Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks

Last night I took my kids to a triple A baseball game. My ten year old has always been interested in baseball, but didn't actually start working at it until this summer. It was cute when he'd call me up and tell me all about his games, especially when he'd start talking about the next one. For example, his team was in the playoffs and had lost their first game but won their next two (it was a double elimination tournament), and their next game was against the team that had already beat them. He said "They beat us last time, but now they've lost one game too, so we're going to get our revenge and knock them out of the playoffs." Unfortunately, that didn't end up happening and my son's team was out instead.

My three year old fell asleep in the car on the way out, so we didn't stop to eat anywhere before the game. I figured I'd just get them each a hot dog at the park, I just forgot that four hot dogs and drinks at a stadium would cost me $30. Between that and the fact that tickets cost more than I expected I probably spent more than I wanted to, but hopefully it's something they'll remember doing with their dad.

The game was a total blowout. Our team fell behind in the second inning, and before we knew it they were down 12 to 0. My daughter paid more attention to the game than my son who is supposedly interested in baseball, and my three year old started whining to go home starting in the first inning. On top of that, it was hot and humid (for Vegas anyway) and we probably would have left if not for the fact that there was going to be a "fireworks extravaganza" immediately following the game. Every time my three year old said he wanted to go home I told him we had to wait for the fireworks. As soon as they started he forgot all about going home. I'm not sure he's old enough to remember seeing them last year because he was totally captivated by them. Once they started I said "Ok, it's time to go home now." All of a sudden he didn't want to anymore.

Luckily, the home team was actually able to come up with some offense during the last inning and started to score some runs. To my older son's credit, he did start paying attention to the game when there was some excitement there. The last inning and the fireworks were enough to salvage the experience for my kids. They all said that it was fun and that they were glad we went, even though it was hot and muggy and the home team stunk. I'm just thankful for the time I get to spend with them.