Late Night at the Ballpark

I'm sure I've mentioned a time or two before that my kids are absolutely not on "baseball schedule." Only once this summer have I let them stay for an entire game; we're usually out of there by the 4th inning, with babies in bed by the 6th inning or so. A couple of my girlfriends convinced me to stay for a full game a couple of weeks ago, and it was so worth the horribly cranky kids the next day. We had a ball! Ellie got her first ice cream cone...what a mess! And best of all, the kids and all of their little friends got to go down on the field after the game to run wild. Charlie had just started walking; it was darling to watch him wobble and toddle all over that field. Ellie darted all over the place, mostly just sprinting in one big circle the entire time...she took spill after spill, but just kept right on going. She was a WRECK the next day; I swear Joe and I paid for it for the next three days with her, really!

That night, too, Joe had no idea that we'd stayed for the entire game; he'd assumed we were long gone when he finally came out of the clubhouse. We waited for him in the players' parking lot to say a quick hello before all heading home, but he never came up to the lot, as the field hands were putting on a taco dinner for the players back behind center field. We saw him walking away, so I yelled out his name to get his attention. My friend, Sissy, and her three girls chimed in calling his name, too. All of our yelling freaked Ellie out, and she immediately yelled out in tears, "I need Gold Car!" We have a gold Tahoe, which she calls "Gold Car," and I guess she was so startled that she just wanted to get in the car and hide in safety. We calmed her down, got Joe's attention, and enjoyed a quick hello before heading home. Apparently, the moment really stuck with Ellie, though, because now at random times throughout the day she'll yell out, "Joe Borchard...Joe Borchard!!!" as loud as she possibly can. Now I'm the one getting startled...guess it's payback.