Spring Training

This past week we packed our bags, dropped Kai at the spa, and loaded a plane to Phoenix to see our Rockies at spring training.  Greg and Gail joined us on our trip and got in some quality Clare time.

The flight to Phoenix wasn’t bad, Clare slept most of the way and when she wasn’t asleep she quietly played.  When we arrived in Phoenix Greg and Gail were waiting for us, their flight landed 30 minutes before ours.  The pile of luggage was huge; one would have thought we were moving to town with the amount of stuff we all brought.  Jeff and Greg strategically packed the Grand Caravan and we headed to Cave Creek (north of Scottsdale) where Jeff got us a condo. 

Clare and Gail playing in the airport while we waited for our Grand Caravan.

After finding the office and getting a key we unloaded all of our things and figured out the pack-n-play, we got Clare to bed, she was one tired little girl.  The men headed out to find some dinner while we ladies watched late night TV and waited anxiously for something to eat.  Thinking back I should have busted out some of the Easy Mac I’d brought for Clare, I think both Gail and I would have been happy and in bed asleep before Jeff and Greg got back with their bounty. 

Walking practice with Gail

Tuesday we took our time waking up and getting out the door. Clare and I had lunch with my old boss Marc who now works in Mesa; it was nice to see him, his wife Jenny and their little boy Keegan.  Marc had to get back to work and both Keegan and Clare needed naps so our Ruby Tuesday lunch was short and sweet, it was good to see him.  


Some morning play around the condo.

Gail brought this bouncy ball for Clare, it would light up as it bounced.  Clare enjoyed it best in her mouth, it must have felt good on her gums.

An Easter pail and some eggs, Clare liked watching them spin on the table.  I wonder if the Easter bunny will stop by our house this year?

On our way back to the condo we drove to the Biltmore Fashion Mall where there was a Vera Bradley store, I think I’ve gotten Gail hooked J We finally headed back and Clare took a short nap, we were all hoping she’d nap once we got back to the condo, but she had other plans.  We’re learning that if we miss the nap window there’s not much hope of a good nap, she fought sleep pretty hard and only napped for about 30 minutes before we all just gave up.   Dinner was Mexican from the Mexican place just up the road.  The restaurant had a pond with ducks, Clare found them pretty interesting, and I don’t think she’d ever seen real ducks. 

Wednesday we played things by ear and worked off of Clare’s schedule, we wanted to make sure she got a good nap in before heading to the baseball game.  The weather was perfect for walks around the area and a few trips down the slide at the playground.  Clare ended up having lunch and going down for a nap around her normal scheduled time.  Greg and Gail ventured out for some lunch and brought back BBQ sandwiches.  Once Clare woke up we headed to Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, the Rockies new Spring Training facility.  Clare fell asleep again in the car, so in an effort to take full advantage of her bonus nap we took a detour to Buy Buy Baby, a baby store that we don’t have here in Colorado but I’ve heard great things about; it was huge! 

After our trip to Buy Buy Baby we headed to the ballpark, the gates didn’t open until 4:20, but they were practicing on the field next to the stadium so we figured we’d go watch them for a while.  We parked the car, $5 to park in what turned out to be the employee parking lot, and walked up to the ticket booth.  We got to the ticket booth and discovered the game was sold out!!!  All that was running thru my mind at that point was, you have to be kidding me, we came all this way and now we can’t even see them play!!!!  I was less than thrilled, Clare was so upset she threw her hat on the ground, if she could stomp her feet I’m sure she would have.  We decided to walk around and watch them practice, if nothing else we’d enjoy the weather and watch them do a few drills and maybe even get an autograph if we were lucky.  As we were walking towards their practice field a guy walking the other way asked if we needed tickets, woo hoo!  $60 later we had 4 tickets on the lawn, perfect!!

Patiently waiting for the game to start. 

When we arrived at the practice field they were doing drills.  Apparently one of Tracey’s (Manager Jim Tracey) big things is if the ball is in the dirt you should get to second, or take an extra base.  So, the pitcher was throwing the ball short to the catcher and the rest of the players were trying to beat the ball (catcher wasn’t actually throwing) to the base.  I decided to be one of those people that sat right up against the fence, maybe 10 feet from the catchers, close enough I could hear their chit-chat, all very neat.  All the players were there, Hot Toddy, EY, Tulo, Giambi, Dexter, Silly Spilly, and most importantly Ubaldo.  It turned out that none of the players stopped on their way to the clubhouse after practice, but we did get to see them all walk by which was neat. 

Once the gates opened we went in and checked out the Team Shop and the bathrooms.  The bathrooms were exceptionally clean and the Team Shop was exceptionally expensive.  We walked around and found a cement block behind the seats where we decided to park ourselves; it turned out to be the perfect place to watch the game.  Gail and Clare mostly walked around while Jeff and I watched the game, Greg made a new friend and talked, or listened I should say, for a good part of the game.  We finally decided to call it a night at the bottom of the 5^th inning, Clare had fallen asleep in the stroller and the Rockies were ahead so we figured it would be safe for us to leave.

I thought our seats were much better than the lawn.  

It's next to impossible to get everyone looking at the camera...

Jeff whispering sweet nothings in Clare's ear. 

WOW!  Did you see that!?!

Clare had fun pushing around her stroller, I think she enjoyed the different perspective.

Yay, Go Rockies!

Clare was fast asleep towards the end of the evening. 

Thursday we packed all of our stuff, loaded up the mini-van and headed down thru Scottsdale, seeing what there was to see.  We stopped back at the Vera Bradley store, they were having a sale on their new patterns, and then searched for lunch.  Lunch was at the Kona Grill in the Scottsdale Fashion Plaza, the patio was more in the parking garage than outside but the food was good.  After a quick Starbucks stop we headed to the airport, rather be early than pressed for time was the general feel amongst those in charge. 

All in all it was a wonderful week, quick, but wonderful.  I’d never been to Phoenix so I can now check it off my list of cities to visit.  My overall impression was that it was warm, dry, brown, most cars have tinted windows, there aren’t many fast food places (Gail noticed this), lots of cactus, some huge houses, and pretty decent shopping.  I don’t know that I need to move to Phoenix, but it’s a nice place to visit.  We were all glad to be home and sleep in our own beds, shower in our own bathroom and get back to our routine.  Clare is an excellent traveler; we’re lucky that she’s so easy going.  She enjoyed her trip and spending time with Grandma Gail and Pawpaw (yes, Greg has decided on a name!).