King of the Castle! : 2nd Annual Trip to Wrigley!

Darin, my parents and I took Jameson to his very first Cubs game Labor Day weekend 2011 when he was six months old. We decided to try again this Labor Day weekend, as well as treat my Dad for his birthday! I knew this year was going to be drastically different. Last year, I carried Jameson in a baby carrier and he slept through a few innings and used me as a jumperoo for a few innings. This year, the child is SUPER mobile, SUPER active, and SUPER non-stop every minute he is awake. So, I knew it was going to be a challenge and that the adults would all probably be more exhausted than him by the end of the day. Especially because it was about 90 degrees, with a "feels like" temp of 95.

We left around 10:00, hoping he would nap most of the way up to Chicago. Well, he fought it for awhile, but ended up getting at least an hour or so nap. Woke up in the thick of the traffic and became a bit antsy after about a half hour. We finally parked and hoped he would be better once he could get out of the car. Well, he wasn't exactly happy to go straight into a stroller, but he eventually conceded and went with it! We got to our seats and of course he just wanted to run around. We got some food and drink and he was happy as a clam once he stole Grandma's popcorn and water. He played musical chairs for awhile and then Gma Debbie had to get up and walk around with him. By about the 3rd inning, the shirt came off because he was a sweaty little monster and we pulled out the Leap Pad. That definitely kept him occupied for awhile and he actually sat and watched the game for a bit too. The next best thing to keep him entertained was ice. We probably went through 3-4 cups of ice and about half of that went in my lap!

We managed to keep him happy and entertained until about the bottom of the 7th when we decided we should probably leave before it's too late! We could tell he was starting to get kind of sleepy and so were we! We of course had to stop and take a few pictures in front of the marquee and my Dad had to of course get Jameson a present before we left. Jameson picked out a bear and got a t-shirt. That bear got hugged the whole way home and later became a staple in Jameson's bedtime stuffed animal crew. We thought for sure he would fall asleep immediately, but traffic kept us from getting any momentum, so he stayed awake. We decided to stop for dinner and to get out of the car for a bit. He did awesome at Steak-n-Shake, which surprised me since he had been up for over 6 hours at this point! We decided to let him run off some more steam in the adjacent bank parking lot and then got him in his PJs.

OK, so he would definitely fall asleep now, right?! Nope! He stayed awake the entire drive home - even the drive to our house after we dropped off my parents! However, when we got home and I put him to bed, I think he was asleep before I even shut the door - little man was finally ready to call it quits for the day. I don't blame him for wanting to stay awake - it was an awesome day!! I was so happy to be able to share this with him again. My parents took my sister and me to quite a few games growing up and I always thought it was so awesome. I hope we can continue the tradition and that he appreciates the magic of the ballpark! I love that we get to share it with my parents too! Next year should be really interesting at 2 1/2...maybe we will take off a year or two....nah, who am I kidding = the tradition must live on!!