Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

April 5, 2011

Tonight we went to the UNR Wolf Pack and Reno Aces exhibition game at the Reno Aces Ballpark. The Reno Aces donated tickets to BBBSNN to give to Bigs and Littles for a fun night of baseball. And fun it was!

On the way to the ballpark I told L that the mascots for both teams would be there. I told her that the UNR team name is the Wolf Pack and she guessed correctly that the mascot is the wolf.  But, I asked, “what is the Aces mascot?” I told her that when we saw Archie, the Aces mascot, she would have to tell me what he is, because I have no idea.

Because it was an exhibition game before the beginning of the season, not all areas of the ballpark were open yet. Typically you can walk around the entire park, but the back half of the stadium was closed off, including the Kid’s Zone. The concession stands; however, were open for business. I got a hotdog and L chose cotton candy (she ate dinner right before I picked her up). The bag of cotton candy was almost as tall as her! We found our seats and dug into our food while we waited for the game to begin. L and I each chose the team we wanted to root for and she said that whoever picked the winning team would get to pick our next activity. She chose the Wolfpack first, so, by default, I was rooting for Aces. Play ball!!  

L slowly turned blue during the first couple of innings -- not because of the chilly weather, but because of the blue cotton candy. Her fingers, lips, tongue, teeth...all blue!  After getting through ¾ of the bag (I did help her a bit) and noticing that she couldn’t sit still due to the sugar high, I told her that we needed to save the rest for later (meaning she needed to take it home and finish it another day). I shoved it in my backpack for safe keeping. Out of sight, out of mind. The blueness slowly subsided as the evening progressed.

Cotton candy inflicted blueness.

 We had to keep our eye on the game while in our seats because we were so close (right behind the visitor dugout) and right in the line of fire for foul balls. Lots of people around us had their mitts on so we felt that they would protect us from oncoming balls.

Archie dances on the dugout after a home run.

Seriously? What is Archie?

The UNR cheerleaders and dance squad came out on the field in between innings and the Reno Aces staff threw t-shirts into the crowd. Archie and Wolfie had their dance contest on top of the dugout and Wolfie was extra careful not to fall off like he did last year. Poor Wolfie, they showed it over and over on the big screen. L finally determined that Archie is a “big, red, fuzzy, chicken.” Hmmmm, I really don’t think he’s a chicken --no beak -- maybe you can tell us what he is. L wouldn’t go near Archie -- “he’s too big” -- but by the end of the evening we were searching for Wolfie so she could get her picture with him.  It was such a fun evening. I think we’ll be going to another game really soon.

Wolfie walks away after our photo shoot.

Oh, and by the way, we left at the 8th inning and the Aces were ahead. I guess I get to pick our next adventure. ;)  Until then . . .