Summer Fun 2013

Well, I guess now that fall has officially begun, summer is really over. We had a lot of fun these last few months, starting when school let out, until the last official day of the season…here’s a look back at some of the things we did!

We visited a lot of playgrounds:

And spray parks:

We saw a dock dogs competition:

We went to Grant’s Farm (twice!):

And had a few tea parties:

We saw a lot of baseball games:

We went to Eckert’s and picked blackberries:

And peaches:

We visited Six Flags St. Louis for the first time:

And celebrated the Fourth of July:

We visited the zoo:

And saw the new sea-lion exhibit for the first time!

Turkey played in his fourth season of baseball:

We celebrated some birthdays:

And had fun at VBS:

We volunteered at and/or visited the LCMS convention:

And toured the Gateway Arch for the very first time!

Bunny met a few famous people, who happened to be married to each other!

We went on a few road trips:

Ryan and I repainted the front room of our house…it looks so pretty in blue!

We visited the Art Museum:

A new school year began:

We toured the Science Center:

Some of us were just cute!

Did I mention baseball?

I worked hard to make this a fun summer, even though, as always, we didn’t go on a vacation. It’s going to be hard to top this amount of fun next summer!

Baseball Summer 2013

This was another busy summer of baseball games! I can honestly say that we watched baseball in pretty much all kinds of weather, from many different vantage points, and in way more ballparks than I would have imagined at the beginning of the season. The Cards won six of the nine games we saw them play, which is a pretty good percentage for us, and the children enjoyed seeing Fredbird bring the Cardinals flag out at the end of the game so many times!

The first game we went to was “Stan Musial Harmonica Night” in April. We had to wear winter jackets to the game, which was definitely a new experience! The game was filled with wonderful, loving, tributes to Stan, and it was an honor to be there.

Busch Stadium, Left Field Pavilion–Section 371

In May, to celebrate Moose’s first week of summer vacation, we traveled across the state to see the Cards play the Royals in Kansas City during the I-70 series. Our very first baseball road trip…how fun!

Kauffman Stadium, Hyvee Infield–Section 411, Row GG

Turkey played in his fourth season of parks and rec baseball this summer, and he got to play on two different fields. One of them had a scoreboard and lights, which was very cool.

The other was at Moose’s school, which was also very nice, even though it doesn’t have lights.

In June, Ryan and I went with a friend to Beer Stein Night, which was also the game that brought Lance Berkman to town. Sadly, we didn’t get to see him play, but we did see him being his normally awesome self, and signing autographs for people.

Busch Stadium, Infield Terrace–Section 450, Row 9

We went back to the see the Gateway Grizzlies play again this year, as part of Honor Roll Night for Moose’s school. You definitely don’t go to see good baseball, but it’s still a lot of fun! We spent a good portion of this game getting drizzled on, and it was surprisingly chilly.

GCS Ballpark–Section 121, Row J

At the end of July, we sat on the Coca-Cola rooftop deck (an all-inclusive area), for the first time. We enjoyed the buffet, and the extra space for walking around with Chickadee!

Busch Stadium, Coca-Cola Deck–Section CCD, Row C

At the beginning of August, Bunny and I had tickets to the Champions Club (another all-inclusive area), for Star Wars night, the first of two theme ticket events I attended, which was an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime baseball experience!

Busch Stadium, UMB Champions Club–Section CH6, Row C

A little later in August, we drove out to Springfield, MO, to see the Cardinals Double-A team, the Springfield Cardinals, also known as the “Baby Birds,” play. Two baseball road trips in one summer!

Hammons Field, Diamond Box–Section I, Row 9

The one game we try to go to every year is Build a Bear day. This year, they were giving away a stuffed Fredbird, as part of Fredbird’s birthday bash, so of course we had to be there!

Busch Stadium, Right Field Pavilion–Section 328, Row 5

On September 10, I kicked off “baseball week” in our house when I went to the Cardinals Social Media Night by myself. My ticket was on the Left Field Porch, which was a new place for me. This was one of the hottest days of the summer, but I still managed to have a good time. This was only the first of three games we went to that week, though!

Busch Stadium, Left Field Porch–Section LP3, Row 4

The following day, we all went back to Busch Stadium to see the Cards win again. For the last few summers, we’ve gotten seats in the Redbird Club with Ryan’s parents. Every year, I look forward to getting a cupcake while I’m there…yum!

Busch Stadium, Infield Redbird Club–Section 244, Row 1

We thought we were done with baseball for the year after the Redbird Club game, and then Moose’s school sent home a letter about an opportunity to buy tickets for a school fundraiser night. It’s the first time they’ve ever convinced us to participate in a fundraiser (other than buying Moose a new t-shirt every other year), but it was the Cardinals, so how could we say no?!? We even got to enjoy field level seats at this game, which is a rare treat for us! We also saw one of the strangest endings to a game ever…a walk-off victory on a passed ball!

Busch Stadium, Right Field Box–Section 130, Row 23

It seems like we have big “baseball summers” every other year, so I’m assuming next year will be lighter in the games attended department. We are hoping to make it to Memphis to see the Redbirds play, and I’m personally hoping to sit in the bleachers at Busch Stadium (the one area we’ve never been in, other than the elusive “green seats”), but other than that, I don’t have a lot in the way of expectations for next year. We’ll just have to see what the schedule (and ticket prices!), holds for us!

Wordless Wednesday

On the Road with the Cardinals

Yesterday, since Ryan had the day off, we wanted to do something fun, and a little crazy. So, we decided to go to the Cards game. I know, doesn’t sound too crazy, right? But the Cardinals weren’t at home yesterday…they were in Kansas City! So, we decided to go on a little road trip to see our team play!

We entered the stadium at the right field gate, which was almost directly on the opposite side of the field from our seats. Some people might find this annoying, but I enjoyed the opportunity this gave us to walk all the way around the ballpark before the day was over!

Kauffman Stadium is an interesting place, because it shares a complex with the Kansas City football stadium:

We were a little worried when we got there, because some very heavy rain had just gone through. But, it was clearing up, and we saw them rolling up the tarp as we were walking around. There was a delay of an hour, but that just gave us more time to enjoy being at the stadium!

There are so many fun things about visiting different ballparks. I love seeing who the key players were for the other team:

I also enjoy seeing all of the different food kiosks, some of which are very obviously local:

I’m always happy to see the Leinie Lodge!

I love seeing the local corporate sponsorship, as well, especially when it’s companies we don’t have around here:

One thing that I found very interesting was the children’s area at Kauffman Stadium. We didn’t get to use it before the game, because they were still trying to dry it off from all of the morning’s rain, but we looked around. They had a playground:

Mini-golf:

And a carousel! That was certainly unique!

Turkey really liked the spiral ramps they had leading to the upper levels:

The Royals did a lot of cool things to remember Memorial Day and celebrate the Armed Forces. In addition to a gun salute (which took the children by surprise!), and special uniforms worn by the teams, there was also a huge flag:

And two separate moments of silence:

With the way the wind was blowing, the flags in the outfield were very visible throughout the whole game:

Our seats were in section 411, and we had a pretty good view:

The children (and I!), especially loved the fountains:

Some fans had brought a beach ball, and it was fun to watch it makes its way around the park:

At one point, I saw a guy in our area wearing this jersey:

And I knew that the mascot must be close behind. He was:

The thing that most amazed me, though, was how many Cardinals fans were there! The crowd led chants of “Let’s Go Cardinals!” and “Yadi! Yadi!” were far louder than any of the organ led chants for the Royals. And, in the ninth inning, just like we do at home, we all stood for the last out, and then cheered for a Cardinals win!

By the time we left, people were tailgating again (or maybe still), and the weather was much nicer for it!

It was an amazingly fun way to spend a day off!

Busch Stadium West?

The field at which the Kansas City Royals play baseball is Kauffman Stadium, locally known as “The K.” With the number of Cardinals fans in attendance today, however, it just seemed like “Busch Stadium West” to me!

Amanda Markel

Shattering Homeschooling Stereotypes One Pair of High Heels at a Time

Kauffman Stadium

Summer Fun 2013

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Wordless Wednesday

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On the Road with the Cardinals

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Busch Stadium West?

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