Okay, I have to journal about the great day I had, but first I had to post this picture:

It’s the hood of a Ford car, with a Santa Claus Pez Dispenser glued on as a hood ornament.

Santa there was parked next to me this evening when I went shopping, and I couldn’t resist a picture with my phone!

In other news, the kids and I had a great time today. We went to the Tigers game.

It was Kids Run The Bases Day, so after the game we got to go onto the field, where they ran around the bases, and they had a blast! It’s so fun to be on the field, even if I’m too old to run the bases, just being down there is really exciting! So, while we gave Jeanne a “Mom gets a day to herself to do some workin’ and relaxin'” day, we wandered around the ballpark with our Standing Room Only tickets, and found a nice place to sit by a railing and watch the game.

Consumed today at the ballpark were 3 processed meat products in buns [1 hot dog with ketchup (Max), 1 giant hot dog with mustard and onions (Tony) and one plain Italian Sausage (Maggie!)], one bag of peanuts, one bag of cotton candy (blue, on a stick!), 2 sno-cones, and 4 bottles of water. We watched and cheered as the Tigers scored 6 runs, then wandered around the park looking at statues (“Dad! Those are the best Tigers ever? Wow!”), riding the merry go round and waiting in line for the family bathroom while the Rangers scored 7 runs. Then we waited in line to run the bases as the Tigers were officially declared “in a slump” by losing their third game in a row (and something like their 8th loss in the last 10 games, or some equally horrible number.) The team needs to kick it up a notch, or their lead is going to disappear very, very quickly.

Despite the loss, a good time was had by all! It was fun sitting there, not having a seat but having staked a claim to a little spot by the railing where we could see. During the first few innings while we were actually sitting and watching, I got to explain all sorts of the rules and how/why’s of baseball to the kids, who were very excited about the game. A couple older gentlemen were in seats next to where we were perched, and they were watching me and the kids, and occasionally throwing in a “What’d ya think of that?!” to Max or Maggie. It was neat, these older gentlemen were clearly enjoying watching me introducing the next generation into the game, and more than once I caught them just watching us with wistful, melancholy smiles that made me squeeze the kids.

As I sat there with Max and Maggie, their lips purple from sno-cones, I wondered “Where will they be, years from now, when I’m the old man sitting here watching the game. Will they be fans? Will they be here with me? Or will they be far away, living their lives?”

And, thankfully, before I could get too far into those thoughts, it was time for hotdogs!