Spring Training

After years of only hearing about the fun Spring Training trips Rock and I finally got to tag along.  Rock got to ride the train over to Seattle, met up with Uncle Nick and then later with me on the way to SeaTac.  He found himself a cozy window seat and settled in for a fun ride.

The first day of practice was Superman day.  He loved running around with the cape flowing and getting the players' attention so that Uncle Nick could swoop in and get an autograph.

Rock was pretty effective bait and they were able to get some good autographs during practice.

One of the things that he really wanted to do was see a cactus.  He saw one and it was everything that he hoped it would be.

He became BFFs with Tom Wilhelmsen and said hi to him every time he walked past our seats.

Rissa is good at making big promises to Rock, that's why we had to go to a party store after the game and find Rock a ninja costume.  He wore it to Chino Bandido and ate his food like a ninja.

Watching practice was fun because you get to see the guys trying to make different kinds of plays and you get a pretty good idea of their skills and talents.

Rock liked the games and their ice cold lemonades more than practice.

Rock has seemed to really enjoy all the baseball, but by the time we get home in the evenings he is pretty worn out.

 He has been refreshed and ready to go in the mornings, sometimes a little too refreshed and ready to go. 

Rissa seems pretty excited to see him and steal his ice cream.

Rock is good at sharing but still tries to make her earn it.

After Superman day and Ninja day he chose Mariner day for the last one.

He did get a lot of attention as a baseball player, especially because he looks like such a little stud.

He took a little while to warm up to saying hi to players, but usually his Aunt Rissa was being a bad influence and trying to get him to attract the attention of 'cute' players instead of ones worth saying hello to.

One of the players made a good play in drills an Rock yelled "good job!" loud enough for other players and coaches to hear.  One of the coaches came over and threw a ball to Rock.  He was pretty proud of himself.

Yesterday we met one of the Rangers players who lived with Aunt Kay Lynn a few years ago.  He gave Rock one of his broken bats which went along nicely with his new ball.

While we were watching batting practice Felix Hernandez came up to the cage and started chatting with another player.  Rock yelled "Hi Felix!" which earned a wave and a hello from the King.  Rock then asked if he would sign his ball and Felix said sure thing and came right over.  Rock was pretty proud of his fishing job and new signature. 

 The Mariners' official twitter tweeted a picture of Rock with Felix and the hoard of people that came to benefit from Rock's hard work.  Can you see little Rock there in the front?

 Even Uncle Nick got a card autographed thanks to Rock's benevolence.

"Hi Mom, how are you?  I can't talk, I'm too busy being the freaking man down here!"

He was rewarded with delicious chicken nuggets, waffle fries and a strawberry shake from some hole in the wall that his mother has never heard of.

He looked the perfect part for the game in the afternoon.

"Mmm...delicious ice cream."

Nick's old roommate Blake was there to see the M's beat down on the Dodgers.

For dinner we went to Abuelos and Rock ended up with three beverages. 

He tried to drink them all, but instead realized that a water-Sprite-chocolate milk was not very good.