My Girls' First Braves Game

After not being able to find a sitter for Mackenzie I decided to stay behind while the rest of the gang went to the Braves game.  But after realizing that I missed Sissy's first Hawks game and I was about to miss her first Braves game I decided we would ALL go!  It was the fastest I've gotten us all ready to hit the road!  Snacks, drinks, plenty of diapers, change of clothes, miscellaneous baby/kid stuff, and pajamas were packed and we were off to a night in Atlanta to watch the Braves.   I am so glad I decided to go because it was one of the best nights that we have had as a family.  We left early and arrived at the ballpark in time to walk around and eat dinner at the Chop House.  The kids had a blast and were so well behaved.  I don't think I stressed at all the entire night.  My sweet Mackenzie continues to surprise me.  She is SO easy...I know you hate me, but hey...she's our third, I deserve it ;) ha!

Where are we going Sissy?

Thank goodness for our new jogging stroller!

Almost 12 years of dating and 7 years of marriage and  I am still crazy  in love with my sweet man!

Someone was excited about her first Braves game!

What a great evening!

And of course perfect ending to a perfect evening...The Braves defeated the Colorado Rockies 5 to 3!

A Dream Come True Continued...

Click Here for the first part of this story...

Finally we enter the park and the greeters are giving out baseball hats.  Perfect souvenir to take home with us and they're free!  Joseph is smiling ear to ear and not to mention it is FREEZING!  I decide to leave my big jacket and gloves in the car (crazy me!) because I didn't think it was that cold.  Well I was wrong.  I think it was in the low 30s and to add to the freezing weather it was misting.  You know that annoying rain that seems to be never ending? Rain and cold did not stop Joseph's excitement.  He did not tell me where our seats were and was so excited to show me.  When we walked up to our section we were greeted and given a wristband.  We were both wondering why they gave us a wristband, but kept on going to our seats.  Once at our seats, our greeter or concierge whatever they are called, informed us that our seats were all inclusive.  We had full access to the PNC Diamond Club and did not have to pay for anything.  We quickly left our BEHIND HOME PLATE :) seats in the cold and rain and went into the PNC Club.  We were greeted and seated at a table where we could watch the Braves warm up.  We also had a selection of meats, seafood, chicken and all kinds of sides and salads to choose from.  It was all delicious!  

The United States Color Guard

I'm a little upset that my face is hidden under my hat, but it was so cold I didn't care to take my hands out of my pockets to fix it!

We would come in after an inning or two to thaw out!

Go Braves!

Headed home after a wonderful trip.

And of course we can't escape those Lakers' fans...just for you Doby ;)

A HUGE thanks to our parents for keeping our kiddos.  Charlene spent her day off at our house and my mom took a vacation day so that this dream could become a reality.  I know it sounds cheesy, but to my hubby it WAS a dream that quickly became mine also.  I love you Joseph Eterno.  I love you with all my heart and I am so blessed without a doubt with a wonderful man.  A man who is true to me and loves me unconditionally.  A man who reassures me everyday that I am his one and only and tells me repeatedly how beautiful he thinks I am.  Every day that I wake up next to you is another day that I fall more in love with you.  I can not wait for our next adventure and look forward to the many memories to be made.  Thank you for letting me be a part of  your dream.  I love you with all my heart!

Oh and I almost forgot!  Braves 2 Nationals A BIG FAT ZERO!

Woohoo!  Go Braves!!

A Dream Come True

For many years Joseph and his dad planned to visit every Major League Baseball Ball Park (that's a mouth full).  They drew maps and talked about the details, but sadly it never happened.  Vince passed away two years ago and Joseph's desire to visit the ballparks became stronger.  He talked about it for days...how he wanted to go watch the Braves Opening Game.  He's been to the opening home game many times, but never the first "official" opening game.  He also wanted to start his adventure of marking off ball parks.  During an Apples of Gold bible study about loving our husbands, Julie challenged us to participate in things our husbands enjoyed to do.  Well this was my chance.  I am not a big fan of road trips, but everything fell into place and off we went to watch the Nationals and the Braves in Washington DC at Nationals Stadium.  I fell in love and I know God placed this new desire in my heart to travel all over the country with my husband visiting ball parks.  Of course with three kids we will have to do it slowly, but when they are a little bit older, absolutely they will come with us.

Joseph was overjoyed!  But as we traveled this trip became more special.  It brought back so many memories of Vince.  Memories of all of us going to the Braves game, going over to his house or him to ours and sitting down watching the braves game.  Remembering how excited he was to get Josiah a baseball bat with his name carved into the bat.  We didn't realize how emotional this trip would be, but it was.  It was almost like Vince was with us because absolutely without a doubt if he was alive he would have been in the back seat coming with us.  Joseph's childhood is filled with memories of Braves games with his dad.  As soon as I realized that I understood his love for the game.  And now that Vince is gone the love is stronger because it's something that still connects him to his dad.

We had an amazing time.  The road trip could not have been smoother except for our first night when Joseph decided to eat a bag of sunflower seeds, a couple of Diet Mountain Dews and a 5 hour energy drink!  Talk about an upset tummy.  I was worried we were going to have to turn back, but no way was this going to stop my man ha!  We prayed, went to bed and thank God he was a new man in the morning.  We arrived in D.C Thursday morning, pulled up to the first parking place we saw and the guy charged us $40 to park!  Seriously!!!  We were going to keep looking, but didn't want to get lost and Joseph was blowing up in excitement to get into the park... so we paid and parked.

Walking up to the stadium... My husband was so giddy!

The Presidents

Nationals Park

*More posts to come*