Xavier's First Baseball Game
Greetings to everyone.
Today we all attended a Colorado Rockies baseball game. A friend of Rebecca's had four tickets and gave them to us.
As Xavier has turned five, I thought he should see his first game this year. The gift of the tickets came at a wonderful time. We had no plans today and this weekend has been one of relaxation for us.
The morning began with sunshine and Xavier sleeping in to 0830. The 0830 part is unusual for him these last few weeks, which have ranged from 0530 through 0615.
By the time we headed for Coors Field, weather had moved in and a drizzle began in the West. We packed umbrellas and raincoats, and off we went.
Rebecca arranged for reserved parking using some phone app she found. We parked about a :10 minute walk away. Xavier showed excitement from the time we left the house.
"Where is the stadium, Daddy?" he asked as we left the parking garage. We showed it to him; it was right in front of us.
We found our deck and our gate, then grabbed the necessary overpriced hot dogs and a bag of peanuts, then headed for our seats.
We did not make it into the stadium for the singing of the National Anthem, but stood in the walkway during it. Afterward, fire works shot into the air as we climbed the stairs.
As it turns out, our tickets were row 20 on the upper deck: the Mile High row. That is the row that is (as the name suggests) a mile high: 5280 feet. You might notice in the background the purple row of seats circling the stadium. That is the Mile High row.
The Rockies hosted the Seattle Mariners. The game began at 1305 and 67° as the weather slowly settled in. The clear, overcast skies lightly drizzled as Rebecca and I explained various parts of baseball to Xavier, who watched the field with interest as he chomped on his hot dog.
The drizzle turned to a steady soft rain. After finishing off the bag of peanuts, Xavier wanted to go home (row 20 is just under the upper deck's canopy, so the rain only reached us when the breeze shifted—which it did from time to time).
Instead of leaving, we wrapped Xavier in a raincoat (Rebecca's, and it fit him like a blanket). He huddled under it, occasionally peaking out at the game playing out three stories below.
We stayed until the top of the fifth inning, then started our trek back to the parking garage. Xavier was excited to be going home. "My wish," he told us, "is coming true."
"What wish?" we asked.
"The one I made in the stadium about going home," he replied.
Still, Xavier said he had a fun time at the game. He did not like the rain dripping on him, however.
By the way, the Rockies won the game: 4-3.
This Year's Garden Is In
Greetings to all.
It's that time of year again. Xavier asked to plant his garden.
This year he has a gardening kit complete with gloves and hand tools, a gift from his Grandpa Danny. Grandpa Danny also sent several potato starts. Two thoughtful and useful items for this time of year.
Xavier and Rebecca set out to seed his soil. Unlike last year where the plot was ordered and laid out on a grid, this year Xavier planted at random.
We cannot bury soaker hose around his plantings this year because we have no idea where his plants will spring up. We just paid out a chunk of money to fix/adjust all the sprinkler heads in the yard and to have the broken feed pipe replaced, so the buried hose will not be necessary this year, I think.
Several days after planting his pumpkins and squash and sunflowers, Xavier and Rebecca put in the potato starts.
His garden planted, Xavier kicked back on the front porch to watch his garden grow.
And, yes, he planted his 'taters while still in his PJs. The beginning of days with no school has seen something of a breakdown in dressing discipline.
Birthday Party 2018
Greetings to you all.
Though last Sunday marked Xavier's fifth birthday, and we celebrated a little, today we had his party. This year was difficult to organize; Rebecca had been in Alabama for two months prior, so she did not have much time to plan. We even out-sourced the cake this year.
With no real theme this year (Xavier had several ideas, but nothing definitive), and so short a time to "pull it together," we kept things as simple as possible. In this theme-less planning, Rebecca decided upon a cake decorated with some of Xavier's interests: construction equipment and giant ants. With these ideas, she let the baker come up with a design: a hill under development where the equipment disturbed a giant ant nest.
Two weeks ago we invited his entire Frog class from school. The first RSVP came as a question. The invitation said Saturday, but the date on the invitation was a Tuesday. We had put June instead of May. We sent out corrections the next day.
Still, few RSVPs came in. Rebecca and I took to asking parents directly at school. We learned some things which never occurred to us. Many of Xavier's classmates had sporting activities, and these were all in the 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM time frame of Xavier's party.
Well, we thought, four or five of the fourteen in his class were going to make it, plus two other friends outside his class. That will be OK, and Xavier will still have fun.
Xavier grew excited as today arrived. Friends were coming over to play at his house. That alone is a wonderful present for Xavier. But as Xavier's anticipation grew, so did the threat of rain from the building storm clouds. And rain it did. Drenching, rain that poured down all morning. By 11:00 o'clock, the rain still fell.
We had hoped to host the party outside. Oh well, our house is big enough to entertain a handful of Xavier's friends.
The doorbell rang just at 11:00 and kept ringing for the next twenty or so minutes. The sporting events his classmates had were all cancelled due to the rain. Nearly the whole class showed up!
Most of the boys played out back under the cover of the patio. When the rain fizzled to drizzle and then to the occasional drip from the sky, they moved into the yard.
Some of the girls joined the boys and raced around the wet grass, strewing toys where ever they ran. They all made games and had tremendous fun.
Rebecca had planned on having the whole class and their parents, so we had the food and drink covered.
All in all, it turned out to be a wonderful party for Xavier. He scored more gifts, including another Lego set, even though the invitations said "No gifts, please."
For Xavier, the best gift was having so many friends over to play at his house.