Take me to the ballpark!

Before I was distracted by the back-to-back school incidents (one we played down, and the other, did I go overboard to try and reap learning points from?), here's what I was going to post from the other day.

That was when we went with some of Vern's schoolfriends, to catch everyone's favourite baseball team, the Cardinals, play a home game.



It was our second experience at the ballpark, but this time, at the new Busch Stadium that was opened with great fanfare earlier last year. Up till then, we've only seen it from the outside, whenever we drove by the area. (Now the city's not where we usually go, because it is infamous for its second highest crime rate in the country; well, at least for those shadier parts than others, that you would not want to wander to).



Then vs Now

Two years ago, our first time at the ballpark:




More pictures from the other day, our second experience:




The new ballpark boasts an awesome, even less obstructed view of the Gateway Arch in the background, that the rebuilding around its old premises must have taken into careful consideration.



And now, it also has what sounded like a topnotch sound system that'd bring the house down, with cheers of "Charge!" or "Go!", every time the bugle sounded, to signal a Redbird stepping up to the plate to bat!



I didn't always get what was going on, and it helped that now Jon who'd played one season of baseball with the school last year, could get me to follow the game better. But there was quite enough going on, to keep me quite erm, glued to my seat. Good for me, we brought our camera, so I had something else to do on the sides!

But you wouldn't want to leave before the sixth inning, because there would be that fun stretch break that would be your chance to keep those muscles from getting cramped! Not that you, and the kids especially, would really stay glued to your seats throughout the game, that by the way, could stretch to as long as 13 innings!



And of course, who'd want to miss out on that Take Me to the Ballpark song, to sing along to, as well? It was probably the best part of the spectator participation, besides those in-between innings' ad messages and sponsored contests.




But yes, things haven't changed all that much from our first experience (other than Ben having lost those chubby cheeks, and yes, yes, we're all older now!), that if you want to read about, here it is: Go Cards!

And if I may quote our dear friend D, "Baseball games are 1/3 ballgame, 1/3 food, and 1/3 socializing!"

So while the Cards played poorly that evening, and we left after the 7th inning (and they eventually lost -- the score was 18 to 1, but at least the Cardinals scored something towards the end!), it was a nice evening out! And like every one else here in "Cardinals' nation", we are still rooting for the Redbirds!

Was, is, and will be... once a Cardinals fan, always a Cardinals fan! Go, Cards, go!

Ben bitten

Ben was bitten by a classmate, on his left fist.

The bit that was bitten looks OK by the time I saw it, though the teacher was really apologetic when she met me along the hallway, to tell it to me first before I got to the classroom. I was already in school, when the teacher said she had something to tell me. I hadn't known about the incident.

Ben cried a lot when it happened, because it must have hurt. He had asked his friend to stop, but his friend didn't let go. The teacher, recounting the incident to me, looked like she was close to tears.

I hadn't seen Ben at that point, but I knew he was in good hands -- under the charge of this teacher, who'd told us parents right from the beginning, that she would take care of our children like her own.

She looked like she'd had a bad day. And I just wanted her to know, "It's OK. Things like this happen when kids come together.". And now, I'm just thinking to myself, the sovereignty of our Lord, that I easily take for granted. But He is watching over our children, and especially when we can't be there for them.

Before the schoolday ended, the teacher sent the poor little guy who bit Ben home. His mom called us soon after, and Vern who took the call also told her not to worry about it. Her child was upset about being sent home, and she was relieved that it was a good sign. That the consequence was beginning to see results.

So, what was it that Ben's friend wanted? The teacher said it could be to play some basketball hoop and balls that Ben and a few other classmates were turning into a popcorn machine of sorts, and Ben had been the one hanging onto the hoop to "pop" the balls off it.

Ben said his friend didn't ask to have a turn, and just attacked Ben's hand all of a sudden. But we weren't there, no one's perfect, and to give his friend the benefit of the doubt, he might have been standing around waiting for a turn, just that Ben or the others were not quite done yet with theirs.

Whatever the scenario, turn-taking and sharing are not easy, especially for kids this age. And sometimes, when we least expect it, they do exactly what we tell them not to.

Childhood Memories

When I was little, slightly older than Ben, on the first day I switched to a new kindergarten because we'd moved house, this girl with long hair and big eyes took a pair of scissors (goodness knows from where!) and snipped a small triangle out of the skirt portion of my pinafore, that was the school uniform.

No kidding, on that first day, that very first time, I'd donned a uniform, because the previous play-and-play school didn't have any. I don't remember us making a big deal out of it, or if we even got an apology from her or her mom. My mom had just stitched up the two flapping sides of the triangle, and I'd gone on (from that day on) to "label" that girl as hoity toity! And I think she might have been the teacher's pet!

Why she was wielding the scissors at me, I never really found out. And I was quite the wimp, and didn't even go tell on her to the teacher! Was I a "threat" to her? Couldn't be. Maybe she just needed to show off her "prowess" to me, the latest addition to the class! Oh, and good or not so fortunate for me, I had had to be sitting right beside her!

The things we remember from our own childhood, that sometimes crop up in our children's lives, now. Like it's right under my nose! And the other day, seeing Ben, who didn't know I was looking, poke a straw up his nostril, I thought back about how my younger sis, when she was about his age, was sitting in a corner during her birthday celebrations, sniffing a bunch of groundnuts.

Except no one saw her do that, until she thought she might have sucked one up her nostril! The party had to end, of course, with the mad rush to the ER, and my dad seething because no one had been watching her. She was fine, thank God, and we never did find out if a single nut went inside her nose, or if it had taken the normal course like most things consumed by our bodies.

That de ja vu, as if I'm reliving portions of my childhood. Or memories from a yesterday, that doesn't seem like it was eons ago. Ever feel like that?

Memories are made of these

Around this time, three years ago:
Jon, Ben, and me outside our previous place, shortly after we got here together with my husband.


More special moments between then and now:
Fun times with Melvin and Gerrie, at outings and gatherings with the other Singaporeans, including those who've since moved off and on to greener pastures.

Melvin and Gerrie are now back in home sweet home Singapore, just in time to celebrate its 42nd birthday! We got to enjoy their company, longer than usual, when they stayed with us over the weekend, before leaving St Louis for good. But why'd the two days have to go by so quickly? I asked this, too, not just Jon and Ben!

We wish this wonderful couple the very best in their new endeavours!

Yes, if you haven't guessed by now, I am a sentimental person, but I do a terrible job of keeping in touch. So it'll be nice when those of you without blogs (but unbeknownst to me visit this blog now and then), start your own too. And then I can be privy to what's going on in your lives too, when we don't email each other as often as we should!

Does that sound like a good plan? =)

Zooooom!

Three weeks have come and gone, and my father is on his way back to Singapore, right now as I blog!

In some ways, it was a vacation for him, and for us, too. Going places, and revisiting the one or two attractions he likes!

But it was definitely more than just a vacation. It was a time of bonding, and rebonding.


We miss him already. Jon wanted Gong Gong to come and visit us again next month, and better yet, Ben asked, why not "tomorrow?"!


For Gong Gong, like he did two years ago, coming to stay with us albeit for just three weeks, he saw all our good days and bad, and not just our house at its messiest, but also whether every one was getting along fine or not so well! Also how much prodding Jon needed to sit down to some reading and writing, and how Ben, Fashion Maven #2 in the making, could take up to one hour to pick his outfit for the day.

Most of all, my father couldn't have not noticed how much the boys have grown! Why, I am amazed myself, every time I look back and wonder, wasn't it not too long ago, when I did this and that for Jon? And now, Ben's wearing the shirts and pants that Jon was wearing when we first got here, and Ben is riding Jon's bike, and pretty soon (not too quickly, I hope), he's going to be like his big brother and tell me to stop showing him any sign of affection in front of his friends!

Why do I blog? As a way of storing up precious memories like these, and that's also why I take tons of pictures, and no excuse not to what with the convenience of a digital camera! Before, on my old blog, I didn't show any images to begin with, but as time went by, I realised pictures can speak more than words, and there are memories captured in them that I want to treasure always. So once I started over there, it's been no end to my posting pictures since!

And for that same reason, I couldn't not let my Pa take back with him an album of the photos taken with us these last few weeks, never mind that the prints were just simply arranged in chronological order. Of all of the shots, this one's my favourite of him and the boys!

At the Art Museum

Then vs Now:

• Two years ago, in end July 2005...

(These 2005 pictures were taken by my our friend Melvin).

• Earlier today, July 2007...

  We dropped Vern off for a meeting on campus, then took Gong Gong to the Art Museum (two whole years after his last visit), to see my favourite Monet painting there...

...And also for some air-con comfort, because it was way too hot to actually be in the great outdoors!

More energy, please... for me!
Yes, see how we've all grown! Me though, far from fresh-faced =(

Vern's nearly past his jet leg, and with his newfound energy, he finally got round to cutting Ben's hair, and to finish mowing the grass in the backyard. And I must say he did a great job on both! Our little soldier likes his (to him, for that's as short as he's ready to get) crew-cut. And the smell of freshly-cut grass -- it's almost as good as whatever aroma's wafting from the oven!

I needed my husband, too, to remind me that we haven't really taken Gong Gong out. Taking him with me to buy grocery doesn't count, and the Fourth of July fireworks went on for like 20 minutes only. When an old classmate visited us not too long ago, by this time of her stay, we had more or less covered the key attractions in St Louis, with or without Vern and Jon.

It must be the exhaustion setting in. I feel like I've run a marathon, OK, half a marathon, from all that running after the two boys day in day out, in the time the husband was away, on half strength.

And now, I'm like running the second half. If you've played host to anyone, from family members to friends, you'll understand you need stamina for that, too. And no matter how easygoing your guests may be, you'll still do your best to make them feel at home, and keep it as chore-free as possible for them. Just play with the boys, I always say, because that needs energy, too, and I could use lots of help there! Plus, our boys really do like having someone other than mom and dad play with them.

So, be it for just 3 hours or 3 days, or longer at 3 weeks or 3 months, whatever the duration of their stay may be, and all of which we've had the honour of enjoying really good company, we are always more than happy to show visitors around the many wonderful places of interest here!

So, the husband is right. Never mind that Gong Gong is a returning visitor. Because housework can wait. And the boys, and I too, can always do with some outdoor time!

The Saint Louis Art Musuem is another great attraction here, that is nice to keep going back to, because there's so much to see. Except we don't, because it's not easy with Ben's short attention span, if not, then his curiosity. And I find myself having to lunge forward and grab him, before he leaves a smear on every other glass casing.

Then whenever I always just end up carrying Ben, in fact, anywhere in public when he starts running amok, the husband will for the next few days, hear me complain that my arms ache, ache, ache! Of course it's not so bad if Ben isn't wriggling himself free of my grasp, when that happens. But know what I mean, that I can do with a refuel?!