My Boys and Me

Well, it means a lot of things, like cooler temperatures, pumpkin EVERYTHING, festivals, beautiful trees with leaves changing colors (at least now that we live in VA), but MLB playoffs is the BEST thing about fall. This year, we entered fall and MLB playoffs better than we could have imagined. We went to the Phillies vs. Washington Nats game here in DC. It just so happened that it was also THE game that the Phillies won the NL East Division Title. It was one of the best nights we’ve had as a family EVER. After picking up Braeden from school and spending the drive to DC praying it didn’t rain (it was calling for 100 % chance of rain all day and the sky looked nasty), we arrived at the stadium in time to see the Phillies practicing. The players were a few arms lengths away from us while we stood in the stands behind the third base line and it was SO COOL! Braeden was in HEAVEN! Everyone knows that Phillies fans are like no other. We love our team and the game of baseball with our heart and soul and Braeden fits the fan description perfectly. He cheers….LOUD (gets this trait from his Mama), he jumps up and down, he high-fives strangers and he gets nervous (like seriously white face and all) when the game is close or when he knows what a win would mean. Fortunately, the Phillies didn’t give us much to worry about on Monday night. We won 8-0. It was such an awesome game. We sat through light rain the entire game, but nothing was gonna stop us from celebrating with our team (especially when our lead got bigger and it became more evident we were gonna clinch it). I recorded the whole last out and the team’s celebratory race onto the field. This is what the stadium looked liked right before that last out. Keep in mind, we were the VISITING team. I think all the Nats fans had left and only Philly fans were left. They call us the Fightin’ Phils for a reason. It was AWESOME! We can’t wait to watch the Playoffs and hopefully witness (on TV of course) another World Series win.

BASEBALL!!!!

The boys walking into the stadium. Braeden kept telling me to HURRY UP-

Halladay warming up before the big game. He pitched the entire game (coming within 2 singles of a perfect game) and brought his team into HIS first playoffs-

Braeden’s favorite baseball player, Chase Utley-

And Mama’s favorite (and Hunky) baseball player Shane Victorino AKA “Shany Boy” (my nickname for him)-

Ryan Howard-

Polanco-

Boys Cheering-

“YAY the Phillies are winning!”-

All of the rain-soaked faithful Philly fans-

As we were walking to our car, we passed the train station and it was packed. How awesome it is that fans would take the train from Philly on a Monday night JUST to see their team win the NL East?! Ha, I would do it.

So, what about all those other “fall favorites?” The weather has cooled down and I am loving it. I’ve been told it’s going to get cold fast though- not sure I am ready for Cold Cold yet. The leaves are turning color and the parks are filled with HUGE acorns. They are massive. They keep Mikey’s attention at Braeden’s baseball games. Oh btw, his team is doing great. They have 2 wins and one incomplete game. Why was it incomplete? Well, the games run from 7:30-9:30 or 5 innings. We were in the bottom of the 5th inning with players in the field, a batter at bat and the lights went out. It went completely black. Interesting to say the least. I guess when they say 9:30 they MEAN 9:30. Good thing no one got hit in the head by a flying baseball. The last game we won 21-3 We have another game on Saturday. I am very impressed because this is the first season Braeden has played kid pitch and he is hitting the ball better than ever (and not all of the pitchers throw strikes the way the machine would).

Fall festivals? There are several coming up and one of them is this Saturday. It is just up the road and we plan to go after Braeden’s baseball game. Mikey is fascinated with pumpkins and insisted on getting his first one of the season about a month ago when Mike’s Mom was in town. I wonder if it will last through Halloween. So far it’s been holding up well. I’ve also been saving my change for an occasional pumpkin latte Hey- nothing makes you feel better than coffee and I need SOMETHING to keep my spirits up while I job hunt (which sadly has not been going to0 well) but, have I mentioned how much I LOVE fall?