Wait 'Til Next Year

Marking time. For my older son that means marching in place without moving forward. As parents we've marked the milestones in our kids' lives - first teeth, first steps, first days of school. And as a family we've had to mark all the things we've missed sharing with R's brother K over the past year - a Stanley Cup for the Blackhawks and a great post-season for the Cubs! Christmas. The March Madness (newly rechristened "Swordfish") Invitational for the guys in Vegas...

This spring break finds us on the road trip we planned to take before that late-night phone call came and we headed off to Chicago to be with K instead. Last year we were going to meet K here in Phoenix to watch a couple games together, since he had never been to spring training. Fittingly, we started everything off this year by watching the Cubs play the Brewers today, the epitome of marking time - 108 years, to be exact!

This is the second time we've been here at Sloan Park. What a nice facility!

The Cubs' logos over the years

Waiting for the players to make their way to the stadium

Only the minor leaguers stop to sign - I think this is Starlin Peralta

We settled in a spot on the left field berm and then proceeded to pay a small fortune to feed the bottomless pits...

Oh, and we watched some baseball, too!

Jon Lester with his catcher of choice, David Ross

Ben Zobrist (2B) and Anthony Rizzo (1B)

Kyle Schwarber (LF)

First pitch from Jon Lester, with Kris Bryant (3B)

Lester pitched 5 scoreless innings, and the Cubs finally produced some runs in the bottom of the 6th. The starters were done playing in the 7th...

When the Cubs added an insurance run in the 8th, we decided to call it a day. We stopped at the team store on our way out to buy some Cub merchandise, but by the time I made it to the register to pay for our t-shirts, the Brewers had scored 5 runs in the top of the 9th and the Cubs had lost the game! Ugh.

We ended the day on a high note with dinner at The Duce in downtown Phoenix. Because it had been featured on "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives," we had planned to take K here last year. He would have really enjoyed this place! Fun atmosphere - ping pong tables, cornhole, boxing ring...

...and great food! From top left: breakfast biscuits, cheeseburger sliders, mac 'n cheese muffins, slider sampler (chicken sausage, meatball, brisket), and strawberry-pecan salad. Yummy!