A Summer of Baseball and Babysitting

Evie playing in the wadding pool 

Learning to dring from the hose.

I haven’t blogged in some time. I kept telling myself to sit down and write but would then get distracted. I even have things to write about and sometimes on walks I would be thinking about those things. Well today we have off , it is too hot to be outside much  and I finished my latest knitting project so I decided to write before I started anything new.

It’s been a fun and crazy busy summer, but isn’t that what life is all about? We continue to spend as much time with our granddaughter as we can. A week ago we had her for a whole day and it was just about the perfect day. It’s the kind I wish I could bottle up and in the winter when I am missing her take it out and have that day again. We were staying in a new spot at the Coralville Reservoir in the

Some of the fossils at Fossil Gorge

Linder Point campground. This is one of the COE campgrounds near the West Overlook, and we were in a FHU spot. We planned this during a break in our ushering schedule. This campground is not as nice as Sugar Bottom where we usually stay but it has a great location for other things. It is near what is called Fossil Gorge. So our perfect day with Evie consisted of lots of pool time in a little wading pool we bought her. She loves to fill it and play with the hose too. She is learning how to drink out of the hose, something she finds fascinating. We walked around Fossil Gorge, she was more interested in the rocks, sitting like a big girl on the benches and in the blooming clover than the fossils but that’s ok and so like her. A long walk in the stroller finally got her to nap and finally dinner with dad joining us at the picnic table. She was happy all day and so much fun. Yes, just a perfect day.

She's definitely a water baby!

Now for baseball. I have seen more baseball this summer since the summer I shuttled my mom around western Iowa watching my two younger brothers play. That summer I watched an average of 6-7 games a week. This summer as most minor league schedules go we will work 4-6 days and then have the same off. The 6 day home stands are the most challenging as they throw in some afternoon and noon games into those stretches. We enjoy our job even though it has its challenging moments. The hardest part is just being on you feet for 4-6 hours at a time and usually no real breaks.

What has been the most interesting part of this job is seeing what it takes to pull these games off and make it a great experience for the fans. My usual spot is at a gate to the Mezzanine where private parties are booked. I put bands on people wrists and explain the layout upstairs and remind then to get an alcohol wristband if they intend to enjoy the adult beverages. John usually helps me at the gate at first and then he goes upstairs to patrol the mezzanine, sweeping up occasional spills of popcorn and peanuts and making sure people go to the correct food lines and kids don’t throw things over the front row onto the people below. We do help with some of the cleanup at the end.

Pops helps on the slide. :)

From my spot at the gate I get to watch much of the going ons. The paramedic’s spot is right next to me so I have seen cuts, dehydrated folks and the other day during a game sponsored by the Americans with Disabilities watched them work on and transport a couple fellas out after having seizures. I also am next to the elevator to the kitchens so I watch the constant flow of food, drinks, kegs etc. being brought up and distributed to the areas it is needed in. Then all the empty boxes going back down. I watch all the managers on their radios trying to coordinate the area and others taking cash and change to the various refreshment stands. It is a busy place.

Our team the Kernels had a very rough time the first half of the season. I think in the first half we only saw two winning games, they did win a few we weren’t at but their record was dismal. The second half has been much better and they went 5 wins out of 6 in this last home stand. They are batting very well with most of our batting lineup batting 250 or better. Makes it more fun when they are winning. I would like John to do a captain’s log on minor league ball. His take is always entertaining.

I can’t believe our summer is more than half over. It always seems to go so quickly. This fall we will be traveling into Wisconsin, Illinois and Kentucky. Our destination is Campbellsville KY where we once again will work for Amazon. I know I said I would never do that again but as I continue to learn, never say never. Buying the truck this year was not in our plan so we decided we would probably work a couple peak seasons to help out the pocketbook. We did choose a different location and we will probably start in October rather than November. This is an area with a few more things to do and see so that will be fun too. We haven’t heard on our start date yet but expect to hear soon. After Amazon it will be south but no specific plan yet, we are thinking Texas but too soon to know. This year I don’t plan on making any long reservations so we can go wherever the weather is best. 

 

My beautiful and fun Evie!

I hope all is well with all our RV friends and also our other friends and family.

Happy Trails....................