Monday, June 18, 2018

Chop On!

Back on June 1st we hit the road to Atlanta to see a Braves vs. Nationals game with Grandmama, Granddaddy, Kelly, and some friends from church. I was CRANKY about it because we had planned to leave for the beach that day (we decided to go the next day) and I needed to be packing for the beach trip AND then we were in the middle of Rain All the Time in Georgia and it just didn't look like any fun. I also have a control problem and the idea of riding a bus (we chartered so we could all ride together) and not having an escape plan (I like to have a way to leave if I need to) was just throwing me for a loop. Thankfully, I got on the bus and went because we had a FANTASTIC time. 




James was HILARIOUS to watch all day long. He is currently the Braves BIGGEST fan. He knows all the players, where they're from, their stats, how old they are, etc., etc., etc. He is one of those people that can tell you the score of a game from years ago (or months in his short lifetime) and knows exactly what happened in that game. It's funny. We've sort of jumped on the bandwagon with him. We've gone from RARELY watching baseball (Eddie likes it, just isn't a die hard fan) to watching EVERY SINGLE Braves game and if we miss it looking up the scores later. We did this during football season, too. James is just ALL into ALL the sports right now.

We had GREAT seats this time. We sat one or two sections closer last time and on the back row of the lower level. It was easy to get up (just climb over the seat!), but this time the section above us didn't keep us from seeing ANYTHING. We look like we're way in the outfield in this section, but they were great seats. And covered in case the rain had continued!



Will isn't quite as into sports, but he enjoyed (most of) the experience. He is ALL into talking to everyone right now. He will walk up to any stranger and ask that person what's on his mind. The highlight of his day was listening to some guys play buckets (I have no idea if it's what they call it, but it's what they were doing) before the game. After they were done drumming, he walked up to one to let them know he enjoyed it and that they did an awesome job! Lol! He also danced (while he wasn't whining that JAMES was sitting next to his friend Gage and why couldn't HE!?!) and ate all the snacks. He has talked a LOT about it since.

(Someone commented that the man next to Will looks annoyed at his dancing...it's Eddie's daddy. HA! He may be annoyed, but he's so used to Will that I feel certain he isn't!)


The highlight of James' night was getting Charlie Culberson's autograph. We read before the game that you could go down to the dugout for "high fives" from players before the game. We made our way down to where the crowd was and waited for a while. We wondered if they might not do it because it was rainy. A few players started to trickle out and Ozzie Albies and Dansby Swanson came out. Ozzie and Dansby are two of James' FAVORITES players (along with Ender Inciarte and Freddie Freeman) and James knew exactly who they were. They stood around in the dugout away from us for a bit and James proceeded to YELL their names over and over. They never acknowledged him or the other kids standing by the dugout, but we saw them. Then Charlie Culberson walked out and came over to sign autographs. It dawned on me that we had NOTHING to sign. I finally handed James a ticket and a pen I had in my wallet and got him to sign that. James was THRILLED and Charlie soared to the top of the list for James as well. (For the record, Will was there for a while and then got bored and went to his seat. James persevered so he has an autograph to show for it. Just didn't want anyone thinking that poor Will didn't get one, too. He didn't...but he could have.)

I think this is A.J. Minter

Culberson signing autographs. James is in the Freeman jersey reaching. (If you go and want to do this, the BEST spot is the corner right at the dugout and the wall in front. We were too far back even though we could see into the dugout.)


Ozzie!



We didn't get back home until almost 3AM, but it was well worth it. Great friends, great seats, great time!


(This is a Bryce Harper strike out for the win, which is apparently a BIG deal. He's supposed to be pretty good, but I think he struck out TWICE that night!)

1 comment:

Lauren said...

So, so fun! My mom, granny and I used to go to Braves games when I was in elementary school and would always try to go to the dugout and get stuff signed! Love these! Only wish Tifton was closer!!! xoxo