This week hasn't been all that exciting, it's just been life as usual. However, this weekend, Dave's been able to spend a lot of time with us, which has been greatly needed since when we usually see him he's looking over his Greek grammar book or talking to us in between flashcard revising. So, this weekend has been fantastic. Ben's typically been going to bed at his usual times and sleeping for 12 hours each night, which we love because then Dave and I get to catch up.
Since we had today with "daddy" we decided to go, as a family, with friends to see our lovely Pirates take on the Giants. This was Ben's first ball game and my first game at PNC Park. I know it will not be one I forget. The boys decided to get seats under covering, since both families had little ones we didn't want to burn to a crisp. It proved to be a life saver in the 7th inning, when the sky opened up, in a matter of 2 minutes, over the park. It rained for 45 minutes. Most of which - it chucked it down. We could no longer see the city. We could barely make out the other side of the park. It was A LOT of water!!!! The outfield literally became one huge puddle. Lightning struck, and cracked loudly, several times around PNC. In fact one strike hit the rod on the Highmark building. (Truth) At this point the wives looked at our loving husbands and said, you get the cars. That never happened.
Mainly because we're such devoted fans... Dave, Ben, and I all stuck out the 2 hour 5 min rain delay and finished the rest of the game, which went into an extra inning, just so we could be sure that we got our money's worth.
There was something mesmerizing about watching all that rain fall. There were literally sheets of it falling at similar angles, but at differing quantities. There's something about seeing the sun hit buildings, trees, colors. It's a different color, quality of light. The air is clear and crisp, not hazy anymore. The American flag, though thoroughly soaked, still waved in the lights of the park. Then, as the rain cleared, it was educational to watch how the field crews got the field ready for play. We were watching people dance, in a sense.
Later the players came out to warm up, and the 25,000+ who stuck out the rain returned, with food, to wipe down their seats, and get comfortable again. I believe we had one out in the top of the 7th, when the rain took over. So we finished that inning and went onto the 8th, still scoreless until Todd Linden homered for SF. Which is when we all thought, great another loss. Yet, just as we thought we were a few outs from driving home to put Ben to sleep, Jose Castillo tied the game and we went into extra innings. Yea! (As if we hadn't been there long enough already.) Finally, Jose Hernandez got the Buccos their 2-1 victory in the bottom of the 10th. We didn't even stay to see him run. Once the winning run scored, we were up and on our way home.
Ben was such a blessing the entire day. He was so good other fans commented on him to us. Poor guy...every time he fell asleep for 5 minutes, the crowd would cheer and wake him up again. I figured he'd just sleep thru it, like he did with the fireworks on the 4th and worship at church, etc, but he didn't. He stayed awake the whole time basically. He loves to people watch though. His eyes were HUGE and he smiled and flirted with all the people around us. So, we left the game, fed him his last meal for the day, bathed him, and he played and babbled himself to sleep. I guess we'll see if he sleeps in, since he missed his nap. I doubt it.
It was a long day at the ballpark, but we wouldn't trade it for the world. We were together. We were with friends. We enjoyed some cool, refreshing rain. We saw a show on and off the field. We came home and relaxed together. These are the little treasures that help keep us going.
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