A "Home Run" of a Family Outing

Last night, Geof and I took the Wonder Twins to their first baseball game! The Carolina Mudcats (the mascot is some time of weird southern fish) played the Suns from Jacksonville, Florida at Five County Stadium in Zebulon, which is only about 15 minutes from our house.

We almost didn't make the game for two reasons. First, Geof was wrestling in our newly organized garage with a bike hanger that just wouldn't drill into the wall properly. After about an hour of waging war on the $5 piece of metal, Geof finally prevailed. But, by then, it was already 7 p.m. The game started at 7:15 p.m.

The second reason why we almost bailed on the game? Rain. Dark clouds. Wind. We just knew as soon as we got out to the ballpark and bought our tickets the sky would open up, and we would get soaked! However, the "isolated showers" also helped cool off the mid-90 degree temperatures of the afternoon, and we considered that enough of a plus to take the rain-related risk and go to the game.

We scored great seats in the nosebleed section under a small overhang (in case it rained) right behind home plate. We could see everything really well. After devouring hotdogs and french fries, we settled in to watch the AA teams play ball. The pitcher for the Mudcats, a Cincinnati Reds farm team, was quite talented, easily impressing Geof with his 97 mph fast ball.

We tried to explain to the Wonder Twins where they were and what was going on, but we think they mainly preferred dancing to the songs played between innings such as the "YMCA" and "Thriller." They also liked swaying to "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." Thankfully, they are not yet interested in cute ball players.

Interestingly, I was not the only pregnant lady there. A woman sitting a few rows down from us was obviously much further along than I, because she was huge and her belly button (Geof calls it the "timer") had totally popped out! We got a good laugh out of her, when a foul ball came soaring over our section, and she ran like lightning up the stairs to an overhang and covered her head. I guess it was her method of baby safety!

Her husband was sporting a UNC-colored hat that said "#1 Dad." Upon seeing it, I immediately asked Geof (even though I already knew what he'd say) if the Wonder Twins got him a "#1 Dad" hat, would he wear it. He, as I expected, said "no." I guess the girls will have to get him the "#1 Dad" coffee mug next year for Father's Day. That would probably be a home run. :)