Our love of baseball has taken us on some of our coolest family vacations. Last week, Douglas' team played in the Triple Crown Spring Training tournament. We decided to cash in our sky miles so all of us could go cheer him on. A toddler on my lap for a 2 hour flight was a little more enticing than enduring a 12 hour roadtrip, each way. Douglas wasn't too sad that he missed the team travel in a 16 passenger van. Can you imagine it? 8 teenage boys...together...lauging....texting...stinking. No thanks! His coaches are saints!
As seems to always be the case, travel day was hectic. Watching our family go through airport security must be somewhat entertaining. There are the Ipods, the belts, the shoes, the stroller, the laptop, the portable DVD player, the camera, the sippy cup, the blanket....followed by the howls of a little boy who got his fingers pinched when the stroller collapsed on him as we tried to contain him to pack it all back up. WHEW! Our flight to Phoenix was on a little Skywest 2X2 seat plane(that is the unofficial term for a plane that has 2 seats on each side, no screens or monitors anywhere in the cabin and seemingly less leg room than the more standard 3X3 plane). Mason was pretty restless until we got to that magic 10,000 mile altitude where we could turn on the IPhone and watch Go Diego Go. What a great $10 spent to load 10 episodes onto the phone. Between that and Finding Nemo the flight went pretty well.
We were famished when we finally gathered our luggage and caught the shuttle bus to the rental car tower. As soon as we took off Russell realized that we had forgotten the car seat back at the airport. REALLY? So, as Russell got the car arranged I re-shuttled back to the airport, Mason in tow. He fell asleep and I just about died carrying his dead weight and that bulky car seat through the baggage claim area and back onto the shuttle bus.
Thankfully, I have the most direction savy husband and he was able to go straight to the Holiday Inn without detour. As we struggled to get all of our STUFF into our 4th floor room our sweet neighbor informed us that he was more than annoyed with the number of times the door had slammed. GRRR! It was 8:00 pm, we were deprived of food, Mason was grumpy, the luggage was heavy and we slammed the door? We knew it could be a rough few days with this roudy crew so we asked for a less stressful room on the 5th floor. More hauling, I am sure a little more slamming and we had finally and fully arrived! We dropped Douglas off to have dinner with his team and the rest of us feasted on Taco Bell. The bedtime routine was a little strained. It is never a good thing when your baby can stand up in his crib and see you so Mason pretty much spent the night in our bed. Thankfully, we had a suite so there were moments on the trip where he slept and the rest of us were able to somewhat be normal in the living area. Those squishy quarters are one of the hardest parts of vacation...and the one bathroom. I HATE having one bathroom.
With travel day behind us we were ready to have some fun. The cool thing about this tournament is you are there the same time as the major league baseball teams. They are playing pre-season games, thus, Spring Training. You can go watch them warm up for free and the games are pretty reasonable. I stayed back with Mace so he could nap but my boys had the time of their lives. During the warm up period they were able to get a birds-eye view of some of their favorites.
Apparently, as the story goes (since I wasn't there to witness it firsthand), Douglas and his team mates tried and tried to get Manny Ramirez to come and sign their baseballs. He would not give them the time of day. As soon as Stockton yelled to him he came right over and signed his ball and since he was there, he went ahead and signed Douglas' and the rest of the team's balls. The pro players throw balls into the crowd that they have been using or that are laying on the field. When the older boys couldn't get one, Stockton stepped in and got the job done. He ended up collecting a whopping 9 balls, 5 of which he gave away to Douglas and his friend.
As seems to always be the case, travel day was hectic. Watching our family go through airport security must be somewhat entertaining. There are the Ipods, the belts, the shoes, the stroller, the laptop, the portable DVD player, the camera, the sippy cup, the blanket....followed by the howls of a little boy who got his fingers pinched when the stroller collapsed on him as we tried to contain him to pack it all back up. WHEW! Our flight to Phoenix was on a little Skywest 2X2 seat plane(that is the unofficial term for a plane that has 2 seats on each side, no screens or monitors anywhere in the cabin and seemingly less leg room than the more standard 3X3 plane). Mason was pretty restless until we got to that magic 10,000 mile altitude where we could turn on the IPhone and watch Go Diego Go. What a great $10 spent to load 10 episodes onto the phone. Between that and Finding Nemo the flight went pretty well.
We were famished when we finally gathered our luggage and caught the shuttle bus to the rental car tower. As soon as we took off Russell realized that we had forgotten the car seat back at the airport. REALLY? So, as Russell got the car arranged I re-shuttled back to the airport, Mason in tow. He fell asleep and I just about died carrying his dead weight and that bulky car seat through the baggage claim area and back onto the shuttle bus.
Thankfully, I have the most direction savy husband and he was able to go straight to the Holiday Inn without detour. As we struggled to get all of our STUFF into our 4th floor room our sweet neighbor informed us that he was more than annoyed with the number of times the door had slammed. GRRR! It was 8:00 pm, we were deprived of food, Mason was grumpy, the luggage was heavy and we slammed the door? We knew it could be a rough few days with this roudy crew so we asked for a less stressful room on the 5th floor. More hauling, I am sure a little more slamming and we had finally and fully arrived! We dropped Douglas off to have dinner with his team and the rest of us feasted on Taco Bell. The bedtime routine was a little strained. It is never a good thing when your baby can stand up in his crib and see you so Mason pretty much spent the night in our bed. Thankfully, we had a suite so there were moments on the trip where he slept and the rest of us were able to somewhat be normal in the living area. Those squishy quarters are one of the hardest parts of vacation...and the one bathroom. I HATE having one bathroom.
With travel day behind us we were ready to have some fun. The cool thing about this tournament is you are there the same time as the major league baseball teams. They are playing pre-season games, thus, Spring Training. You can go watch them warm up for free and the games are pretty reasonable. I stayed back with Mace so he could nap but my boys had the time of their lives. During the warm up period they were able to get a birds-eye view of some of their favorites.
Apparently, as the story goes (since I wasn't there to witness it firsthand), Douglas and his team mates tried and tried to get Manny Ramirez to come and sign their baseballs. He would not give them the time of day. As soon as Stockton yelled to him he came right over and signed his ball and since he was there, he went ahead and signed Douglas' and the rest of the team's balls. The pro players throw balls into the crowd that they have been using or that are laying on the field. When the older boys couldn't get one, Stockton stepped in and got the job done. He ended up collecting a whopping 9 balls, 5 of which he gave away to Douglas and his friend.
(This is Manny's signature. Stockton's ball also has Joe Torre's signature, longtime Yankees coach- now coach of the Dodgers, James Loney and Matt Kemp.)
I can see why the pro players could overlook those older boys with their mature faces and grown-up statures to give their attention to those smaller, freckle-faced, buck-teethed, irresistable 9-yr.-olds. Stockton was so pleased to be an asset to the team. He still smiles when he tells the story of how he got Manny Ramirez to sign all of the baseballs.
(This is Manny running into the dugout.)
The boys were also able to see some of the Angels players warm up but the day was so rainy that they didn't go to the game. I can see Spring Training turning into an Orchard Family tradition!
Now, onto the real reason we went to Arizona, Douglas. It was fun to watch him play his first games of the year on his new team. He did great! He played left field, right field, 2nd, 3rd and catch. He layed down a beautiful bunt (one of his strengths) and hit really well. He had a TON of fun and we enjoyed watching him. Our team went 2-2, losing both games to a team from Arizona who is nationally ranked and ended up winning the entire tournament. It was a great start to the year.
The weather was warm and Stockton and Mason enjoyed being outside in shorts and short sleeves. I think Stockton was a little sad he wasn't playing too.
The second day of games there was an emply field next to our's where the boys could run the bases and have a pretend game of their own.
Mason was so good on this trip. Now that he is old enough to watch movies it is easy to get him to slow down for a minute. He even climbed up onto my lap at the games and feel asleep when he was tired. After traveling with him for almost 2 years now, it seems every trip gets a little bit easier. Or, we are getting a little better at dealing with it!
A trip just wouldn't be the same without a good soak in the hot tub each night. Douglas and Stockton went back and forth between that and the pool.
The third day was free of games and I so would have loved to spend the day outside in the beautiful sunshine, swimming or wandering the Phoenix Zoo. Unfortunately, it poured rain the entire day. I knew we would probably end up hurting each other if we sat in our room all day so we went to see Avatar and all really enjoyed it.
The next morning we awoke at 4:00 am to turn in the rental car and get to the airport in time for our 7:00 am flight. We grabbed Cinnabons at the SL airport and drove the kids to school. It was such a fun trip. I am so ready for the season to start. Next weekend, BOTH boys play in St. George. I really can't wait!
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