With all of the places we have lived and all of the friends we have around the country, it seems the only way to make sure we stay in touch with many of them are our 'annual traditions'. With the Caldarellas, its the Red Sox/Twins series. Both Nora and Dave are from Boston and are HUGE Red Sox fans and Dave played D1 college baseball, so he's a big baseball fan of any kind. They live in La Crosse, WI so the the drive up here it's feasible for a weekend. And although we occasionally make it down to La Crosse to see them and a few other friends, it's this baseball series that ensures we will see each other at least once a year. Thankfully Dave and Matt see each other during the year at various conferences and Nora and I will randomly text/call each other, but they are the type of friends that we can just pick up with right where we left off, as if we saw each other daily.
Dave and Nora have 4 boys ages 7 and under, so it's definitely a crazy bunch when we are all together! But so much fun! We met them at the game on Saturday and we all went to that game and then on Sunday, just Matt and Dave went with Wyatt and their two oldest boys while Nora and I hung with Sadie and all the younger boys at home.
Of course we got there early to watch batting practice and to try and snag some autographs
They were handing out eye black stickers when we walked in and Blake wore it well.
We hung out over by the Red Sox dugout since this is one of the only Red Sox games the Caldarellas will go to this year and we can go to a Twins game anytime. But Wyatt, being as loyal as he is, had no interest in trying to get an autograph from a Red Sox player and was a bit bothered that we were even on that side of the field. So when Nora broke out some new baseball she had gotten for the kids to get signed, Wyatt just held his and hung back while some fans let the kids get to the front of the area by the dugout where (hopefully) the players might stop and sign some autographs.
(Sadie, Jac and Leo)
So a bit of background.....Leo Caldarella is a HUGE sports fan and also super competitive. And his favorite player is Dustin Pedroia. Last year at the game, we were hanging out behind the dugout yelling "Pedroia, Pedroia" and he looked right at Leo and tossed him a ball. We were all yelling and high-fiving and so excited for Leo. So this year we were positioned to get an autograph and noticed Pedroia was the only player sitting in the dugout while the rest of the guys were back in the clubhouse. I was up with the kids while they were waiting and several fans around us started to get antsy--apparently once it's 30 min. before game time, they kick everyone out of this area to make room for the people who actually have these seats. So when I saw the usher start walking over, assuming he was going to be asking us to leave, I leaned down, looked into the dugout, and yelled, "Pedroia! Pedroia!" which, of course, elicited no response. Then I waited a bit and tried again. This time he held up his finger, as if to say, "Just a minute" while he was talking with their manager. Then I had to use the kids--"Please Dustin! Do it for the kids! Please!"
He looked at me and said, "I will. I will. Just a minute. I have to finish this."
And then Dustin Pedroia and I entered into a legitimate conversation
Me: "they are gonna kick us out. Can you please just sign these baseballs for these kids?"
Dustin:"I will, but I have to finish this first"
Me:"Really? It's not like you have a game to play or anything? (insert sarcastic tone) These kids have been patiently waiting and if you don't come now, we're gonna get booted back to our seats."
Dustin: thinking......
Me, seeing that I may have gotten through to him, "Oh come on! Just really quick!"
Dustin, hangs his head and gives us bargaining with the crazy lady and walks over to us and signs some baseballs
Seriously, I have lots of respect for this guy and how kind he has been each time we've seen them play.
You gotta love that Sadie was right in there with the Caldarella boys yet she couldn't have cared less about the actual baseball game or who the heck this guy was. But she got a ball signed and then gave it to AJ Caldarella (#3) who was too little to get in there.
Wyatt was still being a loyal Twins fan, hanging back and refusing to get an autograph from a player that, although he's a great major leaguer, is not on his team
While Wyatt stood there behind the dugout, he noticed a group of people over by home plate. Upon further inspection, Wyatt immediately recognized them as three WILD hockey players--Tom Gilbert, Zach Parise and Josh Harding.
(For this of you unfamiliar with the WILD, they are the three guys in a row starting with the black hat and long hair and black t-shirt (Gilbert) on the left, Canada shirt (Harding) and black tshirt and black hat (Parise).
They proceeded to walk into the outfield to be introduced on the jumbo screen and then began walking back towards third base. I asked Wyatt if he wanted to go ask for his autograph and he had mixed emotions--he really wanted one but was torn because he didn't want the attention or the awkwardness that comes from asking. I told him I'd be happy to go with him and ask for him if he wanted me to (after all, I was fresh off my convincing conversation with Dustin Pedroia, so I was pretty sure I could get an autograph from a hockey player at a baseball game.)
Side note:Only in MN would there be a larger crowd calling to the progressional hockey players at a baseball game than the baseball players themselves!
We called his name and he came right over, was so kind and humble, and seemed almost honored that a kid like Wyatt looked up to him so much. All we had for him to sign was a baseball, but he was happy to do it. I told him that this was the highlight of my son's night and he said, "Oh really? That's so great. Thanks...that means a lot."
Seriously, I was already a fan of Parise but after meeting him for a few moments and watching him interact with Wyatt and other fans, he is definitely a class act. And as a mom with kids who look up to these guys, I really appreciate those that take their 'role model' status seriously.
All that excitement and we haven't even gotten to the actual game yet!! I was on such an adrenaline rush that the rest of the game was actually not very exciting. But the kids had a blast, the fans around us were fully entertained and Nora and I got to catch up a bit.
Nora was holding Sean in this picture so we still didn't get all the kids in one picture together!
And of all things, Sadie also got to be the "Cutie of the Game' for our section. One of the ushers in our section picks out a "Cutie" each game and introduced Sadie to everyone in our section and they all cheered as she helped him lead a cheer or two. It was perfect for Sadie, as she does her best to keep up with all the boys and stay engaged in the game, but she would really prefer to be playing some make believe game or dancing or playing with babies.
I had to include this pic--as I was taking it, Wyatt came over to see what she got. You know she loves when she has something that her big brother is curious about and wants to check it out!
My boys
Dave and Matt had a great time with the older boys at the game on Sunday, even though the Red Sox swept the Twins that weekend. Sunday night we went out for dinner sans kids and had such a great time catching up and discussing real life issues. It's always too short but sweet at the same time.
The next morning, Wyatt had to head off to school and the Caldarellas headed out around the same time. We attempted to get a picture of all the kids, but Wyatt had to run out of the pic to get on the bus and Sean had to be buckled into his carseat. So that left us with my two pajama-wearing kiddos and Nora's three remaining boys.
At least we still remembered to get one of Nora and I
Such a great friend and I can't wait until we see each other again!
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