Ballpark Saturday!!!

Last Saturday we went to an Oakland A's game to support their day for Autism Awareness.  It was a great day and nice to be able to sit with other families with kids with autism and know that we probably had the most patient section of stadium seats in the ballpark.  We get it, we understand it, and we accept it.

Nana and her boys.

View from our seats.  Not bad...but you will soon see, it will change just a bit.

Notice anything different?  We are now under the overhang and in jackets where the coldness has taken over our body.  Our seats in the above picture were smack dab in the sun and 70 degrees in a concrete jungle feels more like 90.  So, we headed up to the top of our section, through on our jackets and the free blankets they were giving away, and enjoyed the rest of the game.

Nana treated everyone to snow cones in a cup.  Best silence money can buy.

If you don't photobomb a selfie...you're just lame.

Fun day, fun people, fun game.  See you next year!

Hook, Line, Sinker.

I think I should write a book that is titled...You Know Your Boys Have Been To Nana's Bobbie's House Because________________. 

I imagine that they secretly get together and draw up their proposals on how they will pitch her their next big idea or plan.  Who will say what?  Who's in charge of internet research that will be presented?  Who comes in at the end to close the deal?  And, really, why wouldn't they?  I am pretty sure she has NEVER said no, which makes this whole process basically a sure thing. 

So, Operation Crab Fishing was brought to the boardroom (that's the kitchen table on a Thursday night at her house) about a month or so ago, and this was the text I got after the monsters laid out their spiel.  "Do you have any time over the break that you aren't doing anything?  The boys want to go crab fishing.  And Leath's friend lives in Half Moon Bay and people go crab fishing there."

Boys---67   Nana Bobbie---0   (I'd play those odds as well)

Bright and early---we are set to go!

So last Friday we (Nana, Aunt Leath, Matt, Ryan, and Mom) set out for a day of crabbing.  And because we are  "beginners", this is what we had in our car:

Lunch--check
Snacks--check
Fishing poles--check
Tackle boxes--check
Bait--check
A collapsible crab cage that we don't really know how to use--check
Refrigerated chest to bring home dinner--check
Change of clothes--check
Optimism--check

When we got to Joe and Karen's (friends of my Aunt's who live in Half Moon Bay and a block from the beach, who's jealous?), we soon realized that we would need to stop at a bait store just to make sure we had everything that we would need for the day.

When we arrived at the bait shop, it was clear that we needed "stuff".  Stuff like crab snares, bait, hooks...want me to keep going?  We had "rookies" written all over our faces, almost like a neon sign above our heads flashing, "They know nothing, sell them everything!"  However, the damage was not too bad and the man was super nice and helpful.  I think he felt sorry for us and customer service is obviously important to him.

We headed down the street to the Pacifica Pier.  Did I mention how gorgeous the day was?  We had originally planned for Wednesday, but had to postpone because of a storm.  So glad we did, because it was a perfect day.

So the nice man at the bait place told us to load the bait, drop the snare, wait 7-10 minutes and then pull up.  No joke....within 10 minutes of being there, we had hooked our first crab.  You would have thought we were filming an episode of the Deadliest Catch and the single crab we pulled in was what we were all retiring off of.

Squid.  Crabs snack of choice. 

Don't let that smile fool you.  He is here for the snacks only.

His fishing photo-op of the day.

All business.  Reeling in his first crab.

 

 Hey look....those $7 snare traps actually work.

After that first one, it was addictive.  I was grabbing squid, folding their little bodies in half like they were gummy worms, and stuffing them into the bait holder so that we could drop it as many times as necessary.  I think we counted a total of seven crab that were caught.  The first one was too small, so back to the drink it went.  And then we caught our keeper, that we "measured" so it would be an "acceptable" length to keep (we were keeping it regardless).  All others either broke free before they reached us, or crawled to their safety by taking a suicidal plunge back in the water on their own.

The money shot.  See this face folks?  This is the face of a happy boy.  A happy boy who is holding up a crab with a kitchen oven mitt.  We're professionals now, people....deal with it.

"Mom, stick the squid in quick.  The crab are eating!!!"

Just a peek over the ledge.  Gives you an idea of how high up we were and how we lost a few as they untangled themselves and dropped to safety.

Finally.  A keeper!

We kept telling each other to not look to closely at him because guilt could make us set him free.  "Don't get attached.  Don't get attached.  Don't get attached.  And whatever you do--don't name him!"

 Dinner. Party of One. 

 Aunt Leath---you are a rock star!  She was such a good sport to join us and we loved having her there.  And we are so sorry we couldn't share the crab due to the fact there wasn't enough to share....

 On to the next spot!  This place we would have never found on our own.  It pays to know the locals!

It was like we had the place to ourselves.

And who's grateful for the pair of boots my mom ordered and didn't fit in????  MEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Were you curious at all as to why we brought a change of clothes?  Curiosity, meet Ryan.  His mother knows him well.

So happy.

Ryan was obsessed! Hermit crabs galore!

Crab fishing in water that is 8 inches deep.  Go ahead and try and tell him it won't work.  Go on, I dare you.   He's exhausting some times.

 Final crab of the day.  He was so tiny.  This guy could have been a pet. :)

THANK YOU NANA!!!  WHAT AN AMAZING DAY!!!!!   WE LOVE YOU!!!

 And then this happened......

Is it me, or is he basically staring me down?  I can almost hear the thoughts going through his head and they aren't kind.  (As the song from the Little Mermaid is blaring in my head)

Don't care.  He was delicious!

We eat what we catch in this family!!!  (Okay, that was funny to write and funny to read)

So...what will our next adventure be?  What I don't understand is why they haven't asked to do a more in depth study of the migration patterns of the orca whales in the Pacific Ocean.  I mean, when is THAT going to be brought to the boardroom?  I am almost positive they have Carnival Cruises for things like that!!!!

"Be Conservative....and DON'T GO OVER!!!!!!

Last night was our last regular season Sharks game.  The last two games that we have gone to have been great because Matt was able to see his favorite player, Sidney Crosby, and last night's game Ryan was able to see his favorite player, Alexander Ovechkin.  And, right when we got there, we ran into friends!  Here are the boys with Ryan Streyle, who was there with his dad Todd (who I used to work with at Lakewood Drugs) and Ryan is currently in my class.  Small world.

After we took some pictures of the boys, we headed up and sat in our seats waiting for the game to start.  And then this happened!!!!!

Yep....that is Rich on the big screen (on the right), playing a game to try and win us seats down behind the players bench. 

The Sharks lady had come up to us and asked us if we liked our seats, I said yes, and she asked if we would like a chance to win closer seats. Duh!  We, of course,  jumped at the chance.  She said Rich would be competing against another family, playing a game to guess how many miles apart two random cities were.  Whoever the closest was, without going over, won the seats.  As soon as she walked away, Rich got out his phone and started putting in random cities to get an idea for distances.  After the national anthem, he was to go down and wait for a stoppage in play, and then he would be up.  She had said that we all could go down and wait with him, but I told him he was on his own.  I did not want to jinx him and be too confident with all of us going down, so we waited up top.  I also wanted to be able to video him on the screen.  As he was walking away, I turned and grabbed his arm and said, "Be conservative....and DON'T GO OVER!!!!"

He didn't go over.  :)

Totally unreal.  Not sure if you can hear me at the end screaming, and then saying...Let's Go!!!

Four tickets, two rows behind visitor bench.  To give you a little perspective, our seats are two rows from the top of the building.  This was a bit of an upgrade. 

Our view! 

And there is Ovechkin!

And to our right, the Sharks bench.  The security guard right to the left was the NICEST man.  He was so great with the boys and helped them out so that they could get contact with the players. 

I would like to say that Rich and I handled ourselves like adults, but we really were just as excited as the boys were. 

First goal of the game!!!!!

Right before the start of the 2nd period, here are the boys high-fiving the players. 

Puck drop at start of 2nd.

And he caught a t-shirt!!

 

And, we really can't say enough about the people that were sitting around us.  They were so great and excited for the kids.  The couple behind us sat and talked with us throughout the game and then bought the boys a dessert.   

Hello Brent.  :)

And the kicker to end the night!  The head coach of the Capitals, Adam Oates, turned and tossed a puck that just flew out of bounds to Matt.  The boys went nuts!  He was so cool and we were very grateful!!!

What a night.  To be completely honest, being that close was amazing, but I feel like we missed so much of the actual game because it was constant chaos down at that level.  There was constant movement with line changes and the speed of everything was much faster than it appears on TV.  Half the game we watched what was going on up on the big screen because we couldn't see through everyone.  I AM NOT COMPLAINING AT ALL...but those seats we have, two rows from the top, aren't bad either.  This was a total treat for our entire family.  I am so happy for Rich, because he really did have a lot of pressure riding on how well he did.  I told him on the way home, "I am really glad you won, because I really didn't want to hate you for losing us those seats."  My heart was pounding the entire time he was gone and he later told me his palms were sweaty and he was just as nervous.  We are very grateful to him for the big win!  What a night!  Just wished they had won.