How to Hit a Home Run: Host a Baseball-Themed Birthday Party
October 16, 2006 10:59 AM | 0 Comments
We just celebrated Austin's 9th birthday on Friday. We joined forces with his friend Jeffrey and held a joint birthday party, which included a tour of Safeco Field, the Seattle Mariner's Baseball Stadium. You haven't lived until you've carpooled sixteen 9-year-old boys, who scream like banshees and are authorities on the topics of belching, toe-jam and flatulence.
Our grandfatherly tour guide, Ken, showed us the entire ballpark, with the exceptions of the home team locker room and the field, which is fiercely protected. One of the highlights for me was the Press Room (I dreamed that one day there would be a special chair reserved for me, The Sports Widow, that I would be elevated to the heights of the local reporters, ESPN, Fox, and all of the other sports afficionados.) We also got to visit the Visiting Team's locker room, to walk through the Umpire's Tunnel and to sit in the Mariners dugout. One of the boys pried a piece of gum from beneath Ichiro Suzuki's chair. He's convinced that he can fetch a pretty penny on Ebay , but we've sent it in for chemical analysis. If there is even a hint or wasabe or tofu, we'll know it's authentic. By far my favorite moment pertained to the Big Boys - the two Dads - Eric and Bryan. I took a picture of the two of them pretending to communitcate game directives from the dugout phones. They look so self-important.
We capped the tour with cake and ice cream in one of the suites. I made a buttermilk cake with cream frosting in the shape of a baseball with red seams on it, and a chocolate buttermilk cake with Dutch chocolate frosting and two bats crossing. Jeffrey's Mom Gena contributed a medley of ice creams and sorbets. The boys all went home with caps, team photos, etc.
Best of all? No clean up. Minimal Stress. The opportunity to invite a large number of kids versus a select few for a sleepover.
Was this a win? Absolutely.
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