Memorial Day Weekend Doings

As you may recall, I spent my Saturday back in the retro activity of babysitting. Our night was filled with all kinds of adventures, such as the "can I let the girl go swimming at a birthday party" dillemma, the "how do I get her to eat anything but candy" challenge and the "I can't believe I didn't realize she needed to go to the bathroom" shameful moment. All of these things are, of course, very common in parenthood, but very exotic and foreign to me. I don't have many photos from the evening because I was too busy trying to dodge landmines, but here are the few I took:

Nora showing off her talent, as May watches:



The magic behind the scenes:



On the way to pick up Claudia from a birthday party:




Sunday night was quite fun, as it was the first time my dog Kip and I have ever been to a baseball game together, thanks to the Texas Rangers' "Dog Night." Here is the "doggie will call" line:



Our neighbor in line was a devoted Rangers fan:


Unfortunately, I did not think ahead to obtain Cubs paraphenalia for Kip to wear, but I'll show you in a bit what he did wear.

Here he is inspecting one of the pools provided for the doggies:



Yes, that's a Texas Rangers scarf that was tied on his neck before I could stop the friendly greeters. And, yes, the exposure on this photo is jacked up--a "professional" photographer on the scene used my camera to photograph Kip and I together and changed the settings in such a way that several pictures turned out way too dark, until I caught it and changed the settings back.

Kip in his "seat," checking out the field:



I think he said, "uh bawl pork reely iz beeuteeful."

A neighbor dog:



The game gets underway:



For everyone I told I was bringing Kip to the game who has actually met Kip, the response was a horrified look and the query, "Why aren't you bringing Orley instead?" But Kip really did behave beautifully at the game--the only time he was a little excited was in the doggie will call line, when a nice but silly lady behind us gave him one treat, then kept pretending she was going back to the well for more treats--something that would drive any treat-loving dog crazy. Here, he makes friends:



And, to make it up to Orley for not going to the game, I gave her this baseball scarf that my friend's mom was sweet enough to make for the dogs:



This burly guy and his oh-so-cute dog amused me:



She did not leave his lap during the entire game, and watched it so intently that I think she had a tiny scorecard she was keeping on her owner's other knee:



Kip and I were joined by a friend of mine from work and her adorable dog:



Here, Kip and his new friend watch the game:



Before getting to know each other in the way one does while watching a baseball game:



The place was perfectly set up for dogs to take the necessary breaks, and there were no lines outside on the grass! But there was a "dog crossing":



Water--pant!--water--pant!--water!:



Kip said, "Eez Dayv reeli uz foonie uz hee lookz un teevee?"



There were lots of tiny dogs there, and lots of big and medium-sized ones, too--here's a tiny one:





This guy on the bottom right watched with his dog balanced on his legs, just as I'm sure he does at home:



It was a really beautiful night:



I can't think of a better time I've had with Kip. He seemed delighted by the outing and never seemed bored, with so much noise and so many people and dogs to greet and watch. I will definitely take him to Dog Night next year--what a great event!