Ketchup, Catch-Up

Today we held our *house for Kids Donation Drive at our neighborhood bus stop. My son kicked off the morning by BBQ'ing package after package of hot dogs at our house. Then we transported them to the  Drive's locale and warmed them up piping hot on our Coleman Stove. It worked brilliantly.

Getting passer-by's to stop and donate for a dog - and then welcoming our family and friends who were donating clothes, shoes, and toys proved to be a fun family event. We had a good time chatting with strangers and sharing the vision of *house for Kids and how their donations will help Foster Kids in our area. It was a bonus to hang out with friends that stopped by - enjoying the afternoon together.

We collected a car load of donations and $132 in cash to take to the Wearhouse on Tuesday at 6pm. We are scheduled for a tour that will share more about the organization first hand, while we provide them with all our collections from the Drive. What a great family day!

Last night we took my parents to a farm team's baseball game of a Major League Baseball team. Having never been to this new stadium before, we were surprised to find that less than 80% of the stadium has no cover. Since we are not considered a warm-climate state, we were surprised to find the openness of the ballpark. It was beautiful, but not practical.

We survived and laughed our way through as we wrapped in our blankets and hoods as the rain poured down. Thankfully, we all had just finished our traditional baseball dinner of pizza or hot dog before the downpour began. We got moments of dry, but we dared not unwrap as everything was soaked and we didn't have a place to put it.

A highlight was when one of the first foul balls hit to our section and my husband grabbed it - it bounced out of his hand, hitting my dad in the head, and my husband snatching it before it hit the ground. He gave it to my dad as his souvenir - and for being such a good sport.

The other highlight was having our family on the jumbo-screen three times thanks to my son's crazy-mad dancing skills.

Fireworks after the game ended our soggy evening, but it was well worth the extra time out in the elements. The display was just long enough to get in some magnificent "oohs and ahhhs" before wrapping up our soggy mess and heading home.