Meet the Mets

I'd like to take a little break from posting about my Spring vacation to share a few photos from last weekend.

Last Thursday, I was watching a Mets game at home, when a commercial announced that there would be a "Mr. Met Dash" after Saturday's game. All kids 12 and under would be allowed to run the bases ( On the same field that the Mets play on! ) after the game. The Mets have been having these promotions a few times a year for the last 15 years or so, but I hadn't taken the kids to a "Mr. Met Dash" yet.

When Michael saw the ad for the "Mr. Mets Dash", he immediately exclaimed "I'm under 12! I could do that!".

It was at that moment that I decided what our family outing would be that Saturday.

The day really turned out to be PERFECT. I imagine it's the kinda thing almost every baseball-loving Dad starts to dream about when he first finds out that his wife is pregnant. It wasn't the first baseball game I've taken the kids to ( It was Michael 5th game and Peter 4th game - BTW, the Mets are now 5-0 in games Michael gone to and 4-0 in games Peter has gone to ( Michael has been at every game Peter has gone to ). Michael's been to 1 game in 2007, 2 games in 2008, 1 game in 2009, and 1 game this year ), but I think it was the nicest ballpark trip we've had as a family. The weather was beautiful, we got there early enough to do all sorts of fun stuff before the game ( Like photos with Mr. Met - see the photo at the top of the post ), the Mets won, Peter is old enough to understand the game at least a little bit now, and the kids got to run the bases after the game! The boys even enjoyed getting to the game. We decided to take commuter trains to the game to avoid traffic and the hassle of getting into and out of the parking lot. One of the boys' favorite TV shows these days is called Dinosaur Train ( Click the link to the left to hear the cool Johnny Cash style theme song! ). The whole time we were on the train, the boys pretended they were on the Dinosaur Train ( Michael kept asking the conductor to say stuff the conductor says on the Dinosour Train show ).

Check the photos below to see how happy Peter and Michael were during the game.




Eventually, the game ended, and we got to go on the field. Of course, I didn't get to run the bases, but as you might be able to tell from the photo below, I may have been more excited than the boys to be on a real major league field. I felt like a little kid. I found myself touching the outfield fences and the warning track dirt, and gawking as we passed the bullpen and the dugouts.


After Michael finished his run, he would up milking his time on the field just a little bit more. There was a reporter interviewing some of the kids that had run the bases. Michael noticed the microphone and the camera, and instead of running back to Ruth and me after he finished, the little ham decided to edge in on the interview. He lingered around as the reporter interviewed some other kids, and as soon as those kids left, he grabbed the mic and started chatting away.

It's kinda amazing when you consider that just 3 years ago, we were still wondering if Michael was ever going to be able to speak well enough to converse with people. He's such a little chatterbox now. :)

Anyway, I posted a few photos of Michael's interview below.





Rich