Last week, Rara came to babysit Rose at home so that Mike and I could take our big girls to the Rangers Game!  We used a coupon at Outback before the game, so we could get full on good food (instead of ball park junk), and that way we all got to visit and hear all about Rara and Poppa’s recent trip to England to see the Ebert family!  Noelle was just looking at these pictures and said, “I miss Rara already!”  She also helped me out with some doctor’s appointments and mending and by the time her overnight trip had come to an end, we had accomplished a lot!  Thanks Mommy for all your smiles, hugs, grand daughter sitting (lol), and Mommy time!  You’re the best to drive all that way to help!  Don’t make yourself a stranger now that you are back in the states… you either Poppa!  We missed you guys!

Mike was given these amazing seats, and it was such an amazing experience for Mike and me growing up as life-time fans!

Here’s a picture after we had just found our seats before the game started!  We were soooo excited!

 

We were 13 rows behind home plate!  It was a great game to be a part of!  The fireworks went off several times, and the Rangers just kept hitting the ball out of the park… and most importantly, we won!  Here’s a picture of the girls with the Rangers Camaro right before the game!

We were this close to Nolan Ryan the entire game.  For those of you not from Texas, he’s the best pitcher there ever was and is in the baseball hall of fame; he is part owner of the Rangers now.  He is in the blue shirt talking to the man in the red shirt, standing up in front of the ball park.  I wonder how many eyes are on him each night?

 

The girls were SO excited to be headed into the most beautiful ball park in the world!

   

We let each girl get a special treat for our little baseball date night.  Anna Kate picked cotton candy (I didn’t let her eat all of it; it was so sticky and gross), and Noelle got a lemon chill.  They both shared so they could each get two treats!  They’re learning!

 

This is how happy they were to have a little sugar in their lives, lol!  Fruit is our sugar at the Pond house, and treats are a big fun deal!

Anna Kate started getting REALLY sleeping and ended up laying in my arms and falling asleep for the first time I can ever remember!  It made my night!  I just kept leaning down and kissing her forehead!  It was a dream come true!  Love when my babies want to snuggle!

 

Some Ranger fan favorites: Our feisty manager, Ron Washington, always takes up for our team!  It feels good when you feel ripped out of a play, that he comes running out of the dugout kicking and screaming (so to speak).  He’s so entertaining!  When Mike and I were little, there was an old man in the audience (right in front of home plate where we were sitting this time) who was named Zonk.  He would always get the crowd going with his awesome drum.  Tonight, the girls met Sister Frances, the next audience drummer for the Rangers.  She told us Zonk passed down his drum to her in 2002, and she’s had season tickets to drum along with the fans, organ and fun player’s music before they bat ever since!  I saw another older man eyeing the special attention she was getting.  I think he may want to carry on the tradition when she’s ready to pass on the drum. 

 

These hats Noelle and Mike are wearing cost $20 with supreme nachos inside.  I saw some little teenage boys eating their nachos when we first walked in and thought, “They aren’t going to want those pink hats, and they would be great for popcorn at home!”  So I took Noelle and Anna Kate over to them with me and asked if we could have their hats when they’re done with their nachos, which of course, they were like, Oh, yeah!  Pink, get it away, lol!  So we anxiously waited for them to finish, said our thanks as we got them, and went to the bathroom to wash them clean.  The girls loved having them for the rest of the game!  We looked for a third to bring to Rose after the ball game, but we couldn’t find one.  The hostess says the pink hats are always the first to go!  People were down on our level snatching all kids of plastic cups and red ice cream hat helmets.  Washing out two hats of nachos was about all I could stomach, but being resourceful is the key to success for me! 

 

Of course, the dot race is a favorite tradition to everyone young and old!  The girls got red tonight.  They cheered and cheered, and red ended up winning!  It was a win-win all the way around!  Go Rangers!  Cheers to a fun family night at the ballpark!  We missed you, Rose!  Can’t wait to bring you next year!