Syracuse Chiefs Baseball, Syracuse, NY

Saturday evening we headed out to the baseball stadium to see one of the many Chief's games.

Its a beautiful stadium and the bank has put lots of money into it. Unfortunately even with all of the advertising and other crowd pleasers like  fireworks, give-a ways, $1- night etc. Syracuse is just NOT into it's baseball team. I'm not sure why we struggle, the chief's are a pretty good team. The over all evening for the four of us not including snacks, and drinks cost $23- much cheaper then a trip to the movies, and we got FREE pint glasses from Saranac. (I am not a Saranac beer fan, they were giving FREE tastes of that too) but the glass is pretty cool.

(My stash of stuff from the game).
 For us, it is an annual event that we take ourselves out to the ball game at least one time a summer.

 Another one of those painted horses in Syracuse.

The boys showing off their named cokes. Only family members name I have been able to find is Nick.

As you can see..there are tons of open seats. We were solo until it started raining and people moved up to get under the awning. Gavin insisted that we stay away from them. Are we really going into that stage where he is to cool for mom and dad already?

Mark was the only member of the family willing to pose with Skootch, one of the two Chief mascots.

  We found ourselves a nice spot along the third base line and began an evening of strikes, pitches and YOUR OUT! We also did get to see a home run.

Baseball for me, can be VERY VERY VERY DULL!!!! This game, for the exception of the home run  was much the same. We did have an interesting guy to the left of us who was screaming CRAZY, but funny things to the players. This kept us humored as strikes and hits became balls and walks. I'm not knocking the game of baseball...but it can get a little LONG. Even with the big beer Mark purchased for me and the musical fun the stadium tries to pump at the crowd to get them motivated "da da da da da!!! CHARGE!!!"
After awhile we all lost our UMPH! and we cut out just as we were all STRETCHING in the 7th!
The Chief's were ahead when we left. I'm not sure if they won the game however.
I am not negating the evenings events. We always do have a good time. I personally would be getting BOARD around the 7th inning at a Yankee game (that's me though). The sport is SLOW. (We watched the Allstar game and there was little to NO SLOW spots in that, but that is an exceptional game).  At any rate, at least for me, attendance to one of the Chief's games is more about the experience then simply watching the game. It's people watching, it's the cool air that moves in as the sun sets out over the field, it's the sound of the train horn as it blows running along side the stadium. It's the mascots and the kids...both little and big with their gloved hands ready to catch that fowl ball. The thrill of the experience is what brings me out year after year, and this years experience was no different. Cheers to the great American past time of BASEBALL!

CTMH, Hearts a Flutter Team meeting

Saturday I woke to a stench...ewweee, what is that??? The damn dog got sprayed by a skunk. Apparently he was hit the night before and it was one crazy display of  the wild vs two boys a dog and my husband. I slept blissfully through the whole thing. Cushioned slightly by the fence and the fortune of having the husky double fur coat. I am told it could have been worse. He still stunk and continued to stink for the following two days. Stink or no stink...We have things to do and I start off by exploring weekend options for the family. Herkimer? A-bay? Something more local? If not I am off to my Close to my Heart Team meeting. My family's choice...to stay in bed and DO NOTHING all day. So I had the fortune of spending the day with several of the lovely ladies from my Close to My Heart team Hearts a Flutter. (my semi colon key has disappeared...just gone! oddly, I never realized how much I used it until it went missing.)

 Sandy (the leader and reason why all of us are together), Lara, and Judi

Donna, Kate, Tami, Lara (again) and Amanda.
The team meetings are an opportunity to work on our business's and build together as a team. Since I have been slacking on  the business aspect, I come to enjoy the people, make some new projects and keep reminding myself that yes I could make this business be a success...for now and as it has been for awhile, it has been my addiction rather then my means of employment.

Making cards. 

( Ryan pictured here, she missed the earlier poses)

 Making a calendar. very cute! Ryan's presentation.

We have a delicious LUNCH.

Celebrated two birthdays (Ryan's and Lara's)

Played with CTMH's new ink pens. LOVELY

The final product...( first picture..I LOVE THESE STAMPS)
How to display the home made jewelry.

and finally how to use the day in a life products.

We make a ton of great things and had a GREAT bunch of FUN!!! In about three weeks I am going to Pennsylvania with several of these lovely ladies for a CTMH show. I am psyched.

The best thing about being a Close to My Heart Consultant are the fun and creative stuff I get to make, but it's the friends I have made and will have forever that trumps it all. I LOVE this part of my LIFE.

The WILD Animal Park, Chittenango, NY

Friday I took the boys to The WILD animal Park in Chittenango, NY.

Although it is much like a zoo, it had several animals that our local zoo does not have so it was nice to see some different animals.

The park is one of the few local attractions that is fairly new to my awareness and I had only just heard of the place a few weeks before our visit. Initially I thought it was a wildlife refuge and it might be, but there was nothing noted around that notion.
The admission price was a little steep by my standards especially since I didn't have my usual coupons or discounted tickets. $12- got the boys in and unlimited time in the bouncy houses. $8- without the bounce house. $9- for adults. (I am CHEEP, I'll admit it). A few dollars extra will give you some carrots for the giraffe and a cup of grains for the petting area.
 It was also INCREDIBLY crowded for a weekday. Not so crowded that we couldn't enjoy ourselves, but it made it difficult to see the animal shows and for the boys to play in the bounce houses. There were a few school buses full of summer camp kids that made it tight, noisy and a little crazy, but the park has a nice flow and there was plenty of viewing space to view most of the animals.

First up was a small area of goats and other farm animals. Right beside the goats were the donkey's. They were so cute, I enjoyed time with these guys.

They didn't even seem to care if we didn't have any feed to give them. Their friend the Lama came out with her pretty little leg warmers all ready for the 80's and a little Flash dance!

We never did figure out what was going on with this cow? Is she pregnant? Does he/she need a dentist?

It made it's way over to us despite how uncomfortable getting across the barnyard was.
The crocodiles were pretty cool. For a quarter you could feed them little pellets. They didn't move much..but took off quick for those little pellets.

They were tiny tiny little guys, but I wouldn't want to take a swim, the ones on the grass sun bathing didn't even look alive.
Next was this guy.......................HUUMPPP DAYYYY!!!!

He was so close we could pet him and feed him too.  There were some Kangaroo's too, but they were hiding  in their dens and I couldn't get a good picture of them.

The tropical birds were pretty we spent some time trying to get them to say "Polly want a cracker" with NO LUCK! I cannot remember the name of these little diggers. They had their nose in the ground digging the entire time.

And the turtles.

The Zebra's....they were caged as the sign says they BITE!!!
Wished I didn't have a fence in front of their beautiful colors.

We came up next to the tiger feeding. This was where we had a difficult time seeing the animals due to the crowds.

And when they were not being fed they were hiding in the far corners of their cage. This albino tiger was beautiful.

The boys took some time to play on the bounce houses before we moved on to the Lions. The kids surrounding the lions realized that if they started running the lions would chase them. I felt so sorry for the lions and reminded my kids that it was cruel to tease these guys. My paranoia thought it wasn't such a good idea to have the children's play area directly across from the lions in the first place either.

There are some nice picnic area on a small pond where you can rent paddle boats or have lunch. These areas were completely packed with the kids from summer camp, so we pushed on to the next animals.

The porcupine and the deer.

The doe were so cute.
Far off in the distance was the wolf.

 How this guy can hold his head up is beyond me.

The bears were the over all favorite, we stayed and watched these guys for some time.

They were the most fun a pair of real performers.
The bear's neighbor was a jaguar who watched with interest as these two played. He suddenly sprung at the side of his cage...

The ostrich is one odd looking guy...we enjoyed looking at him and is mannerisms.

Just around the corner was the giraffe

We all had a great time, it is easy to see why this place was so crowded. Most of the animals were out and bout ready to say hello. There was good flow and plenty to do. Glad we took the 45 minute drive to do it. Animals are so fascinating. I remembered this poem from when I was a little kid
and the zoo always makes me think of it.

Why Nobody Pets the Lion at the Zoo

BY JOHN CIARDI

The morning that the world began

The Lion growled a growl at Man.

And I suspect the Lion might

(If he’d been closer) have tried a bite.

I think that’s as it ought to be

And not as it was taught to me.

I think the Lion has a right

To growl a growl and bite a bite.

And if the Lion bothered Adam,

He should have growled right back at ’im.

The way to treat a Lion right

Is growl for growl and bite for bite.

True, the Lion is better fit

For biting than for being bit.

But if you look him in the eye

You’ll find the Lion’s rather shy.

He really wants someone to pet him.

The trouble is: his teeth won’t let him.

He has a heart of gold beneath

But the Lion just can’t trust his teeth.

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John Ciardi, "Why Nobody Pets the Lion in the Zoo" from The Reason for the Pelican (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1959). Used by permission of the Ciardi Family Publishing Trust.

Source: The Reason for the Pelican (Lippincott, 1955)