May 17

I am, once again, really tired. It's been a good week, but it's also been a long week with lots of adventures. Good adventures, but they've still taken a toll on me. But anyhow.

Today Abby and I got up, secured coffee, and headed over to the Ag Center --where the reception following grandma's memorial service tomorrow-- will be held. We put out the photo boards we made this week along with some photo books and framed pictures, and then sprinkled candy on each table. (That was my idea since grandma, in her later years, was perpetually offering us something sweet -- "Want a piece of cake? Pie? How about a cookie? Some ice cream?" The kiddos could always count on Great Grandmother Connie to offer them some kind of tasty treat.)

Then we drove to BWI to pick up the male folk, since they got up before the crack of dawn to fly back so they could join us for tomorrow's activities. Then, because we had tickets to tonight's Orioles game, we headed in to Baltimore, accidentally sneaked into the parking lot (and then got permission to stay; all I can say is they need to do a better job of keeping the gates closed), had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory at the Inner Harbor, and then strolled over to the stadium. When we arrived there, I was reminded that it's important to always check individual stadium policies because my purse was about an inch too big to be allowed inside; after a moment of panic, we rented a little locker that was available and the crisis was promptly averted. 

We collected our game day giveaways --some pretty sweet replica jerseys-- and found our seats, and then enjoyed a pretty great game: lots of offense for the O's and not much for Seattle. It was the kids' first time at OPACY (Oriole Park at Camden Yards) and my first time there in a long, long while (the last time I got Miguel Tejada to sign a baseball card), so it was fun to re-experience it with my people. The bros were particularly amused by Gunnar Henderson's walk-up music ("The Sweet Escape") and their faces broke into huge grins every time something exciting happened on the field (which was often. I don't think Adam nor I had even seen two triples followed by two doubles And the 9-2 final score was nice, too). Isaac --our resident Oakland A's fan-- seemed just as excited as Brady, who is my fellow Oriole lover. Every time there was a hit or a run scored, I glanced over at their faces and they absolutely glowed with genuine enthusiasm. Even Abby was into it after a few innings.

And now, we're back at grandma's house for the night. I'm not entirely sure if I'm ready for tomorrow, but I'm sure it will be a good day to remember grandma and the blessing she's been to all of us. So for the chance to be with family and the chance to reminisce about a wonderful woman who meant a lot to me, I'm thankful.