Spring Fever

People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring. ~Rogers Hornsby

It's that time of year again and it is, for my family and many others, a holiday. It was lucky for us that I didn't have to call Lou off of school because he was on spring break, but it was my plan to. Daddy and pretty much everyone else we know had tickets for the game, but that was ok because we already had plans: to go down to the Findlay Market Opening Day Parade with our friends, Amanda, Owen and Eli.

We went a couple of years ago, on a day filled with constant sprinkles and big puddles; last year the weather was so bad, we instead had a "pep rally" at our house instead; but this year was the perfect start to the season, even if it did end up as a good old-fashioned butt-whoopin' for our beloved Redlegs.

Amanda got down to "our spot" early and it was a good thing she did because this year was much more crowded than before. We decided that it was on account of the great weather and possibly it was spring break for a lot of those kids.

Amanda and Meredith

The boys went to play baseball on the grassy area again and no one said anything!

The ball just "happened" to end up in the fountain. I envisioned a head-first dive into it, but Amanda was able to cut it off before anything like that happened. I imagine that if it were two dads instead of two moms the boys would still be playing in the water!

I think Meredith's refusal to look at the camera was because she was upset that she was the only one without Reds gear. My goal is to make a Rosie Red outfit for her before the season's up. (I could be called delusional.)

The boys were excited to see Johnny Bench--they practically have Game 6 of the 1975 World Series memorized, and one of their favorite homeruns is the one Bench hit at his last game as a Red.

Sponsor of the parade--it's been a Cincinnati tradition for 91 years!

Our little fans--see Charlie waving? Every time someone in the parade came by and waved, he thought that the person was waving directly to him and he waved back furiously. So cute!

Lots of people dressed up in costume for the parade, and this was one of my boys' favorite--Big Boy!

So many great marching bands came by us, getting everyone pumped up for the game.