Rained Out!

Last night we were supposed to be at a baseball game (Yankees minor league team) but it had rained steadily all day so it was cancelled. We had gotten a babysitter for the girls and were going with another married couple to enjoy the fun of the ball park. We got there, trudged through the rain and mud, found our seats right above the dugout and then noticed we were surrounded by a sea of empty seats. The board said the game delay was "to be announced" which meant there was a 50/50 chance the game was going to be cancelled. So we trudged back inside the vending area of the stadium to wait it out. After about a half hour it was announced that the game would be postponed to the following night which would then be a double header. Our tickets were still good, we would have the same seats for the first game but not the second. Joel was okay with that, he didn't really want to sit through two games! After the game was called off the announcer went to the field which was covered by a huge white tarp and said it was time for the vendors to get wet! They used the field tarp as a giant "slip-n-slide" and had a contest to see which vendor could slide the farthest! It looked like so much fun! They looked like penguins skidding along on their bellies like that! :) After we watched their shenanigans we decided since the night was young and we had the babysitter all night we would go out and get something to eat. I had had my heart set on a bloomin' onion (a very yummy treat where the onion gets its ends chopped off, dipped in batter, then deep fried and served with a buffalo ranch dipping sauce, yum!) and I was very sad that I had eaten a light lunch and skipped dinner so I could revel in the fattening treat and not worry about all that fat because now my tummy was rumbling for fatty food! So we decided to try this pizza place close to our house that our friend had tried and said was yummy. The pizza was amazing and almost made up for the missed bloomin' onion! We got a small pizza with extra cheese and bacon and I tell you I have never seen such a big small! It was almost the size of a large pizza! We ate and talked until nine and then decided since the waitress' were vacuuming around us we should probably leave. It was so weird coming home and not having to put the girls to bed! I felt so out of touch that I did the dishes so I could have some of my night routine back! So even though we did not get to see the ballgame we had a very good time just chatting with married people our age with no little ones to cut food up for or take potty! And tonight we're going to try again but its been raining all morning so who knows!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

Last night we took the girls to their first ever baseball game. We got free tickets from some very nice elderly people at church who have season tickets and occasionally give them out to us younger folk! It was for the Yankee's training team or something and they were playing against the Syracuse Chiefs. We were high up , about three rows from the very top but we had an excellent view of the field because the seating was so steep that if you stood up and jumped you would clear the railing and plummet to the field! I told Joel anyone with vertigo problems should never ever sit there! The girls were fascinated by the whole experience! Katie loved being so high up, she loved the noise, the music, and the yummy Cracker Jacks Daddy bought! Abby liked the noise, the bright colors, and the yummy treats too. We left after the 6th inning because Abby was fidgety and kept trying to leap over the heads of the people and into the field. The game was tied 6-6 when we left but I hope the Yankees lost, I can't stand the Yankees! BOOOOOOO Yankee's! We cheered for the other team the whole time and cheered all the louder when we heard people behind us mumbling how they hated it when people bought tickets and came to the game just to cheer against the Yankee's. We have tickets for Monday's game too that Joel got for free from work and those seats are in the first row where we can rest our feet on the Yankee's dugout. We plan to cheer the opposing team then too. Maybe I'll get a ball thrown at me!
The best part of the night was when the mascot heckled one of the coaches into dancing. "Champ" the big, blue, Grover-like mascot would do a dance move and then smack at the coach playfully until the coach copied him. The coach was rather halfhearted at first but then he got into it and matched Champ move for move. The moves that the man inside the giant furry costume was doing were pretty impressive for a guy inside a large, furry suit! The last dance moves he pulled were very cool and after he had carried on a few minutes he strutted around thinking he had won. Then the coach busted out a long series of complicated, well executed dance moves including the moon walk and then ended it with a back flip. The crowd went wild and Champ admitted defeat. They played the coaches final dance again and again on the big screen, it was pretty fun. Katie loved watching the mascot and cheered and laughed whenever he came out.
Katie could have happily stayed for the entire game but like I said Abby was getting suicidal so we left. We stopped by the gift shop on the way out to pick up a souvenir to remember the night by since I had forgotten my camera. We hated giving the Yankee's the business or having anything in our house that has the Yankee logo on it but you know you have to have a souvenir, plus everything was 25% off. So we got Katie a pink baseball bat pen which she loves! So that was our fun, fun night!

Karen and the Closets of Doom

So recently I decided to take my life into my own hands and organize our closets which we have nicknamed the "closets of doom". I try to keep them organized but its just so convenient to throw stuff in them and pretend they don't exist! Whenever they get too messy and out-of-control it makes me feel nervous, I just can't relax knowing there are piles of junk waiting to burst forth at any minute! So for the past few days I have been a very brave girl and emptied the closets of doom one by one in an effort to appease my uneasiness! Today I'm on the last closet and the one that scares me the most...the under the stairs closet. It holds Christmas stuff, luggage, stuff from when we were still single, left over wedding stuff, winter clothes and coats, Abby's old car seat and swing and who knows what else! I recently dove in it to get our luggage for our trip to Michigan. I found the luggage, shoved everything back in, and tried to forget the horrors I had seen there! The closet is located in the girls room and the roof is the bottom of our neighbours staircase. It is quite deep so all sorts of things fit in. As you can see from the picture below it is completely full from ceiling to floor!I actually like to keep it very full because it muffles the noise that our neighbours children and dog make who are constantly running up and down the stairs shrieking at all hours of the day and night. Seriously, their bedtime is like ten o'clock! Last winter the little girl went through a bout of ear infections and screamed constantly through the night, NOT FUN! Anyway.....once I get that closet organized I'll be blogging more on our family site with lots of fun pictures from the girls' birthdays!