Entry 495: St. Louis Trip

Two weeks ago we went to St. Louis to celebrate Julie's dads birthday. We had a great time catching up with them and we all went to the Lantern Festival at Shaw's Garden. As you can see from the video below it was really amazing.

Entry 494: Bella Problem

Look at this little dog, how can you not love it? Well don't let the cuteness fool you because under that ridiculously cute exterior lies a holy terror. During the weekdays we are up by 5:30 at the latest and this suits Bella well because she starts getting up then and playing with the other two dogs. It works well for all of us, but on the weekends we run into some problems. Julie decided that she really likes Bella to sleep with us which is fine because she sleeps really well and doesn't bother us. Once 5:30 rolls around though it is a different story. Once Bella is awake she will come and lick us both in the face continually until we are both awake (let me tell you that there is nothing worse than being in a deep sleep and being awoken by a tongue in the face). Lance lets her out, but by this time Bella is wide awake and keeps right on licking us in the face for a good 2 hours. Now your probably thinking, why don't you just put her on the floor??? Great idea that we have tried, but unfortunately she will sit by the bed and bark and also jump at the covers pulling them down. Quite the smart dog. So right now Bella is playing some major havoc with our sleep patterns.

Entry 493: Pictures

Here are some pictures that we took of each other at the All Star Game.

Entry 492: All Star Game

Tuesday night was the culmination of two and a half years of waiting. We had a feeling that the All Star Game was going to be coming to Kansas City, so we began buying season tickets to make sure that we would be part of it. We were so excited that we decided to show up early and tailgate with friends to celebrate the game. We grilled shrimp, lemon chicken, and beans. Julie also made her famous German Potato Salad which made the meal fabulous. The game was everything that we could of hoped for and more. Julie's favorite part was the player introductions and Lance's favorite part was wearing the free shirts that were given out so that the stadium would look like a flag. Enjoy the video below with the pictures that we took.

Entry 491: New Back Door

Our back door seriously needed to be replaced because it would stick when you would try to close it and the dog completely tore up the shades that were above it. Julie found a door that she liked and Lance finally relented and let her buy it. We ended up getting a Pella sliding glass door that has the shades inside the door, so this way the dogs can't mess them up.

Here is where they took the old door out. They had to put all new trim on the inside and outside of the door.

Entry 490: Home Run Derby

Monday night was the All Star Workout Day and Home Run Derby and we were both really excited for it. We decided to tailgate which is always fun, but Lance decided to show people his disappointment that Billy Butler was not in the home run derby.

A little background knowledge for those of you who don't know the whole Billy Butler home run derby saga. The man who chose who was going to compete in the home run derby was a man named Robinson Cano who plays for the Yankees. He said twice in May during television interviews that he would pick a Royals slugger if he was chosen for the All Star Game. Well Billy Butler was chosen for the All Star Game and he currently has 16 home runs and for some reason Cano went back on his word and didn't chose him for the home run derby. All of Kansas City was upset and Lance was one of them as you can see from his sign above. The home run derby was fun and 40,000 people booed Robinson Cano which was amazing to see. The highlight for both of us though was listening to the Zac Brown Band before the derby.

Entry 489: Celebrity Softball Game

Lance was really looking forward to seeing the Celebrity Softball Game because a lot of the players that he loved watching when he was younger were playing in this game. He was really excited about seeing Andre Dawson, Rick Sutcliffe, and Ozzie Smith (can you tell that he was a big Cubs fan back in the days). He was not disappointed because he got to see a lot of homers and some good plays from his childhood heroes. The MVP of the game was one of the Wounded Warriors Softball players.

Entry 488: Mascots

Julie really enjoys the mascots at games, so she was in heaven because as they were getting ready for the Celebrity Softball Game the Royals mascot Slugger decided to have a dance party with some of the other mascots. The other mascots were from the Mariners, Rays, Blue Jays, and Marlins. Julie's favorite part was when Slugger played the song, Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen and the mascots danced around holding up their phone numbers. Lance's favorite was te finale when Slugger played The Time Of My Life from Dirty Dancing and recreated the part where Baby jumps into Johnny's arms, except Slugger jumped nto the mascots arms (for those that don't remember this here is the clip from Dirty Dancing that shows the scene). Poor Slugger though was unfortunately dropped by the mascots after jumping in their arms though. Julie loved the whole thing.

Slugger getting ready to start his dance party.

The Mariner Moose busting a move.

The mascots from the Marlins, Blue Jays, and Rays.

The Mariner Moose with his provocative pose.

The mascots holding up their numbers.

Slugger being dropped during the big finish.

Slugger is looking to kick some major mascot butt.

Entry 487: Futures Game

There were many things happening during the Futures/Celebrity Softball game today, so we decided to break it down into parts. The first thing we saw at the stadium today was the Futures game which pit the World against the United States. This is a same where the best minor league players are on the same field playing each other. We were excited because the Royals top two prospects (outfielder Wil Myers and pitcher Jake Odorizzi) were playing and starting. Julie was naturally rooting for USA, but Lance decided to be different and root for the World. Lance was disappointed again when the World lost 17-5. I think that 9 run inning that the World gave up was really the killer.

The All Star Game logo on the field.

The Pepsi Fan Cam where fans are chosen to sit in the air conditioned can.

The crown cut into the outfield grass.

The flags from all of the countries that were playing for the world in the Futures game.

Bernie Williams managed the World team.

Yordano Ventura, a minor league pitcher for the Royals.

George Brett managed Team USA.

Wil Myers, a stud minor leaguer for the Royals.

Jake Odorizzi, a minor league pitcher for the Royals, started the game for Team USA.

Entry 486: Fan Fest

We have been planning for this event for 3 years and it is finally here: MLB All Star Game weekend. As many of you know we are huge (that is probably a big understatement) baseball fans; particularly the Royals. Three years ago we had a pretty good idea that MLB was going to be awarding the Royals an All Star Game, so we decided that this was something we really wanted to do and started becoming season ticket holders to make sure it would happen. Well our intuition was right and Kansas City is hosting the All Star Game and all of the activities which we are going to be lucky enough to go to. Sunday we are going to the Futures Game/Celebrity Softball Game, Monday is the Home Run Derby, and Tuesday is the actual All Star Game. Today though we had the chance to go to Fan Fest. Our All Star Game package came with 4 tickets to Fan Fest and Lance was able to secure one more, so we decided to invite Lance's stepbrother and family to go with us. We really enjoy hanging out with them and they have a son who is a big baseball fan and we figured this would be great for him. We all went in with different game plans; Julie wanted to get Bo Jackson's autograph and Lance wanted to see everything there was and get a few autographs. We both accomplished our mission. Julie did get a chance to meet Bo Jackson and get his autograph, but it was quite the ordeal. Bo Jackson was signing at 2:00 and at 10:30 when we were getting ready to get Mike Sweeney's autograph, Julie asked the security guy what he knew about the Bo Jackson signing and the guy said that people had already started lining up for that. Lance decided that Julie could get the autograph herself, so he went with his stepbrother and friend and went to find the autograph line. We found the line and were told that they only guaranteed the first 100 people an autograph and Julie was lucky enough to be number 93. So we (Lance for a half hour and Julie for three) basically waited in line for 3 1/2 hours to get Bo's autograph and the kicker is that the only thing he would sign was a picture and nothing else. This was the highlight of the Fan Fest for Julie though. The rest of the Fan Fest we got a few more autographs, got baseball cards made of ourselves, got our picture next to the World Series trophy, bought a few pins, got tons of free stuff, and did a little bit of shopping. It was an absolute great time. Enjoy some of the pictures.

Bo Jackson signing autographs.

Bo Jackson still signing autographs.

Jeff Montgomery

Our picture with Lance's nephew next to the World Series trophy.

Lance's nephew next to a Gold Glove.