We've gone Nuts!

Last Friday (Aug. 28), our little family got to enjoy our first minor league baseball game! The local team is the Modesto Nuts (so named, I assume, because there are lots of nut farms and such around here), and it turns out that they're pretty good! They played against the Bakersfield Blaze and beat them 6-2.

We got to go because one of the medical offices that Dave and his boss go to (to fix their computers) reserved the upper balcony and 75 seats at the stadium, and they invited us to come along if we'd like. The tickets and dinner were absolutely free, so we accepted their offer! :) For dinner we had hot dogs and delicious tri-tip sandwiches (pictured below) with baked beans, potato salad, and drinks.

After dinner we found some seats just below the balcony, which had a great view of the field. Being the little couch potato that she is, Gracie was immediately drawn to the "big TV!" that showed video of the game.

After telling her several times that you could actually see the players better by just watching the field, she gave in and started watching them. :) The first time she saw a player hit the ball, she got really excited and yelled, "Good job, man! You a big girl!" It was SOOOO funny! That is the highest of compliments for her, so why not share it with someone who's just made a great play?!

Another highlight of the game was seeing the mascots walking around. The mascots were Wally the Walnut (whom you can see from behind in the middle of this picture)...

and Al the Almond (below).

There was also a lion mascot there (because Pitman High School--whose mascot is a lion--got to have their band play the national anthem), and Gracie kept pointing out the lion, "like Lion King!" I think Gracie watched the mascots more than the game. However, when I suggested that we go down and meet them, she said, "No!" So we settled for watching them from afar. :)

Grace loved dancing along with the different songs they played, and even got pretty good at clapping along to "We Will Rock You!", as seen in the following video:

After the last out in the 9th inning, the players made their way onto the field and I said, "The game's all over, Gracie!" Her lip started to quiver and she said, "Watch beesball again!" It was so sad! I told her maybe we could come another time, but she was still pretty sad. A few minutes later, though, they started doing the fireworks and she had a whole other reason to be sad. She's scared of the loud sounds, so Dave held her while she semi-cried through the whole thing! After they were over, though, she was fine and even agreed that they were kinda cool except for being so loud.

As we were leaving, one of the doctors from the medical office gave Gracie a souvenir baseball, and she was pretty excited. Then we made our way home, tired but thrilled at our first baseball experience. Gracie keeps asking to go to another "beesball" game, so hopefully we can go again sometime! :)