Take Me Out To The Ballgame

Part two in the series "Music Mondays in May" from my

blog group Homesteaders & Homeschoolers.

I have been going to major league baseball games since I can remember.

My dad is a huge St. Louis Cardinals fan.

I don't know how that happened really since his mother (whose home I live in) was an even bigger Chicago Cubs fan.

I guess he wanted to root for a team that didn't have it's fans in tears at the end of September, every year.

So, because of my dad's unwavering love for the redbirds of Missouri, I spent many days and nights at Busch stadium.

Eating cotton candy from a bag and scouring the seats looking for Fredbird.

Doing the wave and then begging my dad to leave "because it's the 11th inning and this tie is never going to end!"

And always singing from the top of my lungs during the 7th inning stretch to Take Me Out To The Ballgame.

The quintessential "Baseball in America" song.

I moved to Chicago in 1994.

I started going to Cub games.

It's what everyone does.

Wrigley Field.

It's a passage of sorts.

To sit in the confines of the ivy covered walls.

To get a seat behind a pole so you can't see a thing.

To get a SRO ticket (Standing Room Only).

But it didn't matter when the 7th inning stretch came up.

After the visitor's at bat and before the home team had their turn to bat in the 7th inning, he appeared.

Harry Carey.

It was a momentous thing to sing along to Take Me Out To The Ballgame with this true American symbol of baseball.

I thought of my grandma every time.

He would hang out of the booth and was such a huge presence and it's a memory I won't forget.

But, we too got tired of losing.

Of hanging out with a group of people who didn't really seem to care too much about the game before them.

Who instead were more interested in taking pictures of themselves with their friends, talking on their phones, and of being obnoxious under the beer stupor they were in...mind you, this was not everyone at Wrigley field. But it seemed to be that way everytime we went.

We then moved our allegiance to the south side of Chicago.

To the White Sox.

I think it was in 2002.

Zoe was born in February of 2005 and her first baseball game was in May of 2005.

It was dog day at the park, so we took our two kids...Zoe and our dog Madison.

The Chicago White Sox won the World Series that year and we took in the ticker tape parade the city threw for them downtown.

We had made the right decision to move.

We also made sure that Zoe knew every word to Take Me Out To The Ballgame by the age of two.

Both girls have been to numerous major league baseball games.

Gigi went to her first game at the age of 6 1/2 months.

It was in Cardinal territory, though.

We do go with grandpa to St. Louis.

He's tried brainwashing them to become St. Louis fans, but it's not working.

They have both Chicago and St. Louis apparel and banners in their rooms.

Baseball is a big deal in our house.

And as long as they love the game and love singing at the top of their lungs during the middle of the 7th inning while their faces are covered in ice cream and cotton candy, I know we have done something right with these girls.

Lets Go White Sox!

Our Year End Recap

It's the last day of 2012.
It's been quite a year for our family.
An end to chemotherapy for our now 7 year old.
Something I thought I would never have to say, yet couldn't wait to say!
We are hoping 2013 is full of nothing but good news for her.
Good news and good health.
And now, a pictorial review of our latest year that's just about behind us...

We celebrated our daughters turning another year older... 

We partook in holiday fun...

We went out of town to visit exciting new places and to also see familiar faces...

Little Rock

NASA

Galveston, Texas

state fair



Closer to home, Zoe represented Camp COCO at the Midwest Charity Horse Show and had a great week on Lake Bloomington with her fellow campers...

We heard two piano recitals...

Zoe participated in horse riding and standing lessons...

We decorated a tree in Central Park with our family for childhood cancer awareness...  

Gigi went to school for the first time...

And Zoe got eyeglasses...

We rounded up about 40 of our closest friends and family.

Friends who came from near and as far away as Texas and Omaha.

We gathered to walk for a cure.

To unite for hope and hugs.  

To remember Jake, who left us far too soon.

We battled on through the intense heat and drought of the summer by cannonballing into our pool and canoodling with our pets, including our newest addition Willie...

Zoe encountered fewer hospital stays in 2012, but they still existed for her. 

She was able to be "normal" though as she played softball and danced.



Zoe with her friend Zoe



We are hoping that the new year brings us much joy, more travel, more time with friends, and a new found happiness of childhood for Zoe.

Thanks for reading and Happy New Year!

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

I love to watch baseball.
It's an easy game to follow, has some really exciting moments, and you can usually go to the bathroom and not miss too much.
If we won the Lottery, we would take a vacation of baseball parks...watching games in every stadium in the country.
Towing our friends Dan and Lynne along with us because they are huge baseball fans, too.
Cooperstown is on our list of places to visit.
We love us some baseball!

Growing up our family would head to Busch Stadium every summer to watch the Cardinals battle it out with the opposing team.
In the days when Ozzie Smith would flip his way to his shortstop position and cotton candy only cost my dad a dollar to buy me.
Back in the day when managers would put up a colorful fight when the ump called a less than stellar call in their opinion.
Back when baseball was non-steroidal and not over-priced.

I grew up a St. Louis Cardinals fan.
My grandmother (my dad's mom) was a die-hard Chicago Cubs fan and while she never actually went to Wrigley Field to watch a game (she was afraid of heights to the extreme...wouldn't take the escalator at Sears, had to use the elevator!), her house was adorned in Cubs paraphernalia and she listened to the games on the radio and saw some on TV.
When I moved to Chicago I took in my fair share of Cubs games.  Even sat close enough to Harry Carey a few times to see him sing his heart out, talk about Nuts on Clark, and slur out "let's get some runs!"  What a guy.

Chad and I saw our last Cubs game at Wrigley when Mark Prior had his professional start.
We then moved our allegiance to the south side.
Wrigley just didn't seem like a baseball place anymore.
Too many people taking pictures, talking on their phones, spilling booze on us and fighting with each other. 
What about the game?
No one seemed to be watching the game.

Zoe saw her first game when she was 3 months old.
It was Dog Day at U.S. Cellular and we took Madison and his new sister.
The Chicago White Sox won the World Series that year.
We even took in the ticker tape parade that the city held for the team.
You don't forget things like that.
What an awesome memory.

So, while my dad still tries to push his Cardinals on my girls (his brain-washing has worked on my nephew!) they are turning out to be true baseball fans and love their White Sox!

We have plans to take them to Wrigley sometime.  

Everyone needs to go at least once.

We will take them for Grandma.

She loved her baseball and she would have loved these girls.