AR's First (Hot!) Cardinal's Game!!!

...on Sunday, we took AR to her first ever Cardinals' Game!!! Of course, I think it was the hottest day of the year but she can now say she went to her first game.

 

We got there early and the first stop...Papa's brick! We had to take the infamous brick picture that we've all taken so many times before. Now AR has her first brick picture done and I'm sure she'll have many more.

It was Fred Bird's birthday! The first 12,000 kids got a stuff Build-A-Bear Fred Bird...with a paid ticket. Since AR is one, she technically didn't need a ticket but she did to get a Fred Bird. Luckily, my dad's friends had an extra ticket but we had to wait for them to get there. We let her see all the statues out front while we waited.

Family pic with Mr. Musial!

Peekaboo!

We sat in section 158 behind the visitor's dugout. We went down to the dugout to get a picture of her in her Hill Girls Designs Cardinals shirt.

Now, while the pictures are cute, let me be honest. Luckily, I knew we played the Braves. Other than that, I couldn't tell you anything else. I only got to say our family phrase of "Aces wild" or "deuces wild" once! Going to a game with a 15 month old is a lot of work and it was HOT, like hot, Hot, HOT!!! As soon as we got there, we pulled out her sippy cup and Cheerios which entertained her for awhile.

We snagged a family pic inside the stadium.

We even met up with her bestie, Emma! I love the Arch in the background.

Did I mention it was hot? She flew through the water in the sippy cup fast and moved on to my water bottle. Oh and she entertained herself by dropping Cheerios into the water bottle.

Papa bought her a hot dog which she inhaled.

My dad brought a fan that sprayed water and AR played with that for awhile...and then we were 1.5 innings in and she was hot...as in miserably hot! I told Matt that this was probably the HOTTEST she's ever been. So Mommy and AR went on a 3 inning walk around the stadium.

Unfortunately, we never ran into Fred Bird to tell him happy birthday but around the 5th inning we found where they were giving out free cups of ice! We took a few back to our seat and after that, she was happy as can be munching on ice and Daddy pouring the melted water on her head. Here she is lounging in his arms and she looks like she's gone swimming.

Then around the 6th-7th inning, the shade made it to our seats and AR was like a whole new, happy, un-hot child.

Most of the people had cleared out by the 9th inning so AR was free to roam. We let her sit in her own seat and she was hamming it up for some girls a few rows behind us.

Things I learned from this game:

1. I would much rather go to a spring or fall game and freeze my hiney off than go and sweat all day.

2. Taking a 15 month old to a game is hard work. I feel like I should have lost 10 pounds between chasing and carrying her and sweating all day.

3. I love Cards atmosphere! I can't wait to go again...but AR, you might stay home with Nana or Grandma next time or it'll need to be about 15-20 degrees cooler. :-)

Thanks for taking us Papa! We had a hot, fun time and hopefully, next time we bring home a winner!