B-G-O

Now before you start rolling your eyes and saying again with the insanely handsome ballplayer, that is not what this post is about. BGO stands for Big Girls Outing, which is what Alli, Abby, and I had Wednesday night. Yep just the three of us. We had so much fun! What did we do? Well, um, let me see, okay, we went to an Astros game. But this post is still not about that gorgeous second baseman.

Even though I had dragged my girls across the country to see ballgames in different parks, Alli and Abby had still not been to an Astros game this season. So I totally blew off the fact that it was a school night and we headed out for a night of fun. We got there a bit early to explore the park. Much easier to do with kids you don't have to carry or take potty, that can actually keep up with you!

Maybe I love Minute Maid so much because I know a lot about it. Like the scoreboard. This portion of the scoreboard was taken from the Astrodome (where the Astros used to play) and installed in their new home. The bull and cowboy always go off whenever one of our boys hits a homer.

And the train over the left field wall takes a little trip as well. The park used to be called, and I wish it still was, The Ballpark at Union Station (explaining the train). Then it had to go all corporate and become Enron Field, well, we all know how that turned out. And now, well now, it's Minute Maid explaining the load of oranges on the train. Oranges, not pumpkins.

This pump is located over centerfield along Home Run Alley. It tallies all the homers hit by the good guys and the bad guys since the park opened in 2000. We're not even going to think about how many of those shots belong to Albert Pujols.

If you have been a regular reader of this blog, you know all about my frustration of the so called "kid's areas" in the other stadiums we have visited. Here's a refresher, this is NOT a kid's area.

This IS.

Yes ballparks of America take note. In Houston, we know how to entertain our young. Abby is somewhere in that massive play structure. And all the interactive baseball exhibits. Here's Alli racing the giant baseball man, 90 feet to home.

They also have virtual batting and pitching cages, as well as a station dedicated to educating further Nolan Ryans on the art of big league pitches. There was no demonstration on a spitball.

And numerous photo ops for the young ones. Here are the girls stealing a home run ball from Carlos Lee.

And I just think that the Astros are the best looking team in the majors. Here's Alli hanging with a few of the fellows, that would be my ex-boyfriend Lance on the left.

If I have one complaint about baseball in Houston, it is that we have the biggest bunch of fair weather fans ever. Sure, we're not doing so hot right now, we're out of the playoff race, but still, SUPPORT your team. It was the emptiest that I have ever seen the park. But this guy, in his pretty peach hat, was there, this guy is always there.

He is the loudest, most obnoxious fan I have ever seen. He is so loud that the umpire actually turns around to find the annoying source of "What the hell are you looking at Blue?" or various other not so nice things. Yes, he's loud, but he's funny, and he's faithful.

Our number one fan didn't make this game. The old Bush, usually sits right there, (find the little white arrow) next to a different person with snow white hair. And they ALWAYS get put up on the Kiss Cam.

Speaking of the camera... I was sitting there between innings, mindlessly watching the scoreboard, when on the big screen there flashed a shot of a girl in a brown tank top and a necklace much like my own. I said to myself wow, she looks familiar, OH MY GOD! THAT'S ME!! And I fell victim to what I laugh at so many other people about. I started waving my hands wildly at the screen, even though the cameraman was way to my right. And then my JumboTron punks got up later in the game on the Kids Cam. They are just magnetic to cameramen I tell you!

The actual game itself was awesome. It did my heart proud to hear Alli explain to Abby the concept of the "imaginary box" known as the strike zone. I struck up a great conversation with a sweet, sweet man, a retired Air Force General who has survived both colon and kidney cancer. He told me all about how to get Abby into the Aggie vet school, his son had just graduated. Told me about how he and his wife were buying a trailer and taking the Ballpark Tour across America next summer. I let him know how extremely jealous I was, seeing as it will take us 20 years! He and I both covered our eyes when Brad Lidge came in to save the game in the bottom of the ninth. Every single game I have been to this season, the boy has BLOWN the lead! And this time he gave up a dinger that sent our dear Hunter Pence running into the wall at full speed and hitting the ground where he lay for a full two minutes. Telling my girls we would stay til the bottom of the tenth, because it was a school night, we watched the boys rally, capped off by Hunter hitting the middle of the three balls he must have seen coming his way for the game winning RBI.

When the game was over we went to our "RockStar" parking space right next to the ballpark. It's actually where the players used to park a few years ago. This is the wall that our shortstop at the time, Julio Lugo, bashed his wife's head into.

Surprisingly enough, there is no plaque to mark the exact location.

And this is the best thing at Minute Maid.

It's a brick we bought for Poppy for Christmas a few years back. Thousands of people have stepped on it, spilled a soda on it, or smashed out a cigarette on it. But it's a part of the place we love the best. Okay wait, maybe it's the second best thing about the park.

This has got to be the best!! I mean look at the boy, obviously he's smitten, he just can't take his eyes off of me. I'm sorry Craig, I just don't know how many times I have to tell you, I am crazy in love with Steven. Really, you just have to move on.