It was practically a perfect visit to the ol' ballpark. As guests of a pharmaceutical company, we started our evening at the Legends of the Game museum.
The kids enjoyed the museum's educational floor and learned about sweet spots, baseball in history, and major league geography.
Then we headed downstairs to the baseball artifacts. It was cool to see jerseys worn by the game's biggest names:
and the baseball card display was impressive, too:
After wandering around the museum, we heard a talk about relevant health issues and were treated to a feast of ballpark food (jumbo hot dogs and burgers). Then it was off to the game!
This was game 2 of the Lone Star Series between the Rangers and Astros. We couldn't get over the number of Astros fans in the crowd!
We may not have been wearing Rangers colors, but we were proud to root for the home team! It was a great game, too. The Rangers hit a couple of homers, so our record remains intact. At least one Ranger has hit the long ball every single time we as a foursome have seen the team play. (Granted, we don't get to the games all that often, but still...)
Brett and I are still marveling at the marvelous weather we've been enjoying! What an amazingly cool night for this late in May!
Just for grins, the kids and I had a little fun taking self-portraits.
OK, make that a LOT of fun!
We did get just a little out of hand.
It must've been all that cotton candy.
After the fifth inning, I took the kids on the requisite gift shop outing, and Katie spent her allowance on a special edition Rangers vs. Astros baseball. We also enjoyed the view from our balcony.
Of course,
we had to pay respects to Nolan, too. It's a law.
Rangers win! Final score: Rangers 6, Astros 2.
After the game we headed for the north lawn for a special post-game bonus:
Robert Earl Keen in concert!
I love me some Robert Earl, and not just because he used to live with
Lyle Lovett.
Apparently a lot of other baseball fans love them some Robert Earl, too.
We couldn't get over the size of the crowd. And somehow, before too long we ended up on the fourth row!
Robert Earl and his band were, like the Rangers, on top of their game. In the 90-minute-long set, he sang several of my faves, including "The Front Porch Song," "The Five-Pound Bass" and his trademark, "The Road Goes On Forever."
Like REK sings, the party never ends, but unfortunately, this practically perfect night couldn't go on forever!
The new 5th grader
The new 7th grader
I requested a table in this room because the wall is covered with pop culture stuff we dig, from the Beatles to Pee Wee Herman, from Atari to Star Wars.
Can you spot Ryan's favorite part of the wall?
Meanwhile, I practiced my special "talents" in anticipation of all the spare time I'm going to have once school's out—you know, all 12 minutes I'll have left after professional development classes, music camp, Medical Testapalooza '08, dorm duty at Ryan's camp, getting our house ready to sell...
Even though it wasn't actually Six Flags' official "Holiday in the Park" (that's at Christmas), we did spend our day off at the "big, big park"! (We have nicknames for all of our local playgrounds. Since we once surprised the kids with a trip to SFOT when we had told them we were going to a big, big park, that name has stuck.)
We LOVE Six Flags, and even though the park was fairly crowded, it was great for the four of us to spend the day together. The kids and I are ready to wear out our season passes this summer!
After almost a year of sitting untouched in our backyard, our grill FINALLY has been called into action!
Mmm, MEAT.
Mmm, CARBS!
Since Brett was swimming, too, the kids had a chance to swurf. Swurfing is a combination of swimming and surfing: Dad swims while the kids surf!
Step 1: Dad takes a deep breath while the kid grabs his shoulders.
Step 2: Kid plants his feet while Dad dives.
Step 3: Kid begins to stand upright—valiantly avoiding
Step 4: And we're SWURFING!
Insert joke here about all that hot air...
It was practically a perfect visit to the ol' ballpark. As guests of a pharmaceutical company, we started our evening at the Legends of the Game museum.
The kids enjoyed the museum's educational floor and learned about sweet spots, baseball in history, and major league geography.
This was game 2 of the Lone Star Series between the Rangers and Astros. We couldn't get over the number of Astros fans in the crowd!
We may not have been wearing Rangers colors, but we were proud to root for the home team! It was a great game, too. The Rangers hit a couple of homers, so our record remains intact. At least one Ranger has hit the long ball every single time we as a foursome have seen the team play. (Granted, we don't get to the games all that often, but still...)
Brett and I are still marveling at the marvelous weather we've been enjoying! What an amazingly cool night for this late in May!
Just for grins, the kids and I had a little fun taking self-portraits.
OK, make that a LOT of fun!
We did get just a little out of hand.
It must've been all that cotton candy.
After the fifth inning, I took the kids on the requisite gift shop outing, and Katie spent her allowance on a special edition Rangers vs. Astros baseball. We also enjoyed the view from our balcony.
Of course, we had to pay respects to Nolan, too. It's a law.
Rangers win! Final score: Rangers 6, Astros 2.
Robert Earl Keen in concert!
I love me some Robert Earl, and not just because he used to live with Lyle Lovett.
Apparently a lot of other baseball fans love them some Robert Earl, too.
We couldn't get over the size of the crowd. And somehow, before too long we ended up on the fourth row!
Robert Earl and his band were, like the Rangers, on top of their game. In the 90-minute-long set, he sang several of my faves, including "The Front Porch Song," "The Five-Pound Bass" and his trademark, "The Road Goes On Forever."