last bit of sanity

All summer I have been dodging requests from the foursome to go and watch a Louisville Bats game (AAA team for the Cincinnati Reds).  It isn’t that I don’t like baseball, because I do.  We are a total baseball family.  My parents have season tickets (3 row that is) for the Bats and have since the new stadium opened.  In fact, that first year, I don’t think my Dad missed a game. My Dad is kind of a baseball fanatic.  Growing up, our summer vacation always included a stop at a minor league ballpark.  I thought this was the norm…and now find myself thinking about doing the same thing with our kids.  He doesn’t just like watching the great American pastime…..he has also written about Babe Ruth and is an esteemed member of the Society for American Baseball Research. My older two play…one even made his all-start team.  So, we get and like baseball.

What I don’t get and don’t like is when we go to this beautiful park (it’s been called the best minor league park in the country) and I spend more time at the concession stand, the playground, the merry-go-round and the bathroom (hopefully not in that order!!).  That is not baseball.  That is not what I want to do when we go.  I want to actually see the game.  I want to see the big time pitcher on his way up to the majors who can throw over 100 mph.  I want to see the centerfielder make a diving catch to end the inning and stop the winning run.  Heck, I just want to know that the winning runner was on base!!!  Is that too much to ask? Well, apparently for the last nearly 9 years, the answer to that question was YES!  Expectations were wayyyyy off base.

That is until this past Labor Day Monday. We had a breakthrough.  It started off as a breakdown…as in the kids finally broke me down and got me to agree to attend the last home game of the season on that Monday afternoon.  Lucky for us, the temps dropped nearly 40 degrees from that Saturday and it was a chilly 65 out. Perfect if you ask me.  We got there just 5 minutes late and lasted the ENTIRE game, including running the bases afterwards (which equaled standing in the line of anxious and tired kids that wrapped half way around the park to make that quick run).  Not once did we stop at the playground nor the merry-go-round.  We did get one snack and one potty break which was fine with me because the snack included beers for hubby and I. Totally bonus. Beer and baseball…is this real life??

After this amazing afternoon, I realized that we are quickly moving from the insanity of having a baby (or 2) anchoring us and determining our every move to this new and uncharted territory of freedom.  If can call having four kids between the ages of 3.5-9yrs freedom.  I guess it is all relative, right?  The realization just hit me….and opened up so many more doors and possibilities.  What’s next?! A cross country trip? Maybe we should start with baby steps and see how a Bellarmine soccer game works out before we make our flight reservations.

This song by Noah and the Whale has been a favorite for a while (great cd, too)….and while some of you might think I am blowing one minor league baseball game out of proportion, I can’t help how I feel…

Tonight’s the kind of night
Where everything could change