Take me out to the ball game

This afternoon we took Ian to his first ever live sporting event: A Portland Beavers baseball game. The Beavers are a Minor League farm team for the San Diego Padres. Unfortunately, they may not be in Portland much longer because their home field - PGE Park - is in jeopardy to due the arrival of a Major League Soccer team in Portland soon. (Apparently Portland is more of a soccer town than baseball town, so the Beavers may be gone by 2011.) Which made it even more imperative that we make it to one of their games! Plus, Sundays are kids' day at the park where kids eat free before the game and they have a game area set up for them, in addition to other activities.

PGE Park is on the edge of downtown so rather spend a couple of hours in search of street parking, we opted to take the "electric train," as Ian calls it. Of course this mode of transportation also earned us triple bonus points for the day given that the ride there and back was half the fun. A mere $15 got us all in the gate for general admission seating which allowed us to pick any seat we wanted in the upper half of the stadium. Sadly, the crowds were not huge (perhaps more evidence why the Beavers may not be around much longer) but it still had all the makings of a good day at the ballpark: a warm day, overpriced food, (relatively) good music and vendors circling with every type of junk food you can imagine.

The actual game portion of the outing kept Ian's attention for approximately three innings before he became more interested in walking around, climbing the stairs and generally not sitting still for more than two seconds. That said, he is a very loyal and enthusiastic clapper and always took a moment out from other activities to participate in cheering on the home team. By the fourth inning we headed over the kids' area where Ian participated in a little batting practice himself before he announced that he was ready to hop the train back home. We were really hoping he'd make it to the seventh inning so he could hear Take Me Out to the Ball Game given he recently learned that song at school and has been quick to add it to his concert repertoire at home. However, it clearly wasn't meant to be for today, so off we went to catch the

train for the few stops to our home station.

As for me, that was my first Minor League game ever, I believe. I did have a moment where I wished that we had the opportunity to take him to a Washington Nationals game in their new stadium (the stadium was still being built when we moved) and of course taken the Metro to get there. Boy, he would have just been beside himself with the whole Metro system! But, as Jeff rightly pointed out, he could care less about the difference between the minors and majors or what stadium he's in....he was just happy to be part of a real sporting event. (Though, we do have hopes of taking him up for Seattle for a Mariners' game at some point.) Maybe next time we'll even make it to the seventh inning stretch.

Until I write again.

A chip off the old block

I'm back! (From Thanksgiving break, that is.) We happily skipped town for a few days and traveled down to Klamath Falls in southern Oregon for the first time to spend the holiday with my Mom and Barry in their future and sometimes-current home at the beautiful Running Y Ranch there. (If it sounds confusing, it is, which is why I won't bother explaining.) Though the trip isn't exactly a hop, skip and a jump from Portland (driving time is about 5.5 hours), Jeff and I both noted on the way home what a blessing it feels like to have some family that is a car drive away (or will be at some point). For me, the last time I could say that was about 15 years ago.

But rather than spend this post-Thanksgiving post talking turkeys, let's talk sport. As in, the sport of ice skating. First, some of you may recall that I've taken a turn or two around an ice rink in my time. (Back in the days when not only could I drive to my family's home, but I still actually lived there - which means about a gazillion years ago now.) So, of course it goes without saying that one of us in the Burpo parental unit has been very excited about getting Ian on ice skates. And that someone is, of course, Jeff. Yes, it's true. I never said a word but one day - I think when Ian was about three months old - he started saying, "We gotta get this kid on ice skates." And he kept at it, too. Especially when we moved to Portland, for some reason. Maybe he was inspired by the super fancy rink in the Lloyd Center where that infamous Portlander Tonya Harding made her mark. And if you ever visit the Lloyd Center (which is a shopping mall), let's just say you won't be surprised that this was her home-away-from-home. (For the record, it actually is a nice ice rink that just happens to be located in the middle of a really bad mall.) Or, maybe it's the fact that Jeff gave up his dream of being a star hockey player to pursue management consulting instead, and is now passing along his unfulfilled fantasy to his son.

I'm not sure which, but anyhooskie, when my Mom called us up just as we were about to leave town last Wednesday and said, "Bring your skates - our ice rink is open!", you-know-who got very excited. I mean, he was upstairs grabbing his hockey skates (which I noticed are Nikes, by the way - very appropriate) and flinging them in the car faster than Sarah Palin can say Hockey mom's are pitbulls with lipstick! I, however, was a little more skeptical. Granted, I had never been to Klamath Falls before or the Running Y, but I'm thinking the "ice rink" there probably makes the Lloyd Center rink look like an Olympic venue. Plus, I wasn't sure that I was up for all the potential drama that might come with putting Ian on the ice for the first time while traveling for Thanksgiving. Still, I played along and put my skates in the car, too.

Now, fast forward about 6.5 hours (driving time plus one bakery stop to pick up the T-Day goodies plus one Golden Arches lunch stop). Just as night had fallen, we were pulling into the main entrance to the community when what to my wondering eyes should appear (yes, I'm getting into holiday mode) but one of the most grandiose outdoor skating rinks I've ever seen, sparkling in the night with holiday lights. Clearly I had underestimated the potential of the Klamath Falls skating community. Suddenly, I was intrigued. Maybe this whole skating thing wasn't such a bad idea after all. So, Thanksgiving morning on our way back from our big trip into town to check out the local Fred Meyer (which, by the way is about the best thing that Klamath Falls appears to have going for it in terms of shopping venues), we stopped at the rink to check out the schedule. There were a few people hanging around waiting for the rink to open. And from the looks of things, they were going to be waiting a while. Hmmm...okay so perhaps Ian's big skating debut would have to wait until Friday.

And Friday, it was. We showed up around 1:30 p.m. for the big event. The rink was already packed with locals who clearly were not out taking advantage of Black Friday specials at Freddie's. And not only were they not into bargain shopping, but they weren't the most graceful bunch either. So, at first I was little anxious about putting our son out there amidst a scene that more resembled Bang Up Derby (I just made that up, by the way) than Stars on Ice with Kristi Yamaguchi and Friends. But we decided to go for it anyway. And I must say, I was also nervous that this little adventure was going to be a big flop. Meaning, I thought for sure he'd be in tears before we could even get his skates fully laced up. But no sirree, Ian. Hands were flapping with excitement and exclamations of, "We go icing! We go icing!" He clearly couldn't wait to hit the ice. And if his first experience walking in ice skates on the floor was any indication of his skill level, he's bound for stardom because much to our surprise, he barely missed a beat when he stood up for the first time. No tipping over or anything funny like that.

After a slight Zamboni delay, we let the crowd disperse and then slowly made our way toward the entrance to the ice. I stepped out first and then Jeff lifted Ian out to me and came behind us. We held him tight between us while we very slowly pushed him along. I kept waiting for tears, but nothing. At first he stood there with his feet frozen in place (perhaps, literally?). He was like a little robot on steel runners. Except, he did occasionally lean backwards so we'd have to hold him up straight. Pleas to stand straight and bend his knees fell on deaf ears. Hmmm...perhaps two-year-olds are not as flexible as we first thought. Still, we made it around one full lap! At the end when we asked, "Ian, do you want to stop or keep going?" it was met with a resounding, "Keep going!" Okie dokie. The second time, he even started to move his feet a little. Not really a gliding or pushing motion, but more like a walking on ice motion. But hey, it was a start. We took one small break and went back out for another few rounds or so. And by the end, we were really flying! I think he even threw in a couple of split jumps while we weren't looking. Finally, after about the 50th time of asking him if he was okay and wanted to stop or keep going, he proclaimed that he was ready to get off. Which, thank God, because frankly, my feet were killing me!

And so our first ice skating adventure came to an end with a trip to the outdoor fire pit with Grandma Charla to warm hands and feet. A few days later, he's still asking, "We going icing today?" so I think it's safe to say that we'll be visiting the Lloyd Center soon - which I'm super excited about. I guess the only question now is - do we have the next Wayne Gretzky or Scott Hamilton on our hands? Only time will tell...

Until I write again.