Wedding and baseball

Had an interesting day Saturday. My wife's neice got married in North Carolina last week. She came home and we had a reception for her Saturday. A small affair planned by my wife's brother. It was interesting in the choice of guests. The couple wanted a small affair for some friends and family. Well, the only family invited were cousins. None of my wife's aunts and uncles were invited. Additionally, it appears that only cousins on my wife's dad's side of the family were there. Both of us were a little put off by this. Is it just me or does it seem a little rude to only invite a part of the family to a wedding reception? It probably wouldn't have been a lot more people (perhaps 40 more). If money was an issue, then they needn't have worried. There was enough food left over to feed at least that amount.

Now, don't get me wrong. I really like my brother in law and sister in law. They're good people and thier kids are very responsible people. Maybe it's just the Italian in me but it just seems that for a family event you either invite the whole family or you don't. Inviting part of the family is just asking for trouble.

After the reception (actually before it ended), I went with my older son to a baseball game. We have a minor league team in Rochester. It was also a sleepover. Every year the Boy Scouts pick a night and camp out on the baseball field after the game. We got there and about 20 minutes before the game is supposed to start, it starts pouring. It rained for maybe 15 minutes. My son was concerned the sleepover would be cancelled, as even after the rain stopped it was unclear whether the game would happen. The ground crew got the field ready to go and we got the game in, starting about 90 minutes late.

One thing I like about minor league baseball. While the crew was getting the field ready, players were hanging around the dugout. We had great season tickets my wife got from work, right behind the visitor dugout. Players were leaning agains the wall by the field talking to fans. My son got 3 autographs on his glove. Players were happy to sign for all the kids and adults that requested one. We didn't get over to the home team side but both teams were doing it. I can't see that happening in the major leagues. Can you imagine Derick Jeter signing autographs for fans like that, or chatting with people in the first couple of rows? I doubt it. The only way you'd get his autograph is to pay admission to some even he's at, buy a ball at the event, then pay to get his signature. It ain't right people.

The game was great, though our team team lost, 13-5. Since my son is now on the travel baseball team, we were critiquing the players, figuring out where the play was, and I pointed out where players made errors when they didn't use the fundamental skills he was learning. It always makes me laugh when professional players forget the absolute basics of the game.

The game ended about 12:30 am. We then went out of the park and got our camping gear while the grounds crew prepared the outfield. They had to mark the sprinkler heads so we didn't drive stakes in them. We got on the field and set up our tent by about 1:30. They also started a movie on the jumbotron (The Incredibles). We played catch for about a half hour, until one of my son's friends got hit in the face with a ball. We decided it was time to turn in. Of course, by the time the movie ended and all the lights went out, it must have been about 3 am. And we need to be out of the park by 7 am to prepare it for the Sunday afternoon game. We were working on about 2-3 hours sleep.

We got up around 6:30, got out of there, went home, and promptly went back to bed. I got up around 11:30 and we woke up my son at about noon. He fell asleep immediately on the couch. I don't know why they call these things sleepovers, since sleep seems to be in short supply. However, it was a good time. It would have been more fun if the game started on time as we would have had more time to do things on the field, but hey, can't have them all.

We're going on a family camping trip this weekend. It's not really "camping" as we are staying in a cabin with real beds and a small kitchen, but it is at a camp ground. It's a special weekend for children with "disabilities" for them to have fun and for parents to get a break. The probram is called Wellness GIFTS. It looks like a good time. I'll let everyone know next week how it went and post a picture or two.

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