Baseball and Fireworks

The kids really wanted to see fireworks on July 4th and I really didn't want to deal with the traffic and crowds.

So, instead, we planned two baseball outings for baseball games that also featured fireworks shows.

The first was a Pacific Coast League game in Reno featuring the hometown Reno Aces and the visiting Oklahoma City Dodgers.  It was a night game but punishingly hot when we got there to pick up our tickets and get in line.  WE got the Weinerschnitzel Family Pack, which included a game ticket, a voucher for Weinerschnitzel (which we didn't end up using), and an official Aces cap.

As we walked in, we were greeted by a woman who was making balloon animals...for free.  As we turned the corner in search of our hats, we ran right into the Aces mascot who interacted with the kids (and their balloons) adorably.

Then we got our hats and proceeded around to the kiddy play area, which consisted of a tiny play structure, a free bouncy house, and a two-dollars for three pitches speed pitch.  Caroline blew her brothers away, but with each try they all got faster, topping out at about 13mph.

We went in search of our seats and then for food, filling up on traditional baseball junk.  It was Reno's traditional July Art Festival and so the player pictures on the screen were set up like famous paintings, which the kids thought was funny.  There was also a creepy inflatable ball who showed up above the centerfield fence (and even sang Take Me Out to the Ballgame in the seventh inning stretch).

After the game was done, we settled in for the fireworks.  As they prepared, they brought out a young girl and her parents (it seemed) to do a circus act in which the father lay down on a table and then flung the daughter around with his feet (kind of like the tricks we'd learned in Circus class) while the mom posed next to them.  I could handle that job.  And then the lights cut out and it was time for fireworks.

And then, as if all of that wasn't enough, it was time to RUN THE BASES!  Daniel was a little scared to go down on the field "alone" (meaning without an adult), but seeing Max and Caroline down on the field alone, he decided he was on board.

The next opportunity was at an A's game - which just so happened to also be STAR WARS NIGHT!