Saturday, September 6, 2008

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Last night we took our Crew, plus 1, to our city's minor league baseball playoff game. I just overloaded on cold medicine, stuffed my pockets with cough drops, and decided not to let this energy-zapping cold steal my fun.

Da boys:





We actually scored some really nice seats right behind home plate, so we got all settled in with our blown up baseball bats and heart-stopping cheese fries when I spotted this:



See those foreboding clouds? Well, they didn't cause too much havoc right off the bat (pun intended). In fact, it wasn't until around the 8th inning that we had a true problem, but I will get to that in a minute.

All we really had to deal with, in the beginning, were a few light sprinkles that wreaked more havoc on my hair than anything else. It was that sticky, nasty, sorta-kinda dampish hair that, when mixed with no small amount of root-lifter and shine enhancer, gives you the end result of frizzy cement. Not pretty, folks. Not pretty at all.

See this little gal?



Well, that's my JuJu (and Andrew). Let me tell you something right now: Girlfriend can CATCH! Every single promotional thing that they were throwing, she snagged. My girl didn't even have a problem tangling with grown men if it meant getting her hand on the prized squishy baseball. Small size + speed and agility made this child the female equivalent of Dash Incredible last night, which made her brothers and company stand in awe. She walked away with 2 frisbees, a baseball, a rocket, and a t-shirt. You go girl!!

After the rain picked up a bit, we ended up using those frisbees for a makeshift hat. Andrew had other ideas:


Whatever works, right? Not much longer after this picture was taken, the real rain came in. We were at the top of the 8th inning when that happened which made every single person have the same idea: Shelter NOW. We grabbed all the kids and paraphernalia and headed to the inside of the arena along with several hundred other people. It was chaotic to say the least.

We decided to head to a more open area to wait out the rain, but when we were almost there, I looked around and the older three boys were nowhere in sight. I called out to Mark (who was really right in front of me, but it was so loud), to see if they were ahead of him. They weren't. We made it out into the open area and looked everywhere to no avail. Terrible feeling in the pit of stomach, begin. Immediately, Mark took off running while I alerted the arena staff.

Five minutes and seventy five million terrifying thoughts later, here comes Mark walking with the boys in tow. In the end, the boys just got turned around and went in the wrong direction. It was definitely easy enough to do in a crowd that size, BUT they did the right thing because as soon as they realized that they had been separated from us, the sought out a security guard, who saw Mark searching frantically. I will say right now that the fear in that feeling is such an awful one that it's not something that I usually get over quickly. Plus, it just made my heart break for this all over again. :(

At that point, I was ready to go home. Rain, lost children, and cold meds long since having worn off, were the end of this Mama's good time. I was ready for my Nyquil and cozy dry bed. I didn't want to be the dissenter, though, so we stayed until the bottom of the 9th when they were STILL tied up with no end in sight.

Honestly, except for the last part, we really did have a good time. I am also pretty proud that Mark and I didn't succumb to the siren song of the funnel cake. Today, we are planning to do some things around the house and simply veg. What's going on with you this weekend?

16 comments:

Cindy-Still His Girl said...

Oh friend. I want to cry for you for those five minutes of terror. So glad all was well and they were so SMART! :) Somebody taught them well!

Hope you are feeling better. I got hit with a cold this week, too. I'm coming out of it, but I don't think it was quite as bad as yours. No cough drops required. Yet.

Lora Lynn @ Vitafamiliae said...

Ooo. awful feeling all the way around. Glad all is well. Feel better today and STAY HOME. :-)

Bethany said...

Oh scary scary!!

Three years ago, my youngest son then 4, disappeared at a fireworks display. The show was over and as people were leaving he got swept up in the crowd. It was the most terrifying 15 minutes of my life.

Thankfully, he remembered what I'd told him - if you ever get lost in a crowd and can't find a police/security officer, find a mommy with other kids.

At the end of those 15 minutes a man shoved his way through the crowd with J. on his shoulders, calling out my name. J. had grabbed ahold of his wife's hand and told her he lost his mommy. I still tear up thinking about it.

Anonymous said...

My family members (4 total) are at a re-enactment this weekend.They left EARLY this morning. My plan was to stay home with the two little ones and enjoy a lazy day. (Play games, watch movies and do some school work with my 6 year old.) I have a cold! We stayed in bed until 8:30 which is exactly when dh called to ask me if I could bring a very important item of clothing. His overcoat. Can't battle without that! Battle started at 10! So I ran like a mad woman to get showered, dressed, clean up a little, make sure the boys had something to eat, pack snacks, dress boys, load car, making sure not to forget the coat I was to bring out. Plugged in the trusty GPS and away we went for our 1 hour drive. I arrived at exactly 10AM!!! We stayed about 2 hours at which point I was getting really hot. Carrying a baby around (because the grass is no place for our packed stroller and the baby can only walk for so long) is hard work.
On our way back I stopped for a quick lunch and than we headed home. The rest of our day was pretty relaxing and I got some great pictures while I was there so I am thankful.
I hope you get to feeling better soon. I will say a little pray for you tonight.

javamamma said...

Glad the kiddos turned up quickly. I hate that feeling.

We just got home from a college football game - hubby and I. Tomorrow it's church, then REST! Yay.

Anonymous said...

I used to love going to ball games when i was a little kid. what fun memories for you guys.
: )

Donna @ Way More Homemade said...

My guys so enjoyed the TX Rangers game we went to earlier in the year. I've thought about taking them to one of the smaller league games, though. Might be more fun?

I've had similar experiences with my kids too... most recently this summer in Destin. Sarah was in the water on her boogie board and all of the sudden we couldn't find her. So, I'm well familiar with all the thoughts going through your mind. Thankfully the tide had just carried her down the beach a bit... just hours later a mom had police out looking for her little boy. That was a sweet reunion to witness.

I digress.

We're just hanging out, watching Aggie football, eating some ribs.

Kelly said...

Thanks for visiting my blog! I have lost my daughter before too, and it is the most HORRIBLE event ever. Luckily I had a friend along who pointed my daughter out to me, but for those 2 minutes, terror.

Glad the game was fun. I'll be back to visit again.

Mikki said...

What a mom!! What a trooper!
Hope you are feeling better soon!

Caroline said...

I KNOW that lost feeling...it won't be easy to forget it.

So glad you had a good time. We like to go to those games a few times a year.

See you tomorrow...Dinner after church. FYI

Andrea said...

Sounds fun...well kinda! ;-)
I wanna go to a game....I have never been to one here before...I guess maybe next year.

We're laying low this weekend!

Halfmoon Girl said...

oh, losing kids is so scary- and those seconds that you can't see them stretch into hours! I know what you mean about not getting over it quickly! Yay for JuJu- she's awesome! My hubby has taken 2 of the boys to a Major League game across the border in Seattle today- we were talking to the boys about what to do if they got lost. I am also a little concerned about one of them who has a fatal peanut allergy- situations like ball games where they sell peanuts kinda freaks me out.

Growin' With It said...

so AWESOME your boys knew what to do. i always wonder how mine would respond. although i don't think i want a heart-stopping event like you've been thru to prove to me that they "get it".

hope you can get rid of that daggone cold soon! bother..

DaNella Auten said...

What exactly happened to Christian? I never could figgure that out other than he is dead.

Hey u won an award come see my blog to check it out.

Duckygirl said...

Glad to hear you had a good time despite the weather and the horrible 5 minutes of terror! We've had lost kiddos before and that is a scary feeling you don't forget.

-Laura

Anonymous said...

Girl let me tell ya, my favorite niece was very proud of her booty she took in. She told me all about the ball game and all her wonderful prizes, and that her brothers hardly got anything. She had a wonderful time. She is a very precious girl!!! I love my little sweet pea!!! And the boys too!!!

Ang