Take Me Out to the Ball Game....

In keeping with my goal to give my children different life experiences, we went to an Idaho Falls Chukar game last night. It was......well.....definitely an experience. No, it was a lot of fun, it just had a few bumps as most new experiences do. We rushed home from Cooper's swimming lesson (Amelia's been benched all week with swimmer's ear), ate dinner, and drove to Idaho Falls. We grabbed our tickets and received our free ball caps for being the first 500 people. We discussed seating, including where the most likely place was for a foul ball to come flying at us at over 85 miles an hour. After a brief discussion, Amelia and Cooper wanted to be by the first base line.

 
I pointed out the sun would likely be in our eyes for an hour or two, but that didn't deter them. Until we sat down.

 They are happy in this picture, but fifteen minutes later Amelia had her hat on, and Cooper was complaining about "the sun burning a hole in his head". However, the game soon began and they were distracted by the sound effects, video screen and over priced cotton candy their saintly mother bought them:

 Thankfully, the sun dropped below the trees eventually and after moving to sit between Amelia and Cooper, we spent four happy innings cheering, groaning, and screaming when instructed. We even had a quiet chat about people around us, and how they sometimes say words we shouldn't, especially when a batter struck out. Cooper wanted to write them down so he wouldn't forget, but I suggested he just ask me if he ever came across a questionable word.

By the end of the fifth inning, Cooper was DYING of thirst (Amelia was intent on the game) so he and I made a trip to the concession stand for refreshment. It only being the fifth inning, I splurged on a large diet Pepsi in hopes it would fortify me for the innings to come.

The sixth and seventh innings were full of trying to catch foul balls, waving and laughing at the Chukar mascot (a huge chicken). However, the top of the eighth brought Cooper to the end of his patience and enjoyment of the game. Amelia tried to distract him by telling him to watch for stars, the moon, etc. Cooper looked at her, eyebrows raised and said, "Amelia. I am a player and a sleeper, not a watcher. I like to play and I like to sleep, I don't like to watch."

With that declaration, a quick peek showed it was ten o'clock, so we waited for the inning to end and headed home with Amelia exclaiming every few steps, "I can't believe 34 struck out!" and "That one guy was totally safe!" I had my hands full trying to commiserate with her while keeping a firm hand on Cooper because he wanted to go "tackle that chicken for not throwing me a t-shirt."

During the walk to our car, the late night tiredness manifested itself in my sweet children as Cooper began to suddenly laugh hysterically, so hard he couldn't make a sound and his face turned bright red. I asked what was so funny, and he replied, "I'm leaving a trail of stink!" Amelia giggled and  immediately began to leave her own trail, and I was grateful no one was walking behind us.

The insanity continued as we reached the car, buckled in, and headed home. Cooper's trail of stink changed to an "atomic bomb" of stink, which he was considerate enough to give us a countdown--three times. With the windows down, we continued on our way.

Amelia added to the insanity by making silly comments, followed by loud, maniacal laughter and exclaiming over and over, "I am so hi-LAR-ious!!" Their conversation deteriorated even more, singing songs with words like "toilet", "poo-poo", and "underwear" inserted. After listening for ten miles, I finally reprimanded for the potty talk, but was secretly impressed and proud of their creativity and prose.

The night was a success, and was a memory I doubt we'll ever forget......and might even repeat sometime!