Well, this weekend I got to see something really cool! My cousin, Beau, got to throw out the first pitch at the Cardinals game!! So neat! Well, he really threw out ONE of the first pitches, because there were probably 4 or 5 of them. But he still got to go out to the pitcher's mound and chuck a baseball to home plate in front of a huge crowd at Busch Stadium... so still pretty darn sweet! Beau got to do it because he is the Illinois Goodwill Ambassador for MDA and this was to kick off the fireman's "Fill the Boot for MDA" campaign that they do every year. Anyway, it was a very cool experience all around. We had seats in the bleachers in left-center field, but Ruth and I went around to the seats behind home plate and asked the very nice man checking tickets if we could stand there just long enough to see Beau throw out the pitch. He let us, so Ruth handled the still shots, and I took the video. It's still pretty far away, but I thought it was really neat that you could hear the announcer saying "Beau Tate takes the mound!" Anyway, for those of you who missed it, here's the video! :)
In addition to Beau throwing out the first pitch, this was also Elena's first Cardinal's baseball game. Unfortunately, it wasn't great weather for it: it started raining pretty early in the game, and just kept on raining!! But we all just grinned and bore it for awhile. By the time it was 12 to 1 in the 6th inning, though, I was done... we were cold, soaking wet, and all of our clothes were turning pink from our new red shirts getting wet! So Ruth, Ellen, Elena, Sam and I headed home while Mom, Dad, and Charlie stayed for the rest of the game. So, since she won't remember it, and didn't stay the whole time, Josh decided that this does not count as her first game, so he still gets to take her to her real first game!
Riding the Metro downtown. NOT Elena's favorite part of the trip!
We had some time to kill before the game, so we went to Union Station for awhile, then took the Metro to the Stadium. Here we all are on the Metro platform. Way to look at the camera, Dad! :)
We got to go to the MDA tailgate before the game. Here are the boys, hanging out before Beau's big moment!
What a cute kid! Ready to head to the field!
Ruth and I while we were waiting for the first pitch. The nice lady who was helping people in that section offered to take our picture with the arch in the background. Not the best picture, but it's not too bad!
Beau getting his picture taken just after throwing out his pitch.
Mom and Ellen hanging out. This was just the beginning of the rain. We all got green reusable shopping bags for being one of the first however-many fans. They made great rain hats!
Even Sam tried out the newest fashion!
By later in the game, we were all a little more wet, and less cheerful! Doesn't it look like we're all having a blast?! I couldn't get anyone to scoot together because then they would lose their dry spot on the bench. Ruth and I went to the Team Store for awhile, and when we came back it was like sitting in a puddle. We both looked like we'd peed our pants. So I can't say I blame them for not scooting together!
Elena's "official" first game or not, it was so much fun to see some of our family from Illinois, and to watch Beau throw out that first pitch. What a cool thing for him to get to do!!
