Bubby's First Baseball Game!

This Christmas we received one of the most ironic presents ever: Yankees tickets from a Red Sox fan! (Well, Triple A Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees tickets.) Due to the construction of a new stadium in Pennsylvania, the SWB Yankees were scheduled to play all of their home games at "neutral" sites all over New York State. The little town of Batavia was granted 7 games to be played at Dwyer Stadium, home of the Class A Batavia Muck Dogs. Since we were only given two tickets, we began the process of finding a babysitter. With Nana and Bompie on vacation in Florida, we weren't quite sure what to do with the boys. But after a few phone calls to the Muck Dogs offices, we discovered that we could take the boys along with us and place them on our laps (free of charge). Since Josiah wasn't feeling well, and because he was still too young, we decided to let Elijah have some "Mommy-Daddy" time at his first baseball game. Before heading into Dwyer Stadium, Aunt Kim and Uncle Mike met us outside the park to pick-up Josiah. Elijah couldn't wait to get to the game. With baseball glove in hand and his Mickey Mouse Yankee cap crooked ever so slightly, he anxiously scurried up the sidewalk to the Main Gate. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect night! With temperatures in the mid to upper 70's at game time, it made you forget that it was actually the first week of April! (Note, the next couple of games would be postponed due to a mixture of snow and rain!)

As we arrived at our seats (directly behind the first base dugout), everyone kept commenting on how adorable our little Bubby was. As the players took the field he kept shouting for the Yankees to throw the him the ball. As the opposing team's first baseman ran back toward the dugout in the early innings, he looked up and tossed the ball towards Elijah. After Daddy caught the ball and handed it to him, Elijah proceeded to throw the ball back towards the field. Fortunately for us, he hit the back of the dugout directly in front of us and we just picked the ball back up.

While eating his chicken tenders, he kept cheering and shouting for his favorite player, Curtis. We didn't have the heart to tell him that Curtis actually plays for the NY Yankees, not the SWB Yankees. It was quite funny hearing him say "Fran-seeees-co!" every time catcher Franciso Cervelli came up to bat. After a couple of innings he began to get a little antsy, so Mommy decided to take him for a walk around the park. Elijah was so proud of his new baseball that he began showing it to everyone that he walked past.

As Elijah approached Homer, the Muck Dogs mascot, he got so excited that he handed the ball to him. Thinking that Elijah wanted him to autograph the ball, he proceeded to write his name on it. This turned out to be one of the biggest highlights of the entire night. The rest of the night Elijah spent most of his time in search of Homer. And when he finally caught up to Homer again they spent time playing in the park, posing for pictures together, holding hands (while Elijah walked him all over the stadium), and sitting together while watching the game in some empty seats by the Yankees bullpen. When Elijah was done playing with his new pal, Mommy took him over to the fence where the Yankees relievers were warming up. He proceeded to look up and say, "Mommy, let them out of the cage!"

As the game was getting into the late innings, Daddy joined Elijah and Mommy on the other side of the park near the Yankees dugout in hopes of getting some autographs. After the Yankees rallied to defeat the Norfolk Tide in the bottom of the ninth, a few of the players began to head towards the fans lined up by the fence. As Daddy was holding Elijah up by the fence, he proceeded to throw his autographed "Homer" ball onto the field. One of the players graciously smiled, retrieved the ball, and signed it for him. (Truth be told, the "Homer" signature will probably be worth more some day!) All-in-all it was the perfect first game! Perfect weather, perfect seats, perfect situations! Perfect night to take the family to the ballpark! Thank you Dave (and family)! Really wished you could've got a "perfect game," too! Go Yankees!

Brandon and Renee

I am very behind on my blog posts! I photographed this couple in march, it was a beautiful day and they were great to work with! I wish them all the blessings on your upcoming wedding!

I also designed their save the date magnets. Their colors are Orange and Pink.