So I am behind on blogging…for sure.  I get so busy and then my thoughts slip my mind.  My wife had a great post about our recent trip to the All-Star Game on her blog (onpinsandneedles.net) and I wanted to share my thoughts as well.

I was so surprised when Kami told me that she had gotten me tickets to the All-Star game as a gift for our 10th anniversary.  She totally kicked my butt at anniversary gifts this year…hands down.  Baseball has always meant more to me than just a sport.  It was always something my family did together, whether one of us was playing or we were attending it was the one thing we all got together around.  I remember growing up and going to college and high school games, playing in hundreds of games and now going back with my wife, my father, my brother or all of us together.  One of the last things Kami and I did while she was pregnant with our son Lukas was go to Chicago and catch a Cubs game.  We had a great time and enjoyed the game and the city.  That long weekend in Chicago has changed how baseball games affect me more than I realized before last week.

Don’t get me wrong…I still love baseball.  The strategy, the atmosphere, the game are still excite me and I can watch games pretty much nonstop.  The one thing that gets me now is that I see so many fathers with their sons enjoying the games.  They are eating hot dogs, wearing their gloves, talking about the game and hoping for a foul ball.  They support the same teams and players and cheer together the successes.  They are making memories.  I know that I will never get to make those memories with my son.  I have accepted it.  It just changes my perspective.  I was able to make those memories with my father and I have great ones…I had no idea that baseball could become such a source for longing.

Kami and I had a great time together…we loved the opportunity to just get a way for a few days, be around people we don’t know and will most likely never see again.  It is amazing to me how much that alone can help.  The game and all the festivities surrounding it were spectacular and it was an all around great trip.  I am so glad I was able to spend it with my wife and I am so thankful that she has grown to like baseball as well.  We saw some great entertainment from Cee Lo Green and Jordan Sparks and we were fortunate enough to be able to attend several VIP events that MLB puts on and they are always a great time…they really know how to throw a party!  Phoenix was a great city to host the events and Tempe was a great place to stay.  It is easy to get around and believe it or not it was actually cooler in Arizona than it was back home in Tulsa during that week!  It was still hot, but you know…its a dry heat there.  I have to say Chase Field was a great ballpark, the air conditioned stadium was the perfect place to watch a game in the desert.  Our seats were great and while All-Star games are not always the best game it is still fun to watch the games best perform.