Hazy, Hot, and Humid!

As I type this entry mid-morning on Sunday, the three air conditioners that work to keep Fort Vegas cool are running full blast. Just the sight of that sentence has the folks at Dominion Power rubbing their hands in glee!

Everyone except me slept late today due to the action-packed slate of events we ran through yesterday...let's get to the happy recap.

We headed over to Grandma and Grandpop's to enjoy their pool. It was the first time we had used the pool this year, mostly due to us just not finding our way into Staunton.

Last weekend at SML, we discovered that Andrew had better luck and buoyancy wearing his life jacket (which we bought for boating) versus the "swimmy vest." This week, we decided to put the life jacket through the full test. Andrew had no problem picking up where we left off last week. He motored around the pool, chasing me, chasing Grandpop, and just having a BIG time! He went from using a noodle as a water cannon to riding the various floats that were in the pool. Why have we waited until mid-July to get out there?

Here is a shot of Andrew and Mommy after he managed to wear himself out. He was prepared to nap on the float, but we had other ideas. He took a nap on the living room couch while Grandpop dozed in his chair. Mommy and I enjoyed some quiet time with Grandma and finalized plans to meet up with our friends Jeff, Sarah, and Dawson. After a quick post-nap dip in the pool, we said goodbye to the grandparents and raced back to FV to get fresh clothes.

We met up with our friends at Moxie Stadium on the grounds of Gypsy Hill Park in Staunton. Thanks to Grandma and the folks at Mimo's Restaurant in Verona, we were able to scratch up free tickets for everyone to attend a Staunton Braves game. The Braves are part of the Valley Baseball League, which has teams in almost every big town up and down the Shenandoah Valley. The teams are comprised of college baseball players looking to get some extra experience after their seasons are over. Tam and I both attended games when we were teenagers, but we hadn't been to one in years.

Andrew and Dawson are pals. They got settled immediately in the front row down the first base side. (Sorry to any regulars whose spot we may have taken!) Out came the coloring books and crayons and the daddys headed off for food and drink. As I stood in line looking at the concession menu, I was amazed at how dirt cheap everything was. Considering the fact that just a few weeks ago, I paid $3.50 for a Diet Pepsi and $3.50 for a bottle of water at a minor league game, I was stunned! $1.50 bottle drinks, $1.50 hot dogs, $2 nachos...if Valley League games served beer, I would be SO catching every game. And there is the rub - as far as I know, no VBL team serves beer at the ballpark. That is a bad thing when you want one, but a good thing when you don't want your two year old to see rubes who toss back seven or eight beers so they can turn up the volume and roast a home plate umpire. I even got a Braves coffee mug for a dollar. Yes, a dollar!

Here is a shot of Andrew studying both the Staunton Braves pitcher and the chain-link fence. Being just shy of three years old, Andrew doesn't know the compexities of the game just yet. He can give you a great "HOME RUN!" call, thanks to playing the game on the X-Box with me.

I know that in this crazy age of digital games, cell phones that can do everything short of launch a space shuttle, kiddie video on demand (not knocking it, just saying it is a fixture in our household), and everything else that is going to come at a kid in his generation, I hope Andrew grows up with an appreciation for going to a ball game and just spending an evening kibbitzing with friends and watching the home team. I'm not asking him to be the white-hot crazy fan I was until three years ago, when he bumped SportsCenter off the t.v., but I hope I rub off a little.

Boys being boys, Andrew and Dawson had discovered early on in the evening that the gravel under our feet made a great toy. As we reached the end of the contest (for us), the boys put on a show for the crowd and started dumping gravel down their backs. You could identify the parents in the crowd because they would look and chuckle. Those who had never spent time around small children just glanced at them and shook their heads. The boys were wearing out and we loaded up to head back to our respective homes.

And so, with Mommy now bellowing for me to help out downstairs, Sunday begins! ---J