To become true Chicagoans, we are immersing ourselves in Cubs games this year. It's been decades since I've been to a Cubs game, and I think I only went to one or two as kid. We were more of Sox fans growing up — who could beat free tickets for good grades? But Josh and Beth are huge Cubs fans, so Matthew and Josh teamed up back on the day tickets went on sale and got something like six or seven sets of tickets, all on weekends.
So far, we've gone to two of the games. Wrigley certainly is a unique feeling ballpark. I don't recall ever going to games that were as crowded as these were — there was even standing room only behind us at the second game. Both sets of seats we've had were fully covered, and the "ceiling" is lower than I recall it being in other parks' upper decks so you get more of the feeling of being somewhat inside than in, say, the Sox park. The view from our first game (which was in the upper deck) was great, with the skyline, the neighborhood, and the famous old fashioned scoreboard. The seats for the second game couldn't see the scoreboard, but they were one tier down and closer to the field.
Benji seemed to have enjoyed himself at the games, although of course they were a bit longer than his attention span. I think as he plays more with his tee-ball set he'll get more out of watching the games. For the moment, he's quite content calling out the numbers of the players and the numbers on the scoreboard. He also likes ballpark food, especially the ice cream. And he thinks he's such a big boy that he wants his own seat. At the first game he got his own (they were cheaper tickets) but at the second one he didn't so Daddy spent some time in the standing room section. He can actually see the field much better from a lap, so he was content to share for some of the game. And he loved cheering with the crowd! Unlike other sporting events we've been to where he has cheered for the other team quite a bit (like high school basketball where both teams had equal numbers of fans), Wrigley doesn't really have visiting fans who are vocal enough for Benji to join in so he looked like a genuine Cubs fan (especially with his adorable outfit).
In anticipation of our baseball games, my mom even taught him "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and we hear him singing it in his bedroom some mornings. At the April game, he missed the 7th inning stretch because he was getting a very messy diaper changed, but at the May one he belted it out proudly. He was kind of upset that it was a one-shot deal. He wanted to sing it again and singing it alone or with Mommy wasn't good enough; he wanted the whole stadium to sing it again.
April 20th Game:
A beautiful view! Notice how the ivy isn't green yet.
I don't know if Beth got a good whole family shot on their camera, but this is the best extended family picture I got. Many of my photos came out quite blurry or too dark, but there's still some good ones below.
What a good looking family! Also notice Benji's Cat in the Hat giveaway. Lately he's been into "Green Eggs and Ham" so he called his new toy "Sam-I-am" after one of the characters in the book. He calls one character Sam and the other one Sam-I-am, as well as calling the giant Cat in the Hat in his bedroom Sam-I-am. I can see why he makes that association.
Benji loved the ice cream out of the baseball cap. He thought it was so silly, but still quite tasty!
The April game was quite chilly so Ava and Beth were all bundled up. My dad had warned us it would be colder at Wrigley so I dressed us one step warmer than the weather would have otherwise dictated. It turns out I didn't fully digest Dad's warning and should have gone two or three steps warmer to be truly comfortable.
May 17th Game:
Since it was a much nicer and warmer day than the first game, I took a few minutes to take cute pictures of Benji with the famous Wrigley sign. I think I'll have to do this every year we go to get a good series of photos!
I think Benji was reading the inscribed bricks in the walkway. Can't get enough of sounding out words!
I can't decide which photo I like best, so you get to see several.
Maybe Mommy should get in the picture, too.
The view from these seats was closer to the field but more "indoor" feeling.
Benji loved sitting in seat 8 — his favorite number!
i sincerely do not know what you are doing here. are you lost? were you
looking for your delicate calico cat, and did you follow her up two flights of stairs
to this room? she is not here. she was here, yes. we gave her a warm bowl of milk, we talked with her about campaign finance reform for a time, and then she bid us good day. i believe she was
going to the post office two blocks down, but i don't quite recall.
for surely you did
not find your way from prinsiana, the least traveled site on
the internet. if you did, though, perhaps you are looking for humor. perhaps you are looking for profundity. perhaps you are looking for answers.
i'm sorry, but you shall go naught-for-three.
