Fredbird

Baby Birds

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you might be thinking that we’ve had new visitors in the nest in our tree. On the other hand, if you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you also know how much we love baseball! That’s the kind of baby birds I’m talking about today!

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On my summer to-do list was taking in a minor league baseball game. Not just a Grizzlies game, but one of the Cardinals affiliates. Our choices were the Triple-A team, the Memphis Redbirds, or the Double-A team, the Springfield Cardinals. Springfield is a considerably shorter drive, so yesterday, we took a road-trip out to Hammons Field to see the baby birds play!

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It was a nice, albeit small, ballpark. Since we were at a minor league game, we got to sit a lot closer to the field than we usually do!

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The ushers were very helpful in pointing us to our seats, and they were also easy to find, given their Hawaiian print shirts!

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One of my favorite things about visiting a new park is seeing who the sponsors are, what kind of shops they have, and what kind of food they serve.

There were some things, though, that were very familiar (including seeing Shane Robinson, who was on a rehab assignment, and Chickadee being mad at me for putting her down so I could get a picture of her with her siblings)!

I also love seeing the mascots. In Springfield, they have Louie (a cardinal, who looks kind of like Fredbird-lite), and Fetch, Louie’s canine friend.

They were giving away Shelby Miller bobbleheads (who was a Springfield Cardinal quite recently), and the children were very excited, because there was no age limit on the giveaway, so they each got one!

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We saw a home run (and heard the home run siren!):

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And we watched the between inning antics, including my favorite of the night, musical chairs, where, if there was a tie involving a lady, the lady always won!

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We also saw evidence of the Springfield Cardinals 2012 Texas League championship:

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It was definitely another fun day at the ballpark…maybe next summer, we’ll make it to Memphis to see the Redbirds!

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Star Wars Night at Busch Stadium

Last night was Star Wars night at Busch Stadium:

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Tickets were expensive, so we couldn’t all go, but Ryan did get two tickets so that Bunny and I could take part. Why Bunny? Because the voice of her favorite character (Ahsoka Tano), from the Clone Wars was doing a meet and greet!

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Bunny had a great time meeting Ashley Eckstein, and Ashley was so nice! She talked to Bunny for several minutes, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but if you’ve ever been in one of those autograph lines, you know that a few minutes can seem like an eternity. Bunny learned that Ashley’s favorite episode of the Clone Wars is the one in which Ahsoka meets Chewbacca, which we haven’t seen yet, so we’re really looking forward to that. Ashley also told Bunny that Bunny’s eyes reminded her of Ahsoka, which, of course, put Bunny on cloud nine!

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Just in case you haven’t put two and two together yet, Ashley Eckstein is the wife of former Cardinal David Eckstein. He was with her, and was signing autographs and taking pictures, as well. I had hoped he might be, so I brought a baseball along…so we left with autographs of not only an actress, but a baseball player, too! He was also very nice…I was impressed with how gracious both of them were!

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The rest of the evening was a lot of fun, too. There were fans dressed in character, as well as characters stationed around the ballpark for photos. A highlight of the night was seeing “Jedi Fredbird!”

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We also saw Storm Troopers brining in the game ball and escorting the umps, and Princess Leia as a member of Team Fredbird. There was also a battle between Fredbird and Darth Vader, which ended with them dancing, Gangnam-style. It was a little surreal!

It was a great evening…I’m so glad Ryan sent us to the ballpark for a girls’ night out!

Coca-Cola Rooftop Deck

Today was a special day, because we had all-inclusive tickets to the Cardinals game. We sat on the Coca-Cola Rooftop Deck:

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First, we had to get into Busch Stadium, which wasn’t easy…there was an incredibly long line (the longest we’ve ever seen!), because of the Stan Musial statue giveaway:

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Stan Statue

We did finally make it into the ballpark, and made our way to our seats. When you first go to the Coca-Cola rooftop deck seats, you’re given a wristband, which gives you access to the food, and allows you to move around the ballpark, and come back without any troubles.

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There are bar-style seats, with a table in front of them:

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I loved these seats! There was room to walk with Chickadee, room for the children to move around without annoying the other fans around us, and it wasn’t too high up! Plus, you know, the food (hot dogs, nachos, BBQ chicken, beef, and pork, plus cookies and brownies)!

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I started with some BBQ pulled pork nachos:

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Chickadee loved them, so I had to go back for more food for me! Since she loved the pork so much (even more than the cookies and brownies!!!), I got more of that, plus a hot dog with sauerkraut. Yum!

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There was also a dedicated drinks server, which the children loved:

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We had a great view from center field:

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And a great view of the cameraman:

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The back-end of the deck overlooks the Ford Family Plaza:

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Fredbird hangs out there during the first three innings, so of course we had to go say “Hi!”

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And did I mention how much I love high socks Sundays?

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Of course, the best part of the game was that the Cards won!

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Daddy-Daughter Night

Last night, Ryan took Ladybug to the Cardinals game, (she’s a huge Cards fan!). They had a special time together, and I got some cute pictures when they got home!

Ladybug got to meet Tony Cruz and Shane Robinson, and get their autographs…very exciting!

She also got to see the World Series trophy up close…she keeps calling it a “statue.”

Of course, the highlight of the night, (other than the home run by David Freese, and the Cardinals win), was meeting Fredbird, even if she didn’t get beaked!

My Cardinals Bucket List

I got this idea over at Diamond Diaries…a list of Cardinals-related activities I hope to do before I die (even though I really hate the term “bucket list!”).

  1. Go back to the Commissioner’s box…with the children. We had such a good time sitting in those seats on our anniversary that we’d really like to share the experience as a family. Plus, it would be really fun for the children to go to a game where they could get as much food as they wanted, (within reason, of course), and not worry about how much it costs. And the seats are six across, which works out well for us!
  2. Attend Social Media Night. OK, this one is kind of cheating to list, because I already did it this year. Up until last month, though, it was still something I wanted to do “someday.” Since it’s still fresh in my mind, I’ll include it anyway–I really wanted that “Tweet me in St. Louis” t-shirt!
  3. Go to Opening Day. This is another hopeful family event. Ryan has been to Opening Day once, and he told us all just how cool it was, so of course, we all want to go. Busch Stadium is awesome any day, but I can’t even imagine the atmosphere on Opening Day. I especially want to see the Clydesdales in action!
  4. Visit all of the minor league ballparks. I’d like to take road trips to Memphis, Springfield, Palm Beach, and the Quad Cities to see the “baby birds” in action.
  5. Get tickets to the Redbird Club. Again, cheating a little, because we have Redbird Club tickets for later this summer. But I didn’t even realize until last week that that’s where our seats are located, and I haven’t even technically been there yet, so it’s still on the list.
  6. Attend Spring Training. I think it would be so much fun to escape the lovely St. Louis winter weather and go to spring training one year.
  7. Get something autographed. If it was a Lance Berkman autograph, that would be fantastic. But really, I’m not choosy…I’d just like a Cardinal autograph. Maybe even Red Schoendienst, since he’s one of the coolest Cardinals ever, and he’s still on the field for batting practice on a regular basis.
  8. Go to a playoff game. Just to say I’d been, even if it was the wild card round.
  9. Be a season-ticket holder. This is a way in the future dream. But someday, when the children are out of the house, I’d love for Ryan and I to have season tickets. I don’t even care where in the stadium–I’d just love to have the option of going to all of the home games.
  10. Meet Fredbird. The children and I technically did meet Fredbird a few years ago at a Qdoba grand opening. But it was really more the children than me. And I didn’t even get “beaked,” so it doesn’t really count.

At the Ball Game

Sunday was Girl Scout Day at Busch Stadium, so we took the children to their first ever Major League Baseball game, and my first game at the new stadium. Ryan’s parents were able to join us, which was really fun, and also really helpful, since we had two extra pairs of hands and eyes to help out!

Our seats were up in the clouds, which I wasn’t a big fan of, but the children didn’t seem to mind being up so high, or being away from the action on the field. Anyway, we definitely had a great view of the whole ballpark!

Turkey was, not surprisingly, the child most interested in the game. He spent most of the time we were there worrying that the Cardinals weren’t going to win, but come the end of the game, he was a very happy camper. He even decided that the Cards had decided to intentionally play a suspenseful game, so that they could have a big win in the ninth.

Bunny decided she was done with the game around the third inning, and spent the rest of our time there thinking about going home and playing with her birthday presents that she received the day before. She did perk up whenever the crowd got excited, but she certainly didn’t enjoy the game the way her brother did.

I think Moose had total sensory overload, which is a good thing for him, because it kept him occupied. Between all the sights, sounds, and smells of the ballpark, there was no end of things to look at and listen to. His favorite part, though, seemed to be spending so much time with Grandpa!

Ladybug…well, I know she didn’t care about the game, but she loved Fredbird! She also loved all the clapping and cheering and shouting. Oh, and playing musical chairs. If anyone got out of their seat (especially Bunny), she promptly stole it. Couldn’t decide who she wanted to sit by to save her life, so she sat by just about everybody at one point or another. She also got a cute new hat out of the deal!

It was a great way to spend what started out as a stormy Sunday, but ended up being really nice, and not even too hot!