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.

Entry 485: Need To Go To The Boats

Before we start this post, here is a little Bella update. Bella is doing fine and her incision is healing nicely. She is back to her rambunctious self, which makes it much more difficult to control her running and jumping. Whenever she has to go out, Lance has to leash her up and walk her to make sure she doesn't run. Lance is not happy when Bella gets up at 2 in the morning needing to go out and he personally can't wait until she is fully healed. Hopefully by now everyone knows that we have season tickets to the Kansas City Royals. This is our third year of having season tickets and we have pretty much done everything we can there: we have both been on the big screen, we have both played games on the big screen and won prizes, we have been chosen to go to the Stub Hub seats (moved to better seats), and Julie has even won the Budweiser Good Sport winner. There are really only three tings that we still want to do: catch a hot dog during the hot dog launch, be in the hot dog race, and to be on the Kiss Cam. This weekend we accomplished two of these three goals. Lance has a friend, Marty, who runs one of the cameras at the stadium and he always tells Marty to get him on the kiss cam. Marty always tells him that he is working on it, but on Friday night he made it happen. For those who don't know the Kiss Cam is something they do between innings where they put a camera on an "unsuspecting" couple and hopefully they kiss. This is always a crowd favorite because in the end they put on an old couple and they kiss which makes the crowd go crazy because who doesn't like to see old people kiss. They started doing the Kiss Cam on Friday and the next thing we knew they had us on camera. At first Julie tried pushing Lance away, but Lance persisted and the crowd went crazy (well Lance may be exaggerating that last part, but it felt like it to him). Then today Lance caught a hot dog during the hot dog launch. The hot dog launch is where thy basically throw hot dogs in the stands. Lance waved his hands like he always does and low and behold if they didn't throw him one. Of course Lance wasn't going to eat the hot dog because who knows where its been, so he gave it to a little kid in front of him. Now I am thinking we need to go to the boats because lady luck seems to be shining on us.

Entry 484: Four Blissful Years

Today marks the four year anniversary of us getting married. We sat down and thought about all of the big things that have happened to us during this time and we thought we would share some of them with you: * We were able to see Julie's sister Carolyne and Lance's sister Jacque get married. * We lost two very important people; Julie's aunt Jackie and Lance's mom Kay. * We have both changed jobs. * We have been able to welcome the arrival of our three new nephews. * We have done some many improvements to the house that we have lost count. * We have added Bobby and Bella to the household. * We have made so many new fantastic friends. Those are some of the ones we came up with off the top of our heads, but the one thing that has never changed for us is how much we still love each other. Just to jog some memories below are some videos we have from the wedding.

Entry 483: Bella's Big Day

Today is the S day for Bella; that's right she is getting spayed. We dropped her off at the vet this morning at 7, and they just called Julie and told her that everything went fine. The game plan is for Lance to watch the two bigger dogs (Bobby and Maggie) tonight while Julie takes care of Bella. We will keep everyone updated and get ready for pictures because Bella will have to be wearing an Elizabethan collar. UPDATE Bella is finally home and she looks to be doing well. She can't do any unnecessary running or jumping for the next 5-7 days, so that should be fun. She is also on some pain meds that we inject in her mouth.

Entry 482: Happy Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day to the two greatest men that we know, Kent and Paul. We are lucky to have the both of you in our lives.