- Piggies + BIRDS! -

When all you want is pigtail braids like your big sisters, and you realize you DO actually have enough hair to have them.....
. . . c u e    t h e    e x c l a m a t i o n    p o i n t s ! ! !

Here's to having ALL the heart-eye emojis for the baby of the family! She has stolen all of our hearts and will probably never give them back! ;) :)

But! All the girls -- even old, boring Mom -- donned their best piggie braids for a family field trip to the Cardinals game!  Daddy scored all-inclusive tickets from work, which is always a win, win, WINNING situation for all...

...and even the Cardinals gave us a winner!  Only part that wasn't winning?  ...Chasing Juliette up and down and up and all around the concrete steps then all through the indoor food stations until one of us just gave up on watching the game and dranking all the free beers to focus on following around our feral child.  J to the K. But for real.

All three kids were thrilled with the unlimited ["free!"] food and drinks -- hot dogs, loaded nachos, cookies, popcorn, and fountain Sprites were of no shortage throughout the day! And the big kids were quite excited about the fireworks at the end of the game [we usually don't make it to the end when we take them!], although Scarlett -- daughter of her Firework King father -- said, "Well, 'dat wasn't 'DAT many fiya-woks!"

All in all, our days was A WIN!   

Let's go, Cards!!! 

- Baby F. #3's FIRST Cardinals Game -

After Brian scored some all-inclusive Cardinals tickets, we didn't think twice about donning our redbird garb and hitting the road to St. Louie!  The kids were not.at.all mad about the dinner buffet and unlimited dessert bar! 

 

 

BONUS PIC, because #letnothinggoundocumented:  check out all 3 babies at their first Cardinals game! I almost had to retire this white jersey for its third time around but successfully jump/squeezed into it for one last time.

To top it off, the Cardinals boasted a "W!"  It was a great family night out! :)

- The Torment of T-ball -

One of my very favorite pastimes was playing softball through the summers a kid and then through high school, too; so it goes without saying that I was so excited for Harper's first T-ball season this summer!  ...Although, she wasn't QUITE as excited...  She had a great time in the dugout with her teammates [mostly classmates!] and of course loved the sprint over to the snow cone stand as soon as the last inning concluded each week, but wasn't shy to say mid-way through the season that she was not interested in playing future seasons and thought she'd try soccer next instead. Haha!

 

But! From June-July, Tuesdays nights at the ball field were our jam, and I'll savor the memories of warm summer nights under the field lights until she decides to give it a whirl again some time. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to Coach Cassie and Coach Greg for a great first season! 

Until next season... ;) :) #heybatterbatter 

- Take me out to the ballgame... -

...take me out with the crowddd! 

YAYAYAY for Scarlett Clare's first Cardinals game!!! [Maybe I'm biased or maybe I'm not, but] she's definitely the cutest little fan around!

As a result of Brian nabbing some LEGIT tickets from his work, we landed four seats in the all-inclusive Champions Club! Harper wasn't mad about the unlimited food and drink situation, and we weren't mad that we didn't have to waste a pretty penny on peanuts OR cracker jacks!

^^ Status post one hot dog, two virgin strawberry daquiris, and three M&M cookies who? This girl is her mother's daughter...! And Scarlett burned a $187 ticket juuuuust to scoop up the free Build-A-Bear promotion and a few snacks during the game from Mom's kitchen. Life with kids..........always exciting!

Even though we sang/yelled/clapped/cheered, "Root, root ROOT for the Cardinalssssss!" on repeat, they couldn't pull off the "W." But! Fun was had by all, and before we knew it it was...

...one!

...two! 

...threeeeee strikes you're OUT at the old ballllllll...gameeeeee!

:)

- Go crazy, folks, go crazy! -

I'm having a legitimately significant amount of PTSD this week ... I mean ... seriously ... 

What kind of Red October is this?!?  

SO SAD. 

Horrible. 

And two words [shall I even speak them?] that rub my fur even farther backwards = the Cubs.  Come on.  Muttering profanities.  This is 2015, not 1908!!!  Consider this postseason exponentially worse. Muttering more profanities.   Heath Ledger is totally sitting on a cloud in the afterlife throwing his joker head back with an evil laugh. Sooo not cool.

But anyway.........  I'm trying to mature from my habitual ritual of constantly dwelling in negativity, so let's turn this post around! I dug up these pictures from back in August when we loyal Cardinals fans were still bringin' out the brooms: sweep, sweep, and more sweeps -- and putting "W's" all over the board like en bee dee.  This hurrr' was the St. Louis team we know and love!  Also: incessant cheers for unlimited beers!  (...And of course all-inclusive seats/food and AMAZING friends!)  Now THIS is how I like to remember my Cardinals. :)))  

Check it out:  annual L&D night at the ballpark!

[The rentsies were in another party box down the hall, so they came to visit our pad! ...After barely being able to break past the usher as noted in pic on the left!]

"Go crazy, folks, go crazy!"  Ho-kayyy, Jack Buck. We're goin' cray alright! 

REDBIRD/FREDBIRD/L&D LOVE! 

Our T-shirts this year were made in memory of an amazing L&D nurse who recently lost her hard-fought battle with breast cancer.  This Cardinal win was for you, Gina!!!

Don't forget:  L&D Night at the Ballpark 2013!

Cardinals baseball says, "Ciao for now!"

...But get ready for spring twenty-sixteen.................. 

#revengebesweet  

- "W" all around! -

Just found these pics on my phone and ahh!  

Binge blogging, commence. 

My specialty.

Backpedal to June 3 (!!!) ---> This day was 2.5-month-old Harper's first time at Busch, and she walked off with a "W!"  Slept for 6 innings, ate for 2, and pooped for 1 [notice outfit change, ha to the not ha]... 

I remember being mega nervous to take her along, because: a) ridiculous pants pooping is her trademark, b) pumping/feeding when/where/how?!, c) no afternoon nap is a slow torturous death for everyone involved, d) hot-ish weather be on the radar, e) loud cheering may damage her hearing, f) a potentially fussy baby would probably torque off the people around us, g) I don't know what else I panicked about but I'm sure there was an "g" at the time.....and probably also an "h," "i," "j".......etc., etc., etc...  

But worry wart momma was sooo pleasantly surprised! [I'm quickly learning that setting hideously low standards generally warrants pleasant surprises.] The day was so fun!  Harper fell asleep in her carrier right away and slept like a champ; plus, she got a "First Game" sticker and certificate from our sweet usher AND was interviewed and photographed for the Belleville newspaper by a smitten reporter!  

Oh yeah, and the Cards left with a "W," too!  I think they found their littlest new fan! ;)  Cheers for a fantastic day in the STL! 

*****

PS -- Brian later found this gem floating around the world wide web. I like how the reporter interviewed us for 10+ minutes and somehow seemed to come up with this short mash-up of a caption.  What!  That's not what I said! 

PSS -- "Abstetics"...?  [Insert hysterical laughing con tears emoji here.]