This year we made all of our summer fun happen within the same week. No spreading it out. A little here. A little there. Just one big long week that required thought and planning on my part.
- Baseball
- More baseball...MLB All Star Week
- Charles Birthday
Alex's Summer Baseball
After the Spring baseball season (2nd place finish), Alex was invited to play on the All-Star team in the summer. Yeah we heard "All-Star" and were like "Wow, Ok Alex!" I mean you can watch him and tell he's good and enjoys the game, but it's always nice when others recognize the same. Well then we discovered that "All -Star" was not the top pick kids, but the ones right under the top and a little younger. Alex was playing in the 7-8 league, but he was only 6. ANYWAY!
The last tournament took place in Greensboro, NC, the Saturday before the Sunday when we were supposed to begin our MLB All-Star Weekend Summer Vacation in Washington, DC. Yeah, you see where my planning nerves started to be affected. Charles and I decided after the Greensboro games, we would just drive straight to Maryland and stay with family. Well of course the last Saturday game was intense and resulted in the team scheduled to play again on Sunday. Can someone say "Are you kidding me?" The team wanted and needed Alex to play. However, the entire team and parents KNEW where we were headed, so "the looks" and the questions of "what you gonna do Dad" started coming our way. Charles just laugh at the questions and first he said "I don't know" then it turned to "it's up to his momma" Hahahaha. My mind said our money has already been spent to attend the MLB All-Star Celebrity/Legends Softball game and we need to in DC by tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon WITH kids who aren't tired. So after a few looks of consideration between Charles and I, we wished the team well and hit the highway.
She's so supportive! She can often be heard saying "Go Bruh Bruh"
Oh the next day, we got text that they lost the game.
MLB (Major League Baseball) All-Star Week - Washington, DC
Last year, when Charles and I learned that All-Star Week would take place in DC (driving distance) it was a no brainer that we wanted this to be a part of Alex's memories. Automatic summer vaction. So hotels were booked way in advance and we waited for the schedule of activities and list of players schedule to appear to come out.
Saturday night, we arrived in Maryland. We got to visit our cousins new house (it's awesome) and the kids got to play with their cousins for the night. On Sunday, we toured the Smithsonian National Gallery, walked around DC (Uber what...not in this family), and then attended the Celebrity/Legends All-Star Game.
The tickets to this game were pretty reasonable, but when you multiply anything by 4, it can still make your eyes roll. It didn't matter...THIS was our vacation. You can see above that our seats were on the first base line and not to far from the field. However, this momma spotted an usher identifying kids and bringing them closer seats. I told myself "if I can get that ushers' eye, I'm going to ask him if Alex can come down." Well, guess who looked at me? The nice usher with the white hair. I pointed at Alex and then pointed to coming down there and he motioned for him to come on. YESSSSSSSSS PARENT OF THE YEAR!! Go Alex Go.
Well let me tell you Alex looked at me like "Where am I going?" "What
are you talking about?" "Ya'll not coming too" "Stranger Danger." And
all I can say is "Go. Go. Go down there." Finally he went.
After a few minutes the usher looked at me and motioned that he had one more seat. Well Alana was completely content on YouTube (thanks for the free wifi Nationals Stadium) and she at the time she was 3. So no. I suggested that Charles go so he went. OMG Look how close they are.
Eventually, Mr. Nice Usher with the White Hair, got all 4 of us down there. And didn't let anybody bother us. "No, no, no that's there seat." Hahahaha.
DJ Diesel
aka Shaquille O'Neal
The line up
Jaime Foxx
Wale (Rapper) and Josh Norman (NFL player - Redskins)
Of course celebrities and legends warmed up before the game started and when you're in a place with celebrities, people scream their names and all kinds of stuff to them. It's a mix of encouragement and hey look at me. We are normal people so we did a little bit of the same. Wale gave us eye contact and a head node.
During the first inning, Wale was in the outfield and caught the third out. The crowd roared and he jogged back to the sidelines with the ball in hand. People were screaming at him to throw them the ball, so we did the same thing. Well guess who Wale pointed to and then tossed the ball. ALEX!!!
OMG! We couldn't pay for this much joy. We were so excited. Even Mr. Nice Usher with the
White Hair was excited with us.
That smile was worth everything!
DJ Diesel (Shaq) and Jamie Foxx switched roles for a while. Shaq came out and hit or attempted to hit the ball and Jamie Foxx was on the turn tables.
Oh but before we left, one more awesome thing happened. The game was over (American team won) and people were back to yelling at celebrities. They wanted everything from the balls to the shirts off their backs. Well Josh Norman threw his glove and guess who jumped up and caught it. CHARLES!!! But it was all for his son.
This kid walked away from the 2018 MLB All-Star Celebrity/Legends Softball Game with a souvenir ball AND glove that we did not buy in the gift shop. And this was only the first event we attended. Look at God!
Day 2 - FanFest and Home Run Derby
Lots of interactive activities for the kids and historical information at FanFest
Now she was good with some of the activities, but some she was too small for. Thou shall not worry. She created her own fun...Open space = Cartwheels and Flips!
On the way to the Home Run Derby...well Alex and Charles that is. Alana and I went to visit a friend.
Charles says that being at the home run derby was pretty exciting! The hometown favorite (Bryce Harper - Washington Nationals) made it all worth it by hitting homerun number 19 during the final second of the last round against Kyle Schwarber. The crowd went BANANAS!
Day 3 - Play Ball USA outside park
Now all I remember is it was INCREDIBLY HOT and we were trying to do this last activity before the rain started. The actual All-Star game was this day, but the tickets were super expensive, so the other activities were how we compensated for not going to the actual game. We left town and headed to VA as Charles' birthday was coming.
While in VA, Alana had her first hair salon visit at Aunt Clarice's shop. She was excited. She did well, but when you have this much hair it gets to ya.
Before
During
After
Charles' Birthday
Well number 40 is here! Since we were going to be so close to VA, I thought it was important that Charles spend the actual day with those who raised him. Yes, part of my planning. However, what he didn't know was a surprise party was being planned for him - 2 days later.
The "story" of attending our old neighbors work party had already been told a couple months before. This is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Not tell him! I didn't think it would be that hard, but it made me realize just how much I talk to him. Whether he really cares about what I'm doing or not, I usually can get his opinion either way. The day of the party, I promise I almost told him. Everyone from far and near was here and I was so excited that I just didn't want hold it anymore. I knew how excited he would be!!!! But instead of telling him, I called my homegirl who basically told me to get myself together. Ok. Ok. Nighttime came. He was surprised and we partied the night away. One of the best parties ever!
Charles says he didn't realize it was for him until he saw his mom. Once he figured it out, his first comment was "Aw S(&*!, now that was a good one."
Photo booth...duh...we own it!
