Charlie's First Baseball Game

Charlie is in a very sport-obsessed phase right now, particularly with football and baseball, and has been dying to go to a baseball game.  I literally hear, about 10 times/week, "did you know that I've never been to a baseball game??"  The little ingrate even said those exact words to me and Clint on the way home from the circus--it was very cute, but we still wanted to turn around and pop him!  My dad is a big baseball fan as well, and it was driving him crazy that Charlie hadn't gotten to his first game.  So when we went down to Seguin for Audra's baby shower, my dad bought tickets to a San Antonio Missions (minor league team) game against the Corpus Christi Hooks.  Charlie was PUMPED and we ended up having the best time.  He was quite focused on the game, which surprised me a little, because the games move fairly slowly.  The minor league game was perfect, because we got to sit really close and could see everything.  Charlie loved everything about it (especially the hot dog and ice cream sandwich :), and now can belt out "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" with the best of them.

Here are the two little men during the National Anthem.  I felt kind of wrong taking a picture during the National Anthem, but it was just too cute. :)

Amazing smiles. :)

I had the hardest time getting Charlie to look at me for a picture--he was so focused on the game!

We were sitting just a few rows behind the Hooks' dugout, and after each inning, the Hooks pitcher or catcher would toss that inning's ball up into the stands.  Since we were sitting so close, the first two balls went to boys sitting in our general area.  Well, Charlie became obsessed with the idea of catching a ball.  One of the boys heard him talking about this (over and over and over) and sweetly tried to give Charlie his ball, but Charlie refused, as he really wanted to catch one on his own.  After trying in vain, he and Papa decided to move closer.  They had their plan all staked out, and when the inning ended, they began waving wildly and I just knew the catcher would toss it to Charlie.  Unfortunately, he saw someone higher and tossed it up above us in the stands.  Charlie just crumpled into Papa's lab, sobbing uncontrollably--it was the saddest thing ever!  The sweet boy from before then insisted that Charlie take his ball, and this time, Charlie just couldn't refuse.  He was so excited to have the ball (it sits prominently on a shelf in his room and he likes to sleep with it at night), but is still troubled by the fact that the catcher didn't throw it directly to him.  He finally decided that when he was much taller (i.e., 4 years old), the catcher could see him better, and he really needed to have his glove on next time.  He is now determined to go to another game, stand on his tip-toes, wear his glove, and rectify this whole situation. :)

Here are Charlie and Papa, waiting to catch their ball.  This picture cracks me up because I have never gone to a game with my dad where we had tickets for the front row of a baseball game, but I have also never been to a game with my dad where we didn't end up sneaking down to the first row sometime during the game.  Great life lesson there. :)

Very proud of his first "real" baseball.

Charlie's other game highlight occurred when one of the Hooks' batters broke his bat while hitting the ball particularly hard.  Charlie found that quite impressive and declared that he is going to try to hit so hard that he's going to break all his bats!  Awesome.  Charlie is also not the most loyal fan.  My dad and I tried to turn him into a big Missions' fan, but as soon as he saw that the Hooks were playing better and winning, he declared himself "a Hook!" and repeatedly reminds me that he is a "Hook, NOT a Mission." :)

I thought this would satisfy his baseball needs for a while, but alas, he is still obsessed.  He is now determined to get to a Rangers' game ("my favorite team") and frequently asks me or Clint, "did you know the Rangers are really good baseball players?  Did you know I've never been to a Rangers' game?"  Don't feel too sorry for the little guy--I think Clint and Uncle Sam have something planned very soon...until then, good night!

P.S. I have gotten very behind in my posting, so I'm going to try to catch up in a few big posts.  Charlie and Evie have started school, but you will probably hear about that sometime in 2015... :)