Eric decided to lie down on Patrick's lap. I had also given him his sunglasses to keep the sun out of his eyes. He also thinks it looks cool. :)

Alex really didn't want to go, but we wanted the whole family to go. He seems to prefer being at home or doing anything else besides hanging out with his family. He could have really put his foot down like he has done at other times, but I was glad he didn't this time. I like to think he had a good time in the end. He enjoyed having unlimited refills on the orange soda during the picnic. During the game he got to have nachos (one of his favorites and mine too). As we were leaving the game (after the fourth inning), he got to have a churro. Yes, I bribed him with food, just like I've always done since I had to keep him occupied during swim meets when he was two years old.

I took this picture during the game. Natalie was actually paying attention and trying to learn some of the rules. She played some T-ball a few years ago, but obviously she never paid attention to the rules. I look at this picture and I'm reminded that her face is changing, as is the rest of her body. I told her not to grow up too fast. She says she doesn't want to.

We had some good conversations during the game, not about baseball, of course. The kids were laughing at some of the players' first names. One of them was named "Jedd" with an unusual last name. They couldn't understand why his parents would have named him an unusual first name when he already had an unusual last name. I think they thought that was a mean thing to do.

Another was named "Jaff". I said, "Maybe Jaff is a nickname." Anthony responded, "Short for what? Jaffigan?" Later he said, "Hey, maybe it's short for 'Jaffar'!" We had a few laughs. It was nice weather. It was nice company. We had a nice time. I thanked Alex for going with us even though he didn't want to. He seemed to understand how important this was to me. At least he still cares about how I feel. What a sweet boy.