Take us out to the ball game

It was pouring rain yesterday morning, so I was a little afraid that our ball game would be rained out. But by the time we left for the game around 12:30, the rain had given away to a blazing hot and sunny day with hardly a cloud to be seen. In fact, by the time we found our seats along the third base line and sat down, the temperature was hovering somewhere around two-hundred and twelve degrees.

I had basically bathed Alex in SPF 50 sunscreen, made him wear a hat (which he removed every two seconds), and made sure he had cool, fresh water in his sippy cup at all times, but I still worried about him overheating.

We had great seats, but within minutes, the scorching hot sun started to take its toll. And it didn't help that some ignorant architect or engineer specified dark green chairs that soak up every last bit of the sun's heat, only to then transfer it to the defenseless butts of us ignorant baseball fans who didn't think to bring something cool to sit on. I swear, I heard a sizzling sound and smelled bacon cooking when I sat down. Anyway, after enjoying about an inning and a half of baseball, the smell of burnt flesh and singed hair became too much to bear, so we decided to head inside to find some shade and some lunch.

The second we stepped into the concourse, the temperature immediately dropped about fifteen degrees. A had seemed a little overwhelmed when we first got to the park, what with the heat and the people and the sights and sounds of the giant stadium, meaning he basically just looked around with a bewildered expression on his face. Plus he hadn't eaten lunch and it was verging on 1:30, so I'm sure he was wondering when food was gonna enter the equation. But as soon as we got him in the shade and got a ballpark frank in his belly, he became a lot more relaxed.

The park was far from full, so we decided to grab some ice cream and head up to the top level to find some empty seats that were out of the direct sunlight.

And that was the best decision we made all day. It was cool, the great Dallas breeze was able to flow through, and although we were further from the field, we were immeasurably more comfortable.

At this point, A had really begun to enjoy himself. I don't think he realized that there was a baseball game going on, but really, who goes to the ballpark to watch the game anyway? I have a feeling he's gonna be like his mama, who would much rather play the sport than sit around and watch other people have all the fun. Anyway, he had some of my lemon chiller, danced to the loud ballpark music, and went to town on his "chatter bat" that some nice lady had given him as a reward for being so cute.



We left after the Braves batted in the top of the eighth inning in order to avoid the stampede to the parking lot. I thiiiink the Braves ended up tying it up in the ninth inning, but the Rangers went ahead to win it, but you may need to check out ESPN for confirmation on that...

I had the ingenious idea to bring my sling so that neither Timothy nor I would have to lug Alex's heavy self around the park and during the twelve mile trek to the parking lot. It worked great, but with the body heat and the heaviness and the long walk to the car, I was exhausted.

Turns out A was exhausted too. He fell asleep emptying the water from his sippy cup and continued to suck on the empty cup for about ten minutes, in his sleep, until I eventually took it from him.

Poor little guy was tuckered out, but that's what fun'll do to ya.

I think he must have caught some of the game because when we got home, he was inspired to play a game of catch.



So yeah, it was an awesome time. A really seemed to enjoy it and we would definitely go again. He is such a trooper and we are really looking forward to more family adventures like this one. Six Flags, here we come!!