Benson Baseball Adventure

In the words of Blake…

The boys and I made our annual pilgrimage to St. Louis in June. We not only get guy time, but also give Mom a break back in Kansas. Braden and Mason have been every year since each was one. Considering we come from a long line of Benson Cardinals fans, I'm proud to do my part in making sure this tradition continues! 

While in St. Louis, I had the chance to catch up with a great friend while introducing the boys to a new one. Here, Braden and Mason pose with Teegan, who was kind enough to share all of her games, gadgets and pool with the boys.

 

Old friend (literally) Jeff Callahan and wife, Tonya, who are expecting their first boy in August. Thanks again to both of them for putting up with the Bensons.

 

Considering Jeff and I have known each other since kindergarten, we bored the kids with lots of stories about how awesome we were "back in the day."

A trip to St. Louis isn't complete without a trip to the zoo, the best way to kill a day for around $8. Here, the boys pet quite possibly the largest sting ray I've ever seen. As you can see, Braden is ignoring the commands of the zookeeper by grabbing the animal's wings. Pretty smart.

 

They almost fell in trying to grab the shark, but fortunately ran out of time before it happened.

 

Getting set to enjoy one of the hottest games in recent memory...actual temperature of 106 at game time.

The St. Louis Fire Department kept our boys nice and cool!

2012 National League All-Star Lance Lynn was the pitcher for our second game. After his warm-ups, the catcher tossed the practice to Braden for a souvenir.

 

One of the best parts of the trip was that Braden and Mason had the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Pujols, Holliday, Beltran and others by running the bases at Busch Stadium. Always one to push his luck, Mason was asking me here if he could also run through the sprinklers in the outfield. I told him that if he wanted to check the reflexes of the Busch Stadium security team, to be my guest.

 

This will likely be the last time Braden gets to cross the plate at Busch until he joins the club as a rookie in about fifteen years.