Great day

(This same post, with more pictures, is on our family blog, which is by invitation only. If you'd like an invitation, just let me know.)

Every once in a while I have what I call best days; days where something happens that makes me so thankful to be alive. Days with memories I want to capture and hold onto and rejoice in. Days when I sit back and thank God for how blessed I am. These days usually involve tears of joy at some point.

Yesterday (Wednesday) was a really rough day. I spent a couple hours bringing everything down from the attic. We had twice as much as Jamie and I expected; the house is filled with stuff--Jamie is going through everything, deciding what we can get rid of at a yard sale.

I was sweaty and smelly and exhausted before breakfast. Then we had several moving companies come give us estimates, and discovered we can't afford to hire movers.

The boys were hungry for attention since we were so busy, and acted up a lot.

One of the cars was in the shop, and our usually reliable mechanic didn't get it done on time. (He did make up for it by loaning us a car).

But today....TODAY was as good as they get. A few days ago I got an email from the Nationals advertising $1 kids tickets, and decided to take the boys to their first major league game. Ironically, they were hosting the Seattle Mariners, who will be our hometown team in a couple weeks.

My step-dad Jerry joined us. I was nervous to begin, the forecasters were calling for thunderstorms; which would not be good, because 1--Brady would go nuts if the game were canceled, and 2--Brady is deathly afraid of thunder and lightning. (A couple years ago we were at a soccer game when we heard and felt the biggest and loudest thunderclap I've ever experienced. I think it traumatized Brady.)

But the day was perfect--cloudy, so it wasn't too hot; with an occasional cool breeze. We parked close to the ballpark and walked down the street where you can see into the park--the boys were amazed at how big it was. We stopped and the boys high-fived a couple of the Presidents on the way in.

We bought another hat so both the boys had Nationals hats. Once inside we walked around, looking at everything. Our seats were in the top deck so we took the escalator up. We found some picnic tables on a porch overlooking left field and sat down to eat. The boys were in awe of the view.

At game time we went to our seats to watch. While living in Texas I became a Rangers' fan, and my favorite player was Ivan Rodriguez (Pudge). It's so cool that he is now with the Nationals. He's not the regular catcher anymore, but plays once or twice a week. Brady has come to like him as well, and we were thrilled that he got the start.

The game was great--a pitchers duel that went quickly. Brady has learned all the players' names and was cheering them on. He understands the game and loves to talk about it as we watch. His enthusiasm is so much fun.

Cash wasn't as interested in the game, but liked all the sights and activity, and did really well. They took turns sitting on my lap and Grandpa's, or sitting in their own seats. Cash lay down to rest for a while.

We ate sandwiches and grapes and trail mix and cotton candy. I neglected to watch Cash with the trail mix; after a while I discovered he left all the nuts and raisins and was picking out all the M&Ms.

After the 7th inning we moved down to the lower level and found seats really close to the field. The boys loved being that close, and it was really exciting when the Nats loaded the bases and won 1-0 on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth.

After a rough Wednesday, Thursday was a perfect day. Several times I just sat back and looked at Jerry and the boys, the game, the park, and was filled with joy. And yes, there were a couple tears.