Saturday is a Special Day...

After a French Toast breakfast with my sisters' families and cousins who were in town from Vegas (Rebecca, you left your rice milk!!!) on Saturday morning,  the kids and I headed to the BYU for some fun.  While I desperately wanted to attack various rooms in my house that have been seriously neglected (the laundry room, the office, the storage rooms, the garage...), the weather was amazing and I knew those enticing and exciting chores would be waiting for me whenever I got around to them. Saturday was SUNNY! If you are a Utahn, you will agree that it was about time for some nice weather.  It was a gorgeous day, in fact.  So out we went.

There was a tailgate party at the football stadium entrance and we arrived at just the right time-- when the crowds were dying down and heading into the game. Cade and Savvy got their faces painted, met Cosmo and played Plinko. They both won and each picked out a BYU pom pom as their prize. Cade and Savvy each requested a free frisbee from a booth selling life insurance and played with them in the grass. It was a nice moment to take in-- watching them play together, giggling and happy, with the sun shining and the wind gently blowing. Meanwhile I was eating lunch courtesy of J-Dawgs. I will only eat a hotdog if it is associated with baseball. In this case, it was, so it was fine. Not great (don't everyone gasp all at once. I know supposedly how amaaaazing J-Dawgs is to all of you, but to me it's just "fine").

Later, we walked across the street to the baseball stadium and Cade and Savvy were joyously waving their pom-poms shouting over and over, "GOOOO BYU!!"  I got many approving remarks and smiles and comments that I was "rasing my kids right. "  It is a fun thing for your kids to not just know who your alma mater is, but have some serious Cougar Spirit, and boy do they.  We arrived at the stadium and sat down along the first baseline on the fourth row. They were fantastic seats and plenty close to keep them both engaged for a while. 

It wasn't long beforeI started answering questions the kids had about the game: The difference between a foul ball and a home run, how many outs before switching teams, who the man in the gray shirt and black pants behind the catcher was, etc. As I was doing this, it was then I got a little sad...  this is the sort of thing I'd love to do as a family.  As in all four of us. This is the sort of thing Kyle wold have loved to have done with them. But, it was just me and the kids--again.   After 3 weeks they don't seem to mind and they are used to hanging out with just me without their dad, but come any Saturday, I am exhausted.  By Saturday,  I'm craving some serious alone and quiet time, and just simply some time to putter around the house without being needed all of the time. I began to reason with myself that even if I was in Chicago with Kyle, I'd be doing the same thing--- going out with the kids by myself. And it's up to me to make Saturdays fun because to Cade and Savannah, the day is absolutely magical. NO school, no meetings, no appointments. Just pure fun all day with a mix of some chores of course. Yes, Saturday is a special day.   So I took a deep breath, straightened my back, and stopped feeling mopey.

Savvy LOVED it when either team hit a home run, so she began shouting to every batter "Get a home run!!!" about a dozen times.  Fortunately she's so cute, so after people turned to see the little body that was making all the racket, they'd smile and laugh and decide not to be annoyed.

Cade was quite interested in getting home and playing baseball on his own after watching a few innings. The players made it look so easy and he was ready to give it a try. It was cute to see him all excited about it.

They lasted through the fourth inning and then they decided it was time to go.  Walking back to the car I could hear the sounds of the State track meet at the BYU track going on. It made me reminscent of my many Saturdays spent on a track as a teenager and I wondered what sport or activity I'd soon be watching my kids participate in, in the not-so-distant future...