florida trip- part 2. (mets spring training)
So continuing on with the vacation…on Friday we left early and drove the 2+ hrs up to Port St. Lucie to visit John’s parents who have been there since right after Christmas. It was so great to see them and I think that Florida really agrees with them. They are all tan and rested and seem to have very full schedules of fun things with friends. See, snowbird=good.
Port St. Lucie also happens to be the home of Mets Spring training (oh goody.) so after a very quick visit at the apartment, we drove over to the stadium and practice fields to watch the Mets train. I of course was thrilled beyond belief, but the boys were really very excited (and when I say boys, I mean Jack, Patrick, Timmy, John and his dad). John brought a ton of baseballs to get some signatures which they were able to do.
I do have to say that the people there were so unbelievably pushy and RUDE. Shoving people out of the way to get to the fence to get the autograph they wanted. I was seconds from throwing some elbows or stomping on some insteps after being shoved and pushed and watching the same thing happen to my boys. The 24-70mm L lens I had on my camera is very heavy and could be used as a weapon in the right situation (but I didn’t want to break it cause we were leaving for Disney next!). Really people, a little decorum.
So they did get some autographs (Jerry Manuel, John Franco- pictured above, and Kyle somebody) and had some fun watching some of the Mets practice. John says they are expecting good things out of this guy who’s name is Josh Thole (kid, really. How old is he- twelve??) and he was very nice and signed for all three boys and talked to all the boys.
It really pisses me off when the ‘big name’ guys won’t sign. Who is it exactly that you think is paying to watch you play, ya jerk.
A little lens envy. Ok, actually a LOT of lens envy. I mean look at that thing! I’ll even take the smaller one on the camera hanging from his shoulder…
Ya think Timmy’s shirt is big enough for him? At least he’ll have it for a while!
And then after practice, a little lunch with Grandma and Grandpa with a little school politics talk and a see you soon. They are headed home next week. I think we are all pretty happy about that. I mean all the kids are happy, not the grandparents. They’d probably like to stay longer, but it is parade season.
And we’re off to the big surprise of Disney…
