Bowling and Spring Training

Saturday was a comparatively quiet day. We had planned on going to the Florida Renaissance Festival with my sister's family, but the forecast called for several hours of rain so we decided to skip it. Instead, we had a leisurely breakfast with the Tilleys, then met my sister's family at Arts in the Park in downtown Winter Haven. They had lots of vendors with very creative crafts. We bought a really neat carved glass piece. It was much more affordable than the Arts in Park in Maryland we go to at Ann Marie Gardens. We were amazed that we could actually buy stuff at this one :) We also went into the library, where they have a book sale area. The kids and Thomas all found some interesting items. Anna chose a book about mythological creatures that has been a source of frustration for the past couple of days--the kids are constantly fighting over the book, with Anna wielding her power to determine readership like a cruel dictator ("I only said maybe after this page you could have it").

While we were there it began to rain, fortunately, it waited until after I had bought my Italian Ice. We decided bowling would be a good indoor activity. We could only do an hour rental, because their birthday parties were taking over after that. So, we bowled one game (I won!). It was really expensive. Two lanes and shoes for one hour came out to over 60 dollars for the 8 of us who bowled! I was bummed that we only got one game out of it. We had lunch at the bowling alley and took the kids back to Marta's to watch a movie.

I did not take many pictures. Here's one of Anna bowling.

And, one of Luke.  He loved it, everytime the ball hit the pins, he'd turn and say "yay" and jump up and down.

After the movie, Kim took JD and Amanda home for a few hours, while Thomas and I ran errands. Then, the kids came back so JD could help Elizabeth babysit, while Thomas and I took Frank and Marta to dinner. We went to a delicious Mexican restaurant. Frank also took us to his new building for his business. It has grown a lot since I had last visited and it was interesting to see all the machines and organization. Thomas and I were both very impressed. Frank has owned the business for 37 years and it has grown from one machine in his garage to 8 employees in a building they own with a lot of very fancy, high-tech equipment. It was a good example of the American dream and what you can achieve with a lot of very hard work. Luke will be wearing one of their creations tomorrow at Busch Gardens, so keep an eye out for his shirt in my next blog.

Sunday was Thomas' most anticipated day--a Spring Training game! The Tigers played the Nationals at Joker Marchant Stadium. We like to joke that it was my connection to Spring training that really brought us together, Thomas heard where I was from and figured the relationship might be good for a free trip to Spring Training country (this was before so many teams moved to Arizona). We have been to several games over the years, but this was the first since we had kids. But, I am getting ahead of myself. The game didn't start until 1, so after breakfast, we I took the kids on a Kori highlights tour. I showed them my old houses, drove them the route I would take my bike to get to a nearby lake and then the Elementary school where I went for 5th and 6th grades and met my friend Jennifer (who they know and love) and where their Uncle Kevin is now a teacher. Later, when talking about their day, Anna remarked that she couldn't remember the name of the school, but she thought it was "Memory Lane". :)

Anna has been asking to see an alligator, so we went to Lakeland to Lake Parker where I have frequently seen gators lounging around. Sure enough, there was a giant one in the grass as we drove past. Unfortunately, the kids didn't see it. We went to the park area and took a nature walk, but didn't see any others. We will have to try again.

I liked this picture so much...

I made them turn around, so I could take another with the alligator sign.

Finally, we got to the game. We had bleacher seats, but the best thing about Spring training is there are no bad seats and we had a great view of the field. Luke was difficult, but the other kids were good. We got to see Justin Verlander pitch. We watched him pitch in one of the first games Thomas and I attended and he has gone on to be a MVP, so that was pretty cool. On the Nationals side, Bryce Harper hit two home-runs! One of them was straight over the scoreboard, I think he may be in for a good year. The older kids actually watched some of the game this time, as opposed to just asking for ice cream and making multiple trips to the bathroom (of course, that happened too). Luke was cranky. It was his nap time and he was tired and hot and unhappy. He just wanted to wander the bleachers and couldn't understand why we didn't trust him to climb the concrete steps by himself. We took him for lots of walks, during one, he was lifting his shirt and sticking his belly out. He walked up to a stranger and said something and she responded by giving his belly button a little push (that sounds creepy, but it wasn't, he was all up in her personal space with his shirt up). After that, he kept trying to get other strangers to do the same, but no one else was biting.

A red-cheeked. unhappy Luke. We knew it would be tough, since the game started at nap time.

Even though we were in the bleachers, we still had a great view!

We waited for the 7th inning stretch and headed out after they sang Take Me Out to the Ballgame, which Kara always looks forward to. It would have been nice to stay for the whole game, especially since it was a kids run the bases day, but Luke was done and my dad was having everyone over for an early dinner.

We got my dad's around 4:30 and finally go to see Kevin, who has been sick. We had a fun clam boil, which is my most favorite meal in the world. It's a New England thing, possibly specific to the Portuguese area of Massachusetts and not to be confused with a clam bake. It was a good meal, although I was disappointed that the girls didn't like clams. I am sure Jack wouldn't like them either, but he is allergic, so he didn't even have to put up with me attempting to coax him into trying one. This was another dark time for Luke, he fell asleep in the car on the way over. We laid him down and tried to wake him up at 5:30. The poor kid was so exhausted he didn't want to get up and wasn't sure what to do with himself. Repeatedly hitting me in the face while shouting "NO" seemed like the logical choice. He would cry when anyone tried to take him from me, although Thomas did eventually get him to calm down. It was rough, though.

Finally, it was back "home".  We went with Marta and Elizabeth while they walked the dogs (4 kids, 4 adults and 4 dogs). It was another fun, full day.  Today, we are off to Busch Gardens!