Rough week for the REDS

Seriously, I think if my family and I had taken our regular walk last night, the deer would have tried to use us as a salt lick. I'm just sayin'. We took the kids to see the Cincinnati Reds play against the Philadelphia Phillies, a 2 hour drive from our home. The plan was to leave at 9:30am so we'd have plenty of built-in time for unexpected delays. The best laid plans. We left the house about 25 minutes behind schedule and found ourselves in an odd little jam of cars on the highway that runs between Indy and Cincy. Couldn't figure out why, at 11:00am on a Thursday, with no visible cause for traffic, we were stuck in a pocket of cars for a good 20 minutes (thankfully, a "jam" that was managing to keep max speed). Turns out the Rolling Thunder organization was riding and we eventually passed no less than 200 motorcyles who took part in the ride. It was neat to see them, as their mission is to bring attention to the cause of POW-MIA, and many members are veterans.

But naturally, this jam did slow us down a bit. We still figured we had enough time to make the starting pitch. Got to Cincy, found the parking lot a friend said we should park in,........

......then found ourselves on a bridge into Kentucky (that's the third state in one day, for those who are counting). Already quite pressed for time, dh was NOT happy that the entrance to the parking lot was not marked by signs. A quick U-ey in Kentucky and we were back in Ohio and parked the van. Thus began the cave stomp to the ballpark.

Through the blazing heat in the blacktop parking lot we stomped, up the steps, across the grassy knoll, down the street past the construction zone, and finally into the stadium. Sheesh, good thing our kids have been walking 2 miles 3-4 times a week with us. And let me tell you, we were all grumpy, hot and sweating from that walk in the heat and sun. But we were determined to shake it off and have a nice time.

A quick stop at the kiosk to pick up our tickets, and off we went to find our seats. They were great seats along the 3rd base to home stretch with a totally unobstructed view. However,....


....it was about 85ºF in Cincy yesterday, full sun, and only the occasional cotton candy cloud floating by. Oh, and just the slightest hint of a breeze every now and then. Good thing all the kids had hats with them.


We took our seats, and literally 3 seconds later, "Ladies and gentlemen, please rise to sing the national anthem."
And I just pulled out my soapbox. See me up here?
SING, y'all.
What is with no one singing the national anthem anymore?
Or not even putting their hand over their heart.
Or taking their hat off as a sign of respect?
SING, I say.
Okay, soapbox safely back in storage.

We sat down again and I went for the sunscreen in the diaper bag, as only two of us had fully applied it at home, Reece and myself. A panic rose from within.
"Honey, I can't find the sunscreen."
"It's in there. I put it there."
"Huh. You did? Huh, because see, I'm not finding it and, well...," digging frantically now, "it wouldn't be good if the kids sit here for 3 or 4 hours without sunscreen on."
"It's there. Check again."
Olivia chimed in, "Dad, you took it out in the car to grease your face, remember?"
Me, frustrated and concerned, "It's in the car."
"What do we do now?" inquired Carl almost in disbelief.
"Well," I said, thinking it but not wanting to breath it to life, "One of us is going to have to march all the way back to the car to get it."

I volunteered.

I know, I know already. He left it, he should go back. But he's that kind of husband, y'all. The kind that would have went in a heartbeat if I really insisted. But how do you make your Reds Fan miss the first inning when he's recently shared with you that he hasn't been to a Reds game in Cincinnati since 1973? That'll put a lil' pressure on a gal, ya know? ;)

SooOOoo, I sucked it up and began the trudge back to our van, some 10 minutes away, in the blazing sun. The journey of a thousand miles begins with the the first step. My first step? Those narrow, endless concrete stadium steps. I had to climb about 25 of them just to get started. Did I mention I had wedge heeled Bass flip flops on? Great walking shoes, wouldn't you agree? Grrrr!


About the time I got to the top of that concrete beast, a new thought occured to me. See, normally, I'd gripe and moan about having to pay five dollars for a bottle of sunscreen on any given day. But today, for Toni,....fifteen dollars says I'm not walking all the way back to our car. I sought out an usher and inquired. Let me tell you, Father God had mercy on me.
"We don't sell it, Ma'm. But if you go to first aid, they'll give you some for free."

WEE HAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The first aid nurse, a guy, handed me a tiny medicine cup with a little squirt of sunscreen in it.
"Sir, I'm sorry. There are four of us in full sun with no sunscreen."
He looked me over, rolled his eyes, and then handed me two more squirt cups. Yes, I had to put up with a round of judgmental juju eyeball intended for, uh hem, the source of our sunscreen fau paux, but it was worth it to walk out with my three squirts of free sunscreen so my kids didn't come home with sun poisoning. Off I went, proud of myself for avoiding the cave stomp back to the car, but not without dumping some of the precious commodity on my hot pink capris. Naturally.


Dh was highly impressed with my ingenuity. We quickly slathered everyone from head to toe (it ended up being more than enough), and I finally settled in to watch the game. We had purchased 3 bottles of water on the street for $1 each, a good deal as water was $4.25 inside the stadium. And we refilled them at the drinking fountain several times, making sure everyone rehydrated every half hour.
I'm happy to say that not one of us got sunburned yesterday, not even our toddler or our very fair skinned strawberry blonde, Reece. Our kids were troopers. They sat there in the blazing heat for almost 4 hours, full sun mind you, melting with sweat, but with minimal complaint. I think it's paid off that we've taken them to football games since they were infants. They know to sit still in public events, 2yo included.

The kids' eyes were large and telling as we passed homeless people on the way back to our car who were begging for food, money and beer (yes, one homeless man was soliciting for alcohol. How sad is that?!) Our kids were naturally curious (sweet Reece was trying to say hello to all of them) and I knew the questions would fly once we got back to the car. I was right. Olivia began.
"Mom, why were some of those homeless people begging for stuff when they're rich?"
You just never know how a child perceives a foreign situation, so I dug in.
"Whadda you mean, rich? Homeless people are not rich, Olivia. You know that."
"Uh huh! The guy asking for beer was."
"Olivia, he was not rich. He's a homeless man without a job, honey."
She bugged her eyes out to suggest shock at my apparent failed attention to detail, then exclaimed, "MOM! He owned a bike!"
I giggled. A lot. Oy vey, in her young mind, bikes are clearly associated with wealth. Oh, the lessons life will continue to teach my sweet, naive girl.

And for the record, it's been a tough week in baseball. Our REDS lost to the Phillies. Twice. (Did I mention dh is the assistant coach of a group of great young men also called the Reds?)

Luke 6:36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Toni