Go Express!

Recently, we took the girls to a Round Rock Express game – the AAA Affiliate for the Texas Rangers who were playing the dreaded Iowa Cubs. Boo on so many levels... I picked Loran up at work and we headed out to Dell Diamond. We arrived a bit early so we wandered around the stadium, surveying our food choices. In the end, we bought an entire pizza, which our crew promptly devoured before the first pitch.

We attended the game on a half price ticket night, and sat behind home plate. Seriously, great seats. And, the atmosphere was really fun. The park isn’t huge, and easily walkable. Great sightlines, everywhere. The only drawback, and perhaps this is a AAA/licensing thing, but the player’s walk-up songs are just lame. We had a good laugh over them. There were also a lot of scouts at the game a section over from us. It was interesting to see them armed with their radar guns and clipboards.

The girls loved it. Because it was a school night, we left after the 6th inning, but it was hard to leave, we and the girls were having so much fun.

The mascot, Spike, the bulldog came to visit us. Lily was in love. She really wanted her picture with him. Then an usher approached us with a game ball, saying that a gentleman sitting behind us wanted to give one to our girls, and then gave one to another child seated ahead of us. It seems he may be an important guy in the franchise, so it was nice of him to share. Ella immediately laid claim to the ball. I asked to see it, and she wouldn’t let me hold it. She maintained grip on the ball the entire time I admired it.

It’s been awhile since either girl had been to a ball park, mostly because bringing them to a game was a financial investment, and they couldn’t sit still or understand a thing that was going on. ie: for us it was terrible. But now that they have some age under their belts, and the game wasn’t a wallet buster, we had a blast. Once Ella realized that not only could you scream and shout, but it was expected, she was really into the game. She’d wait for us to yell, or she’d wait for the nod from us, and then she’d just scream and giggle. Lily got into the noise making too, but not with the gusto that Ella had. Between the ball and the screaming, Ella was a happy girl.

We changed the girls into pjs for our drive home and eventually they both fell asleep, but they were pretty riled up. Ella fell asleep clutching her ball, had breakfast with it the next day, and brought it to school in her backpack. True love, baseball style.

Lily is excited to return again to see her buddy Spike, and Ella looks forward to challenging the strength of her vocal cords starting in inning 1, not getting a late start like she did the first time.