Play Ball!!

The day seemed to sing his name. A gorgeous October day ushered in Brighton's 6th birthday beaming with sunshine and blue. He greeted the day with his usual enthusiasm and then some, counting the hours until the Father Son baseball game. An hour or so later, powered by "birthday day" doughnuts, he ran around the soccer field like he owned it and added some extra cheesy drama with falls and rolls. It was his birthday and he was feeling it-- and showing it.

As soon as we got home from soccer he was ready to change uniforms. While he couldn’t concentrate on any one thing, Julia and I busied ourselves filling little sacks with peanuts and popcorn. Her critical role was to run the concession stand at the game and she was eager to dish out snacks and drinks.

We loaded up a party in the trailer and headed for the park. We picked a perfect spot and Jeff set up the sound system. What is a ballgame without organ music, baseball chants and sound effects over very loud speakers? In Brighton’s opinion, not much at all. He's quickly losing respect for the Ballpark at Arlington because they no longer sing for the 7th inning stretch. "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" might be his favorite part of the game-- or maybe a second or third next to cotton candy and Coke? (Thanks, Nanna and Papa!) Julia and I set up her “stand” and Brighton, well, he swung his bat and watched the road for familiar cars. At the sight of the first one, he took off running. The party, which he had been planning for at least 6 months, had started.

I almost dropped my popcorn when Julia said she would start off the game by singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" ................by herself................with the microphone. And sing she did, loud and clear with a big grin. Dads and sons took their places and they played “backyard” ball. They ran each other down, let the kids skip bases, made amazing plays (aka- nothing ever allowed in regulation play), caused many slides and ALMOST outs. When not making “amazing” plays, Jeff called the game over the sound system, adding digital sound effects, making it all seem very real. Dads were almost as fun to watch as the little guys but it's hard to beat miniature men strutting around proud as peacocks hearing their names over the speakers followed by crowds cheering or was it their playing with their favorite big guys? Hmmmm. Something tells me it was the big guys.

Great game and because of that, great party.

We never could get the candles lit on our breezy day, so we recreated it at home with leftover cupcakes. Big puffy cheek pictures with sibling(s) looking on are some of my favorites. And if you know my history with caramel icing, I am happy to say, I only made ONE batch of icing this year!!!