Firsts

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First times are so special. We remember our first kiss, our first lover, our first car. Sometimes we get so focused on the big ‘firsts’ that we forget about the smaller ones and enjoy them for what they are.

Last night I took my youngest daughter, my son and his girlfriend to the home opener for this season of the Atlanta Braves (baseball for those of you living in a cave). It was a gorgeous spring evening, our spirits were high, and we set out in the hopes we would be early enough to snag the dollar seats.Yes, we were going without tickets. Crazy but adventurous!

Of course, Atlanta being what it is (what it is is one hot mess of a traffic nightmare), means that you leave early….and learn back roads. Thank goodness for my Martha. Martha Stewart, my GPS Navigation system, that is. My son named it Martha Stewart around the time the real Martha was having a few tax troubles and was on the news often. He claimed that first nav unit sounded like her. It stuck, and so now we have Martha telling us where to go and rerouting when I let her know that I know of an even quicker way. And often, I do know a quicker way. I know these roads and seldom get lost, so when I jumped off the interstate last night and took to hitting back streets, my kids were not worried but surprised in the end when we avoided so much traffic. I love that my daughter said I do better than Martha in getting us where we need to be!

Katie and Homer

After getting to the stadium, parking as close as possible, we make it to the gate to watch the last bunch of dollar seats being sold right in front of us! After a brief pow-wow with the kids, and drying of some tears of a kid who thought the game wasn’t going to happen for us, we decided to go ahead and buy what they had to offer and enjoy our self. And enjoy we did!

The energy was great in the stadium, everyone in the huge crowd was happy and smiling because baseball was back in town! After walking to our seats, sitting for a bit then deciding we still had 2 1/2 hours to burn before game time, we decided to walk around and enjoy the goings on.

The Civil Wars are playing somewhere down in that crowd

First, The Civil Wars https://thecivilwars.com/ was playing for the crowds. I didn’t know who they were, but my daughter immediately did so we stood for a moment or two to listen. Afterwards, she got her face painted. ‘A’ for Atlanta, in the Braves traditional red, white and blue.  We checked out the Taco Mac sponsored Family Zone, but it was full of much smaller kids and lots of noise, so we pressed on.

Besides traffic, one thing Atlanta has a lot of is radio stations. If there was ever a time for the station to set up a booth and broadcast live, it is definitely the Braves’ home opener! After checking out a few booths, we stumbled upon my normal morning radio station, Q100, www.q100Atlanta.com and they talked us into playing a game or two. All the kids played, all won. Movie passes to the new movie, The Pirates! https://www.thepirates-movie.com/  plus a few silly things like eye patches, coloring books (because yes, even big kids color) and fake tattoos.  After posing for a picture for the station, it was time for this mom to have an adult beverage and food was starting to cross our minds. So off we go again, Jordan and Danielle head one way, Katie and I another. After nearly walking completely around the stadium and checking every stand for something Miss Picky would like to eat, I finally call it when we get to the kielbasa, brats and sausage cart. Kielbasa for me, Italian sausage for her, which she eats 3 bites of. Mine was delicious. I was also starving and every ball games needs a hot dog and chips. And a beer! Now I was happy!!

Mom’s drink

Checking out line up.

Back to our seats in time for the calling out of the line-up where Jordan and Danielle rejoined us after eating at the Chop House (which they said was delicious and Katie and I were secretly jealous about) and then the game was on! A great game, it was, too. Braves win! (And we win, too, because of a home-run in the giveaway inning; free Moe’s burritos today to all ticket holders!)

Ready to chop!

Moccasins: The official shoe of all Braves fans! 😉

Me and my girl

After the game and the walk back to the car, Katie is going on and on about how she loved her first ever home opener and she wants to do it every single year from now on. Jordan and Danielle both agree how fun it was and then say it was their first time to experience a home opener, too. Now Jordan, I could have swore that I had taken him to an opening game when he was younger, but if he doesn’t remember, it didn’t happen. Last night was his first, as was his little sister’s. And it was my first time seeing them enjoy their first home opener. I’m hoping it will definitely not be my last. It was a simple thing, just a ball game, but in the eyes of a child it was awesome. Something to remember forever. I like that, because I am a fan of making more good memories in life instead of bad ones. Go Braves!