A Magical Mini-Trippie
Pre-Trip: What do you give your parents for Christmas? I mean, its not like they NEED anything. And MY parents certainly dont need any more stuff. They have way too much as it is. So several years ago we stopped giving our parents STUFF. Weve tried to be more creative. A couple of times weve given them a weekend in the mountains. A couple of times, weve taken them to a Braves game.
For Christmas of 2005, we decided wed do the Braves game again. But with one thing and another, we couldnt get our schedules coordinated
plus, we were trying to plan around the Braves schedule. But we finally settled on Friday, September 8. The Braves would be playing the Cubs.
Now this wasnt like a trip to Disney, but it is always fun to go to a game, so we were at least somewhat excited. Wesley thinks my dad hung the moon, so he was practically beside himself. He didnt want to go to sleep Thursday night. (Thats when mom and dad were arriving.) But he finally did.
Before Mom and Dad arrived, my cousin and his fiancée came over. His fiancée lives in our town, attending medical school. After dating for about 6 years, they finally got engaged on Labor Day. So we were chatting with them when Mom and Dad arrived. My cousin(s) left, we stayed up a while talking with M/D, then we all went to bed.
Wesley was up at 5. (Yes, HE was very excited.) He did finally leave our bed. But he did NOT go back to sleep. He was waiting for Nana and Pop to get up, he said. This could be quite the long-ish day.
After breakfast and a lot of getting ready, we were on our way.
The Trip: The game wasnt until 7:05, but we wanted to do a few other things while we were in Atlanta. Like go to Your Dekalb Famers Market. Its a really neat place. Freezing cold, but neat. Lots of food items that I cant find here. I had a list. Then we wanted to go to Whole Foods. To get a few things that I cant find here, and that they dont have at YDFM. And then we are also on a quest to find the Matchbox style Cars cars. TFI: Wesley still needs Lizzie, King, Doc and Leakless. They sell at your average
Walmart or Target for around $3. This is important. Because Colleen has them
ALL. And shes a
GIRL. It is
sooooo NOT FAIR. Just ask him, hell tell you.
So anyway, we did all of those things. (No Cars cars. Sadly.) And then headed for Turner Field. At 3:30. The gates didnt open until 4:35. (I admit, I was doing the I Told You So to Mark.) But we found a nice shady spot, and Wesley and Dad walked around looking at the statues and huge baseballs (Wesley liked the Pittsburgh ball
said it had Captain Hook on it. It really did look like Captain Hook!).
At last the gates opened, we were allowed in, given our Atlanta Braves fleece throws (courtesy of NAPA), and headed for the Chop House. Food was good, although IMHO, it makes Disney food seem CHEAP. The least expensive thing on their menu is a hotdog and fries. For $9. And they do NOT have a kids menu. TFI. But I digress. The food was good, even if it was a
trifle overpriced.
And now were headed to find our seats.
Theres something you should know about me. I am a Braves fan. I mean, a
FAN. I mean, I didnt start watching them in the 90s. I was born in 1973. By 1976, I could tell you the starting lineup, their batting averages, and the ERA for the pitchers. 1976, btw, is the year Dale Murphy became a Brave. In case you were wondering. Now the years with Dale Murphy, Glenn Hubbard, Chris Chambliss, Phil Neikro
those were good years. But in the 90s
those were GREAT years. I admit to still having a soft spot in my heart for Tom Glavine. Even if he did desert us. For more money. I really miss some of those guys. Glavine, Maddux, Blauser, Lemke, Belliard, Olson, Bream (the final game of the 1992 NLCS is still one of the best ever sports moments)
I was living in Atlanta in 95 when they FINALLY won the World Series. I attended the parade and other festivities. Those guys will always be The Braves to me. Now I must admit, in the last 4 years or so (anyone notice that it coincides with Wesleys age??), I havent kept up. I havent had the time. And this year
I had not seen a single game. Not one. I had no idea who was playing for Atlanta. I felt somewhat embarrassed about this. But
I havent had time! I DID know that Lemke had been broadcasting with Skip, Joe, Pete and Don for a couple of years, though.
So, we were headed to find our seats. And we had to go right past the booth-ish thing where Lemke and usually Pete are sitting before the game. Pete was not there. But Mark Lemke was. He had his headphones on. So my Mark called his name until he got his attention. He asked if we could get a picture of him with Wesley (who had no idea who the guy was). He said sure. Then Mark asked if he would sign Wesleys glove. Hes as prepared as a Disney character! He whipped out a Sharpie and signed Wesleys glove. And then my parents insisted that I get a picture with him, too. Because, they said, I was his real fan. Which is true. I was a big Lemke fan.
No, its not quite a Cinderellabration Meet and Greet, but it was still pretty cool. We found our seats. Had not even sat down yet. Had not even changed Wesley from his Braves t-shirt and shorts into his Chipper Jones jersey and white baseball pants (which makes him even
cuter!!). One of the ushers comes right to Wesley and says, Come with me sweetheart. Wesley takes her hand and goes down the steps to a Security guy (who was in the Cubs bullpen), and the Security guy gives him one of the balls they had been practicing with. You can see a slight indention where it was hit by a bat. And there are grass stains on it. It wasnt a homerun ball. But it was still awesome. Wesley beamed.
My little Magic Magnet. And we arent even at Disney World!
The Braves won, too. Beat the Cubs 7-4. Icing on the cake, baby!!
I will post pictures, when dad emails them to us. Our camera is not with us. It was sent to Canon a month ago for repair (their problem). Sad camera is purportedly on its way back to us, and we will have it by Wednesday. If sad camera is NOT back to us by Wednesday... I will be very much not pleased. Not to mention said. And will likely be buying another camera. Because we cannot (and WILL not) see the end of Cinderellabration without a camera.