Take Her Out to the Ball Game

For my date day with Clara today, I decided to take her to her first baseball game.  Like I did with Joshua last year, I decided a T-Bones game would be a good option.  We started in our seat and ate some food.  Clara had a hamburger and a Sprite, and I had a hot dog and a Pibb Xtra.  She was super adorable in her little K-State cheerleading outfit, and her new haircut that she got this morning with Meghan, and many people throughout the night commented either aloud to themselves or to me about how cute she was.

Last year, Joshua loved Sizzle.  But today Clara was pretty scared of him.  She didn't want to stand with him for a picture, and she barely consented to this group photo.  Apparently Clara hasn't had much exposure to mascots, because she kept calling him Willie, because Willie the Wildcat is pretty much the only mascot she's seen.  I eventually convinced her it wasn't Willie, and that this guy was Sizzle, but she still kept calling him "The Sizzle", which cracked me up every time.

After awhile she got a little restless, so I took her to the play area.  She really wanted to go in the bounce house, but once she got in, she wasn't sure she wanted to do it.  But with some encouragement, she let loose and bounced all over the place.

We also went to the playground where she enjoyed the slides and swings. One of the most interesting things about the T-Bones is that their first base coach is Frank White, who is a near Hall of Famer and who was one of the key players on the Royals World Series Championship team in 1985.  But he's currently feuding with the Royals, so he's not involved with them, and is investing his time in the T-Bones.  Here he is, a really famous baseball player, spending his summers coaching for an independent league team.

For dessert, I got Clara some cotton candy, and we went to the outfield grass area to eat it.  She took a few bites (after being surprised to find out it was actually something edible), but then decided she didn't like it.  I had her take a couple more to be sure, and she said she definitely didn't like it.  This boggles my mind, because it's hard to see how that's possible.  But that left more for me, so I didn't complain.

This is one of my all-time favorite series of photos.  I put her on my back, while still holding her with one arm, so I could take a picture of us, and she thought it was great.  I took a bunch of pictures of us hoping to get one, but a lot of them turned out fantastic (the one where I look a little worried that she might pull us both down the grass hill is fantastic in its own way).  I love these pictures, and they pretty much sum of the night we had together.  It was a really fun date day.  She was a great listener (despite being short of sleep since I had to wake her up early), and she was happy and cheerful the whole time.  It was a great bonding experience and probably the best date day we've had.