redsfest

we lucked out this year with two, two-day passes to redsfest. the whole fam headed down on friday night, and then joe and uncle bill took greta and otto on saturday.
it was super packed and super overstimulating, but super fun. otto loved it, but he barely smiled the whole time and was just looking around with big wide eyes (see exhibit A of otto in the pic with greta getting her autograph from zach cozart).
the kids got to see a whole bunch of stuff, including mr redlegs, gapper, and joey votto. they got their picture taken with bronson arroyo and heard zach cozart read a story. they ran the bases, hit balls, and jumped in a bouncy house.
but the best part was probably either the ice cream or the bags and bags of loot. and by that, i mean just all sorts of reds paraphenalia. the kids have been playing "redsfest", which consists of laying these papers out all over the floor and couch, packing them up in their backpacks, and then finding a new place to lay them out again. GO REDS!

bronson arroyo

a
a few weeks ago, our whole family plus ellie, jacob,and grandpa hansbauer, headed down to the ballpark for yet another reds game. on this particular day, the giveaway for kids was "bronson arroyo plush doll". we had been telling the kids about this doll, and they were super excited. they like to call it by its full name, such as, "have you seen my bronson arroyo plush doll?" ellie didn't want hers, so we actually ended up with three. and poor bronson(s). within a few minutes of being home, all three of them were stripping naked. they've sat in the bumbo seat, been fed raisins in the car, and most recently i caught greta breastfeeding one of them. hilarious.

seeing red

so our kids dress themselves. and on this particular day, they were going to the REDs game. clearly, they take supporting their home team very seriously. monochromatically, some might say. wow.....

is this johnny cueto?

a few reds games ago, the giveaway was a pack of reds baseball cards. these have quickly become quite a popular "toy" in our house. the kids like to look at them and ask who each player is,what position they play, etc. they've gotten a lot of the names down, and it's hilarious to hear otto say things like, "is this brandon phillips? is this edinson volquez?"

baker's dozen

from RIGHT to left: greta, joe, otto, jessica, shamus, john, and roman. not pictured: melanie and selma.

so back in winter/early spring, joe had the foresight to purchase a set of reds tickets called the 'baker's dozen' after manager dusty baker. the tickets are for 13 (get it? baker's dozen?! ha ha) sunday afternoon reds games. even though the kids will miss their naps with the 1pm gametime, it's still probably the best option for taking kids to the games. joe went down and scouted out where our seats would be, and he picked out some perfect ones. right along the first base line (foul ball territory) and the seats are covered, keeping us out of the sun and rain. for our first game this season, my brother and his family headed with us to the ballpark and we had a blast!!
the kids enjoyed plenty of peanuts and cotton candy! and the coolest thing about these tickets is that it has made reds baseball, which joe and i both love, a big part of our family. the kids have been singing "take me out to the ballgame" and "god bless america" (which they call 'american') nonstop. greta also asked joe to teach her how to play baseball, and now she and otto will play....setting out bases and hitting triples and homeruns and then pretending there are fireworks. go reds!

reds opening day

we love opening day in cincinnati. it's like a holiday, with all sorts of hype and tradition. when greta was just 6 months old, she attended her first opening day, and both she and otto have attended every opening day since then. with selma being only 5 weeks old, we weren't sure if she would make it to her first opening day. and with my c-section recovery being a bit rough this time around, we were thinking maybe selma and i should just watch the festivities from the couch this year.
but then my doctor cleared me from the restrictions i had been under, and the forecast warmed up a bit (to the low 50s), so we decided to brave it. all 5 of us headed downtown, with the plan that selma and i would stay as long as we could and then head home. but it was so much fun, and she was warm and toasty (unlike the rest of us) in both her carseat and the sling. we all made it through the parade and until the bottom of the 7th inning.
i think the kids' favorite part of the day was the parade. both greta and otto were loving the horses, dance troupes, bands, and mascots at the parade. selma pretty much slept through the whole day.....
we should have stayed til the end of the game, because in true reds fashion, they won the game in with a walk off home run!! go reds!!

go reds!

went to a game with the nawroths (thanks again!) and had so much fun! greta's favorite part was probably the peanuts. my favorite was the pretzel sticks. we were out WAY past bedtime, which might have been part of the cause of the horrific morning we had at gymnastics the next day. but no matter. go reds! greta and otto were holding hands walking back to our car and it was too cute. everytime i took a picture, they let go. and then everytime i was in between shots, they would hold hands again. i have about 10 blurry shots of them walking and NOT holding hands. but you get the idea.....

reds game

after our day at the splash park, we headed to GABP to watch the reds....we had some killer seats so we were able to enjoy all the luxuries the diamond club seats have to offer. for our kids, that meant chowing down on the buffet and then ice cream and peanuts when we got to our seats. joe taught otto to raise his arm triumphantly when someone says, "GO REDS!", and that trick never got old. we left in the 5th inning, but i think the kids would've stayed longer (and enjoyed more ice cream) if it wasn't WAY past their bedtime. good thing we didn't try to stay til the end...the reds lost in the 11th. thanks deanna for such great seats!!

opening day 2010

another reds opening day in the books. this one was pretty perfect, except for that the reds lost. the weather could not have been better. we were able head down early and enjoy the findlay market parade before heading to the game. our seats were fantastic (and under cover = shade!) and we had a blast! we also loved sharing the experience with some great friends....the gillards, the arthurs, and the burkholders were able to join us at the game. there were 15 people total for 8 seats (8 adults and SEVEN kids under 3!!) but all the kids were awesome and we all had so much fun! this was otto's first reds opening day and greta's third....can't wait til next year!

Reds v Brewers

Our last Reds game as a single child family.  Greta had a great time hanging out with Brad, Brig and Gabby.  We had amazing seats three rows behind the Reds Dugout.  

Click below to see pics... 

Reds Brewers Game

kids day at the ballpark

saturday was greta's second outing to great american ballpark to see the reds play. the weather forecast looked gloomy, but we ended up having perfect weather! and all the kids made it to the end of the game, even though it went into extra innings! here are some pics from the day. be sure to check out greta with her cool shades, greta and jack, greta and gavin, and a group photo with most of us (the gillards, the arthurs, the hansbauers, and the metzs. the nawroths and the mercurios had already headed home). go redlegs!!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

So Greta went to her first game, which also happened to be Reds Opening Day, which is very much a Cincinnati Holiday.



I was very excited to take Greta to her first game. I am sure that next year will be more fun as she'll have some idea that there's a field and people are on it... might not understand baseball yet, but she'll at least know there's a field.



First we had swung by Fountain Square to drop in on the Give Back Cincinnati party, and grab some lunch at Pot Belly's...


Then it was off to the game, after waiting out the rain shower for a little bit... Greta enjoyed the fan zone, and has an uncanny resemblance to Lou Pinella


Greta found baseball to be very relaxing!


She put on the rally cap, but it was to no avail!


And one last family portrait before heading out to go home and take a nap