Are You Ready for Some Baseball?!

Our 11-year-old nephew Tatum, who had never played organized sports of any kind before, chose to play baseball with his local little league in Grantsville. And he ended up having a wonderful experience. It was fun to go to a few of his games and cheer for his team, the Royals.

The first game of the season, which we attended, was on Saturday, April 12:

This other one was held on Tuesday, May 20:

The Royals won both of those games! In fact, they won their league championship. Plus, we had snow cones to snack on both times, which was like the icing on the cake.

Are You Ready for Some Tee Ball?!

Last week, we went up to the baseball fields at Mueller Park Jr. High to watch Kate and Graham play tee ball with their team. Because why not? This is the kind of thing your resident Fun Aunt and Uncle do with regularity.

Kate's and Graham's team just happens to be the Cubs---an MLB franchise I've been a fan of for decades. I already had the team hat, so I wore it to the game. Also, it was wonderful to see any kind of live sports in person for the first time in months.

Did the Cubs win their game? I honestly don't know. I don't think score was kept. The kids hit and ran the bases a lot and didn't do too much fielding, but they had a great time playing. When you're four and five years old, I guess competition really isn't that big of a deal.

Bees'-Eye View

On Thursday night, JB and I ventured out to Smith's Ballpark in Salt Lake City for our second Bees baseball game of the month and of the summer. We were more than happy to accept an invitation from Dave, who works for the Larry H. Miller business empire and was given tickets to access the company suite for the evening. Jessica, Kira, and Jake joined us for our evening out.

Friends in high places, amirite? It's nice and also rare to get such royal treatment. Not only did we have a nice view of the game from the first-base side of the diamond, but our suite was also stocked with a dinner that included chicken tenders, soda pop, popcorn, and other goodies.

The home team got killed once again---we must have that effect on them or something. But it was nonetheless a fun night for one and all.

Our Night Out with Jake

Birthday dinners with our niblings have sort of become a thing of the past since JB and I got married. At least, we decided we'd give our niblings the option for their birthdays of either doing an activity together with us or getting a present they really want to have.

Jake, who turns 14 years old next month, chose to go to a Salt Lake Bees AAA baseball game with us, and that took us Smith's Ballpark in SLC Tuesday night for their matchup with the San Antonio Missions (the Milwaukee Brewers' AAA club).

The game started out very poorly for the Bees (and very slowly for us); the Missions scored six runs in the top of the first, and SL's starting pitcher was forced out of the game after only 1/3 inning of pitching. By the end of that first half-inning of play, the game was already a half-hour old. Nevertheless, the Bees bounced back by chipping away at the lead, including hitting two home runs. San Antonio still ended up winning, 7-5.

Well, it's still fun being at the ball game and seeing one live in one of the best parks in the country. Our nephew had a good time, most importantly. We snacked on peanuts and popcorn while we watched the action on the field. We also had very good seats, sitting behind home plate.

It was a fun night out with a great kid, and we're looking forward to maybe attending more games over the summer.