Rockies vs Marlins

To celebrate our friend Peter's birthday, we went to a baseball game with him and a few of his friends. The weather forecast threatened rain and so we brought along our old DisneyWorld ponchos with us just in case we needed to take cover.

We met Peter and Erin at the light rail station and once the rest of the gang showed up, we all traveled downtown to Coors Field - the home of the Rockies.

The $4 seats were on the Rock Pile and at first I thought we'd be sitting on literal rocks but I was wrong. The Rock Pile stand was built behind and over a pile of rocks, hence the name. Without any shelter and with the worst possible viewing, Coors field couldn't charge more than $4 a ticket for this seating.

Rock Pile below the stand

We didn't mind though and we had the jumbo-tron right next to us so we could see the players close up. The most important things were the toilets and hot dog/nacho vendors directly under the stand and the cotton candy (candyfloss) stand wasn't too far from the stand.

The boys had so much junk (ice cream, cotton candy and nachos) that I thought they'd bounce up and down the stand for most of the game but instead they entertained the people around them with jokes and funny moves.

We stood to attention when the group of high school bands that were assembled on the field played The Star Spangled Banner and I am quite pleased that I know most of the words by heart.

After the game the younger crowd (i.e. everyone but the Lotters) went to a restaurant for drinks and we took our kids home on the light rail. While we were waiting at the station for the train, the boys decided to do some break dancing and Cullen figured out he could do the splits. Within a few minutes we had a small crowd of spectators watching and encouraging my 'shy' kids.

It was a good evening despite the fact that the Rockies lost!

Fishing at Kong

Kong owns the pond behind its building and apparently it has fish in it. Well, we saw no evidence of that today when I took the boys across town to Kong in the afternoon because Warren had promised to take them fishing in the Kong pond.

The boys didn't have school today (teaching training day) and so we met up with Warren at 4 pm and attempted to fish. Warren was very optimistic and wore his fishing gear perhaps to convince the non-existent fish that he is a serious fisherman and they should bite. Needless to say, there were no takers.

The pond is quite nice and would be much nicer if its shoreline wasn't littered with old cigarettes, soda bottles, plastic wrappers and of course the odd Kong toy.

The boys enjoyed themselves even though Jordan slipped and scraped his leg down a rock. To add insult to injury, he caught his lure in his hair and was not impressed with himself. From then on Warren had to cast his line for him and he ducked down each time to avoid being punctured by the hook.

Whenever we go somewhere, Cullen collects and gives me 'flowers' (usually weeds) and its so sweet that he does that. He has the kindest heart. So if Cullen gives you a bunch of weeds (roots and all), know that its love that motivates him and not his attempt at ridding the yard or field of unwanted & pesky plants.

Field Day

Today was an excellent day to be outside and playing games. The school has its Field Day every spring and its really well organized. The gym teacher organizes all the games so that each group has 15 mins at a station and each group goes to 8 stations in total. The 5th graders (senior class at the school) then host the games, showing the kids what to do and how to do it and so the parent volunteers are merely there as adult supervision and spectators.

The Kindergartners & 1st graders went first and started the games at 8:15 am. Armed with water bottles, name lists and directions on how to play the games, we all filed out onto the field.

When we got to the baseball field for Swedish Rounders, a few of the Kindies forgot about the game and started building sandcastles in the sand. The 5th graders were pulling their hair out at that point and the teachers/parents were on the sidelines laughing.

The sponge game was probably the most favored game by all because by the time they got to carrying wet sponges on their heads, the kids were pretty hot & sweaty.

The Kindies & 1st graders were done by 10 am and went inside to have lunch and and the 2nd & 3rd graders poured out of the building to have their turn at the games.

This white boy can jump!

They finished 2 hours later and were tired, hot and very hungry (and so was I). I realized by the end of the games that Cullen doesn't really care about the rules and the outcome of the game but Jordan is highly competitive, making sure everyone followed the rules, making sure the points were recorded correctly and wanting to be first in line for everything. I had to force myself to sit on the sideline and not get involved when there was a bit of confrontation between Jordan and one of the other kids over fairness and playing the game correctly. They worked it out in the end but of course I wanted to get involved mainly to remind Jordan to be gracious and kind.

I didn't bother putting sunscreen on myself or the kids thinking it wouldn't 'that hot' (we had a week of rain last week and snow the week before that) but now Jordan and I are walking around with boer tans and feeling a bit tingly and hot. I came home with a headache and asked the TV to babysit my kids while I slept it off. That'll teach me (although I always enjoy an afternoon nap)!!