Take me out to the ball game...

backpacking it from parking to stadium

Baseball season started the day we moved out of our apartment that was across the street from the stadium. I was happy to get out of the apartment for many reasons, but I was sure that avoiding game day traffic could be added to the list. However, being able to just walk over for a game would have been pretty cool. Our new place is only a few minutes' drive, and we paid $5 to park in some business's private lot and walk a couple blocks. $10 would have save us half the walk... worth it? The weather was nice and we were able, so it wasn't a big deal. We didn't tailgate beforehand, but if we had wanted to we couldn't from where we parked, and there were plenty of families that did. In fact, it seemed like half the fans in attendance were Little League-ers, all in uniform, which was pretty cute. When we walked up there were still plenty of fun and games going on at these kid friendly tailgates... something to consider for next time.

Enjoying the game in the shade!

We didn't already have tickets, so we asked the nice gentleman at the box office to recommend something near an aisle so we could get up and let M run around if he needed to, and so we wouldn't be out of sight of the action. The ones we got were about $30 each (M was free). I overheard our seat neighbors later say that tickets were going very cheap for this game right before, so I'll squirrel that info away for next time, too, but this may vary by opponent. The kiddo was actually pretty OK with sitting in our laps the whole time (and slept for part of the game), but our location was VERY convenient to the bathroom, which was nice for the couple of diaper changes we had.

We had to remember not to scold the little one for cheering for the wrong team, because he was very happy to join in the clapping with the home team fans (we were in the 1% minority of visitor-supporters), and encouraged us to do so as well. He probably thought we were crazy asking him to clap at other times.

getting a little bit of a nap

There is a lot to see and hear at the game. We had hoped that M would make today a two-nap day, one before the 12:30 first pitch and one towards the end of the game or on the drive home. This didn't happen, even though we took him to the playground for over an hour that morning. But I was hoping he might still crash in the backpack on our walk over (also didn't happen) or even just get sleepy and snuggle in our seats. This did actually happen, but after over an hour in, and hubby finally just put his hands over the little guy's eyes to block out the action. He was literally out like a light after that (wish we would have thought of it sooner!) and kept sleeping for nearly an hour (which did not fulfill his quota). We paid for this lack of sleep around dinner time until bed time.

The Angels' Rally Monkey is a really genius idea to recruit fans while they are young. M shrieked and pointed every time that silly monkey came on the jumbo-tron. He even jumped up and down with him. The other key entertainment were the 'big kids' sitting around us. M found them fascinating to watch, and copied what they were cheering, noticed that he had on a hat like they did, and coveted their cotton candy (with longing eyes until one little boy asked if he was allowed to have some and shared - so sweet!).

We upgraded our mini-diaper bag to a real backpack for this outing. I admit, this was because I wanted to sneak in a water bottle for us grownups and it wouldn't have fit in the diaper bag. But, in my defense, the real backpack had much better organization and space and things weren't getting all crammed. We had 4 cloth diapers, a wet bag, wipes, hand sanitizer, a muslin blanket, Nalgene bottle of water for us and a kid's Nalgene for M, an apple, a banana, raisins, Larabar, snack cup of Annie's snack mix, toy cars and motorcycles, phone, wallet, and a change of shorts for the wee one. We needed 3 of the four diapers, so I was glad we had so many. If we'd dressed the kid in pants, we wouldn't have needed the blanket, but I wasn't sure where we were going to end up sitting and how the weather would be. We went through nearly all our snacks, so I was glad we had 'em. I was especially glad to offer M a sweet banana after his taste of cotton candy.

We were pretty satisfied with this trip, but would have loved to get another hour of toddler-nap in - anyone else have any ball game tips?

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Boysen Park

We had a weekend packed with house hunting as we look for a good rental home (way more difficult than I had anticipated). So between visits and errands, we found time to get some sunshine, get some energy out, and visit some parks. One of which was right under our noses! Less than a mile from our current apartment, but in a direction we rarely go, hubby remembered this as it was nearing dinnertime, but we needed a break. This is Boysen Park, named after Rudolph Boysen who invented the Boysenberry (which later came to make Mr. Knott and his berry farm so famous) and was also a parks superintendent here in Anaheim.

the big kid structure - really tall!

seeing the big and little space shuttles

The park is really cool, especially for a little boy who loves airplanes. In fact, we had to hear "Air-pane! Air-pane!" all the way from the parking lot, across the large grassy field to the playground. There is, in fact, a retired airplane that has been cemented into place in a mulch bed. Kids can climb on the wings and into the cockpit. In addition to the plane, there is a spaceship structure with climbing walls and ropes, and a big twisty slide. There is also a smaller version for smaller kids, complete with three steering wheels. 

I will say, that this park was also crowded on a Saturday afternoon. I think there were several family events going on, and there were even a few suspicious gentlemen playing with the tiniest dice I have ever seen. However, it was still daylight, and we could easily see our car and we felt totally safe.

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Anaheim Coves trail

Every time I meet someone new at work, I try to ask where we should be visiting, hanging out, or eating in the area. Recently, a colleague recommended this 'park' near our apartment. I was expecting some open green space for picnicking or throwing a ball, but when we arrived we concluded that this was 'just a trail'.  However, it was a decently scenic trail, given that there were thunderstorms happening all around us. Also every 100 yards or so there was a place to sit and read a display with historical information. Between these stops there were some artistic iron scenes in sections of the fence. I think this would be a great place for a run, out and back, or ride our bikes there and through, once we acquire some!!

We did see a fair amount of wildlife on this trip, including some herons nesting in these trees. They look so majestic flying!

M wasn't a happy camper on this trip, as I think we skimped on his PM snack. Shame on us. It would be interesting to see if he would be more into walking himself, were he properly fed. Even though he was pitching a fit as we inched our way to the car as the park was closing, the Park Ranger gave him a junior ranger badge sticker, which was sweet.

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Here's a link to info about Anaheim Coves from the OC Register.