Big Night

On Wednesday night we took Gabe to the Atlanta Braves game. We had a few free tickets and we figured that since we live in such a cool place, we should take advantage of it and enjoy the cultural events offered (like baseball games).

Gabe was pretty excited about the whole thing. While we waited for Hubby to pick up the free tickets outside the stadium, Gabe told me that he couldn't wait until it was his turn to go up and hit the ball. (This statement was accompanied by gestures including bat swinging and butt wiggling while in the batting stance. Where does he learn these things?) I explained to him that this was not a game for playing but a game where we would be watching adults play baseball. He wasn't thrilled with this development, but was still pretty excited when I told him there would be snacks.

Then we got inside. Turner Field is pretty much Disney World crossed with baseball but with all the characters being TNT or Cartoon Network related. Ted (Turner) knows how to spend money on his ballpark. The boys (Hubby and Dr. P) were very impressed with the quality of the sound system and the humongous outfield video screen which had the clarity of an IMAX theater. Gabe was flummoxed by the humongous homage to Cartoon Network masquerading as a kid's area. He proceeded to spend the next hour and a half cajoling each of us to bring him back to the Cartoon Network place where there was a "Baseball game just for kids. No adults. But you can watch Mama." Finally, at the bottom of the fourth, I relented. (Truth be told; Baseball plus Me = Meh. And that's in the best of circumstances. This was really boring because the Braves have already won the division [or something] and they were just playing scrubs that night.)

Off to Cartoon Network paradise we went. The place was stuffed with children, so I guess we weren't the only bad parents keeping our kid up far too late on a school night. We threw balls at Grim (Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy: Two kids who hang out with the Grim Reaper. I'm not sure why.) and pushed buttons and pulled levers in Dexter's Laboratory. We sang and danced to CN theme songs on the closed circuit stage where the kids could watch themselves as they performed. (Holy Ham Heaven! You've never seen so many kids dancing their asses off just because they could see themselves on TV!)

My personal favorite was this little room where the kids (and this Mama) entered through a fireplace and then sat on a little painted carpet and all these doors (actually door-sized video screens) would open up and various characters from Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends would appear for like one second. The woman running this area had strict rules but she also encouraged them "Every time you see Blue, you gotta scream 'Blue!' as loud as you can". Then, at the end of the show, one of those rave/ecstasy black light went on in the dim room and all the white on everyone's clothes popped and little hidden Blues appeared all over the room. So, it was kinda like a mini rave for kids or something, that with the being up waaay too late, eating ballpark hotdogs (unknown chemicals ingested) as well as cotton candy (sugar in its purest form, with symptoms similar to drunkenness for a five year old) and the psychedelic Blue show. I was tempted to take off my shirt exposing my white bra and put on my funkiest dance moves while petting the nearest individual and telling them that they felt really interesting or something, but managed (barely) to control myself.

Gabe did also manage to wait in line for his turn to bat where the world's longest pick up game of kid's baseball was being played. All the other kids in this area were more about seven and up and seemed to have actually grasped the basics of baseball. Like so many things, Gabe has no clue, but a lot of enthusiasm. (Sound like anyone you know? Anyone who write a silly little blog? Anyone from whom this child's genes were derived?) When it was finally his turn, he swung fruitlessly at a few soft pitches until the guy took pity on him and brought out the tee stand thingy (See? No clue. Wonder where he gets it?) while I helped him and least turn in the right direction and adopt a basic stance. And he Hit It! Then he stood there like a statue with a big grin on his face while all the kids screamed at him to run. I directed him to first base and told him to wait until the next kid hit the ball and then to run to second. But when the next kid hit (deep) he remained motionless while the kid lapped him. Then he wandered off to play in Dexter's Laboratory some more. Cute that. Wonder where he got his disinterest in sports? Not.

The next morning there was hell to pay for our late night and he was still whining and crying from exhaustion as he got on the bus at 7:30 am. So, no more Kiddy Raves in our near future. But, we did go out and enjoy the "culture" of our city, which is more than you can say, right?