Episode XVII

Whoa! Look at the time. Where has it all gone? Major apologies for the extended break.

2nd & Charles
So what was supposed to be a trip to the ballpark turned out to be a much shorter trip to a used book store.

The weather on Thursday morning was questionable at best. The skies were cloudy and the temperature was a mild 70 degrees. An overall decent day to go see a baseball game. As we got ready that morning, we began to discuss our baseball game choices. Baltimore was playing at home, while the Frederick Keys were playing a short drive down in my old stomping grounds of Prince William County (the Potomac Nationals).

Carleigh got all excited and started saying, "go see a baseball game." (Which is cute in and of itself.) And we kept reassuring her that we were going. But we had to make a choice. Option A) Drive further and pay an overall cheaper price (tickets plus concessions) and see the Keys play the Nationals -- or -- Option B) drive to Baltimore, and pay higher prices. Since Carleigh was going to be free at either park we decided we'd go see the Orioles take on the Rays, but the game wasn't until 7pm so we had some time to kill.

So we drove across town to grab some lunch, which was good despite the fact that they messed up my burger. Afterwards we noticed that a new store had taken over the vacated Borders store. 2nd & Charles is a used entertainment store, with tons of used books, dvds, cds, and other items. With a couple of hours still to kill we decided to take a look and were pleasantly surprised by their variety. Unknowingly we had come in on the day of their Grand Opening, so everything was pristine and in order -- making it a much better choice than the only other used book store in town, Wonder Books.

While browsing through their items Courtney and Carleigh found several books that they wanted to get. Carleigh especially gets upset when you try to take a book away from her. This is great because that'll hopefully mean she'll like reading more as she grows older. Courtney on the other hand has been reading two books at a time, and is slowly working her way through our limited library. She wanted to try using the eReader on the new tablet I got for my birthday, but downloading these books has proven difficult. So she picked up a copy of the first Twilight novel. To which I lovingly grabbed the other three books in the series, and said she had a choice. Either buys the books OR go to the game (apparently this was a day of choices). She choose the books -- so much for an evening at the ballpark.

A Love of the Game
Speaking of baseball, last year was Carleigh's first baseball game. My parents were in town for a week and we decided to go to a game. Once again we had the choice of an Orioles game or a Keys game. My dad didn't want to drive all the way out to Baltimore so I called up the Keys to inquire about tickets. They had some sort of deal where you could get an All-You-Can-Eat buffet, plus drinks and seats to the game. I forget the cost, but it definitely made it worthwhile.

Ever since they I believe Carleigh has begun to develop a love for sports. I'm certain that she has no clue what is actually going on, who to route for, or even who's playing, but she cheers the teams along. During that game last year she got to try several different ballpark fare, and got to walk around the stadium, enjoying the sights and sounds of America's Favorite Pastime.

Recently I've seen this love of sports grow, as she now asks to watch football or baseball on any given day. The other day we were sitting around watching TV, and with nothing else on I decided to turn on the Nationals' game. They were playing the Mets, and I tried to tell Carleigh the difference between the two teams. Again she just sat there and cheered, but for who it doesn't matter. She said something like, "nice catch" or "nice throw", bringing a large smile to my face.

I love how she's attached herself to things that i enjoy too. She even wants to sit with me when I gamemaster an RPG. Rolling the dice and drawing on my character sheets are two of her favorite activities. She'll also watch old TV shows with me, most recently Sliders and MacGyver. Though I doubt she cares what's going on, she is at least visually content with appeasing my desires to watch old TV shows.

What it probably amounts to is that she just wants to spend time with me, and I'm fine with that!