The Baseball Geek

You know you are married to the right person when for Mother's Day they surprise you with a trip to Cooperstown, NY (home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame). An even better confirmation is when your sweet husband understands and agrees to let you extend the trip so that you can see Yankee Stadium before it is demolished.

Last week, I took off for 6 days all by myself (how indulgent is that??) and embarked on my dream trip. I know some dream of seeing the Eiffel Tower or the Great Wall, but Cooperstown was my dream and I was going on Induction Weekend which meant Hall of Famers would be everywhere.

I arrived in Albany late Friday night and met up with some of the people that I was "touring" with. I use quotes simply because it meant that we were on the bus together. A majority of the time I was on my own and just needed to be back at the bus by a certain time. I found this to be the best way to travel. I didn't have to listen to a boring tour guide and I could explore as much or as little as I wanted to.

I had built the trip up in my mind so much that it couldn't possibly live up to my expectations. Fortunately it exceeded them. I could never do justice to how beautiful upstate New York is and even moreso how beautiful Cooperstown Village is. I won't get too philosophical here (I'll save it for my journal), but suffice it to say that I felt like I had died and gone to heaven. It could not have been a more perfect weekend. I even got a great surprise when I snuck out the side exit of the museum to find Cal Ripken Jr. doing a radio interview.

I was there for two days and got choked up leaving. I KNOW it isn't the last time I will be there. It a place that I have to go back to. There are some places that instantly feel like home and Cooperstown Village is that place for me.

Monday morning we got on the bus and drove to Boston. In someways Boston feels like a second home to me...especially Fenway Park. It is without a doubt the best ballpark in all of baseball. I can now say that with complete authority because while in Cooperstown they did a little question and answer session with several Hall of Famers and Fenway was the unanimous choice for all ball players.

Fenway was beautiful as always and I was able to do the behind-the-scenes tour and see all of the changes that have been made since 2004. It was a little funny because I think I might have known more than our tour guide. In fact, halfway through the tour people started asking me questions. The highlight for me was that a new bar had opened up in center field of Fenway on the previous Friday. It is called the Bleacher Bar and it literally is in center field of Fenway Park. To sit and eat lunch and look out over that beauty left me speechless.

I walked back to my hotel and changed and then walked back to Fenway to watch a game between the Red Sox and the Angels. The Angels won (of course..and I expect them to all the way through October- they are my World Series pick) but I did get to see one of Manny Ramirez' last games as a Red Sox.

Tuesday morning we boarded the bus and drove back to New York to go see the House that Ruth Built and Steinbrenner remodeled. To be in Yankee Stadium was equally surreal. It seems tragic that it is being torn down. I am a baseball purist and absolutely hate to think about something as iconic as Yankee Stadium no longer existing. Of course, I hate the Yankees and George Steinbrenner, but I still don't think it should be torn down. I got there early which was great. A-Rod hit about 17 balls out of the park, but unfortunately I didn't snag one. Regardless, it was an amazing adventure and something that I will remember forever!

And finally...this was a day that took me by surprise

On Tuesday, July 15, 2oo8...my little girl smiled like this!


Considering that tooth came in at 4 months...I'd say it had a good life.

Grace's First Dodger Game

On July 12th Grace got the privilidge to see her crazy mom at a Dodger game. While it was all about her getting exposed to the joys of Dodger dogs and stadium junk food (she had a raging stomach ache before the end of the first inning.) I did get to teach her some great traditions. I taught her how to yell at an ump and how to do the wave. She also enjoyed the beach ball tradition and was devastated to see the ushers pop them when they were caught.



We went to the game with her very best friend Keaton. They have "known" each other since Grace was 3 weeks old and Keaton was 6 weeks old.



We thought we would be smart and leave after the 7th inning stretch (aka...Take Me Out To the Ballgame). BUT...as we started driving on the 110 we noticed a funny sound. Turns out we had a flat tire...in Downtown L.A. at 10:00pm on a Saturday night. And this my friends is where having a degree in Urban Ministry comes in handy because I know downtown L.A. like the back of my hand. The safest place to park on a Saturday night is in front of the World Famous Original Pantry. Once we got home the girls changed into their evening gear and took a photo.

4th of July

While the plan was for Uncle Sam to be in the picture...he kind of got mushed. We spent the 4th in Coronado and it was the first year either one of them saw fireworks. Grace is NOT a night owl so we had to bribe her to take a nap. Emma on the other hand can party with the best of them.

Final thoughts on fireworks:

Emma: Ohhhhhhhhh....that was a nice one.
Grace: Why are they so loud? (covering her ears the entire time)

Catching up...Emma has a crush!!

I know it is early but it is true. Emma TOTALLY has a crush on her swim teacher, Scott. And I think it is mutual. How sweet is it to see a high school boy turn to mush when an almost 3 yr. old with long blond hair flirts with him? She does that "look down, then up and says, "Hi Scott." And even on her grumpy days all I have to say is, "Do you wanna go see Scott?" and she screams, "Sissy, hurry up. I gotta go see Scott!" Let's just say she is motivated to learn to swim.

Playing Catch Up...Grace's Birthday

Soooooooo....the Tim Russert thing kind of threw me. I know...everyone can comment on what a freak I am. The sad thing is that it has been over a month and the topic came up at dinner last Thursday and I broke into an ugly cry at Outback. The mourning is far from over...but I digress.

On June 19th my sweet "big" girl turned 5!! Here are some pictures from her party and of her riding her brand new scooter at 6:15am.

She loves being 5. In our house 5 means you can have gum and that was huge. So huge in fact that the neighbor brought over a Chinese food box filled with every variety of gum you can imagine.

Accoutability

When we moved into our house in San Diego, our realtor and good friend gave us the book Wisdom of our Fathers. Prior to that I was always a Tim Russert fan, but all the more after reading the book. Any man who takes his faith and his role as a father so seriously is a hero in my eyes. He was the type of guy that seemed like a genuine man of integrity. He held himself accountable and those around him accountable and that always seemed to come through whether he was talking to a politician or talking about his own father or son.

Mike is surprised that I am glued to the television, but I just can't believe that he is gone. I really admired him so much.

(Why are my last few posts only about death?)