Take Me Out to the Circus

Today we took a break from Mexican food (for two meals anyway) and decided to have some good ol' family fun at the ballpark.

Can I get a "dah-dah-dah-dah-da-daaahhhh-CHARGE?!"

Seeing as baseball is one of my favorite spectator sports (NOTE: Please, oh please, don't EVER ask me to swing a bat and make contact with something smaller than a car), I like to take every opportunity I can to impart that love to my little bear cubs.

Also, there is something magical about the taste of ground up pig parts and whatever else they put in those ballpark hotdogs. I really think there is something to the foil wrapper and sharing the condiments with 10,000 other game-attendees that enhances the flavor.

In fact, a dear high school friend and I at one point decided we loved everything about the ballpark so much that we would bottle the scent and sell it as a "fragrance." (Marketing it as an "odor" didn't seem very savvy. Unlike our AMAZING idea.)

So in an empty water bottle, we captured (I am not making this up) a hotdog, a french fry, a squirt of sunscreen, a cigarette (you can tell it was the old days when smoking in the bleachers at Wrigley was still legal), and some Coke classic all marinating in cheap light beer.

Which did not look like urine. Oh, no. 

We even made CUSTOM LABELS for this substance.

I do not believe we had any buyers. 

Back to the matter at hand.

Jackson and Papa led the way on this PERFECT day for baseball. (God has been gracious and allowed me to miss the MAY 1 SNOWFALL in Denver. It would have killed my soul.)

Grammy & Lilly are just the eye candy.

Y'all know I am the worst photographer in history. Worse, even, than a child loose with a camera. But this precious shot captures so many things I love about my babies.

Just so you can savor the sweet taste in your imagination, we were at the Dr. Pepper Ballpark. I immediately knew that was a good sign because my beloved Diet Doctor would be available in HUGE QUANTITIES. 

Unless you are a devoted lover of the The Doctor, you have no idea how hard it can be to find him at professional sporting events and restaurants, unless of course, the ballpark is named in his honor.

I drank my fair share and loved every on-the-rocks gulp. Oh, yes I did.

This is probably where I should mention that we were at the Frisco RoughRiders, a minor-league team for someone. We've done the pros a few times before and the fact that we're paying more for the seats is totally lost on the kids and doesn't give them greater appreciation for the game. Go figure.

So, we went minor-league and the kids appropriately loved everything about the experience more than the actual baseball (which even I admit was kind of slow).

Lilly was perched on the edge of her seat, watching each pitch with great anticipation:

Jackson was riveted as well.

Yes, that's his back to the action. He wasn't even attempting to be interested. (Although the hula hoop contest and playlist of Dance, Dance Revolution songs between innings kept his attention.)

I think the kids spent about half of our time at the ballpark in left field acquiring various arm-paintings and balloon animals and weapons.

Lilly couldn't decide if she'd rather have a flower or a rainbow, so instead, she went for the dragon: 

(Oh, I kid. She never even considered anything except a sword or a blue dragon. I do feel that the green fire-breathing dragon with lots of glitter and evil-looking yellow eyes was a very girly choice.)

This is my other favorite picture:

Is it me, or do you see her cruising the highway on a Harley someday? 

I can't bear the thought.

If she does, I would be on the back of the Hog kissing those sweet cheeks at stoplights and trying to put her hair back in a cute ponytail with a ribbon.

Because style never takes a vacation, y'all.

So anyway, despite the fact that the actual baseball elements were not so interesting, we had some great fun at the old ballgame.

And then we ate Mexican food for dinner. It does not take much to make a perfect day in my world. 

Just perfect weather, people I love, Diet Dr. Pepper, and baseball. Amen.