lets go phils!

well, aside from the fact that little m is on schedule to get her bilateral cochlear implants this friday, there are other huge things going on in the world. you may ask- is that even possible?!?

but it's true, as in....the phillies being one game away from winning the world series. maybe i have not lived in philadelphia since i was 12 years old, but i have been born and bred on pennsylvania teams : penn state, phils, sixers, eagles, and flyers. these have always been sacred teams in our household, and it does not matter how poorly the teams have been doing (or even if they've been losing for years in a row), you still always cheer for philly. family rule, no exceptions. 

earlier this summer, matt, little m and i headed back to philadelphia for my cousin eric's wedding. as part of the post-wedding festivities, a bunch of ruffs went to a sunday afternoon phillies game. it all started out well, the key word here being started. we had upper deck seats, and it was suddenly shifting from a typical humid day to super windy and dark. then the wind kicked up a bit more and the thunder and lightning started. you know how you can count "one one thousand, two one thousand, three..." to figure out how close the storm is? well, we couldn't even get to "one one thou-" because somehow we were literally in the center of the storm. most of us headed down the stairs for shelter, while a few die-hards stayed up in the wind, convinced the rain was not coming. soon the rain started falling, and i mean falling like crazy. super hard rain + super strong wind + thousands of people crammed into a tiny space with an overhang on the upper level of the stadium= miserable. i swore i was back in africa with the craziness of the rain! the rain was coming sideways at us the wind was so intense, and we were completely soaked in just minutes. poor little m, smashed into random phillies fans, scared, totally wet. 

at one point when we realized the rain was not going to subside for a very long time and when, in fact, it was just intensifying, matt run-escorted little m and i to the closest women's restroom. as we finally escaped the rain and got inside the bathroom, it was like entering a gauntlet of women - the hallway leading into the actual bathroom was packed solid with women of all ages. of course the second they saw little m, a collective "aaaawww" went up in the crowd, and the wall of women parted so we could get through and into the inside of the bathroom. little m and i hung out there for at least an hour and a half, while the rain continued to batter the wet crowd outside. we made lots of friends in the bathroom (let's be honest, little m's cuteness made friends); not only did i change little m's diaper, but i also changed her clothes, and nursed her standing up. (i felt like quite the flexible and make-the-most-of your-situation-mama.)

in the end, with a three month old baby we gave up and decided to head home instead of waiting for the delayed start. my cousin adam, matt, little m and i ran through multiple parking lots to get to our car- shielding little m, me barefoot on the wet, nasty, post-tailgate asphalt, running as fast as we could. FINALLY. we made it to our happy, dry car, and headed back to the ruff house (stopping to get adam's supposedly-the-best-hoagies, but really just the-closest-to-his-house-hoagies-and-really-not-the-best-after-all on the way home). 

in all, i'd like to say that our presence, albeit in the bathroom, at the phillies game somehow contributed to their glorious season. who knows. but  monday night, when they take home the championship, we will be watching from somewhere that is nice. and dry. 

sans the gauntlet of women, nice as they were. 

(the above images are from moments before the apocalyptic rain storm. see post part two for post-drenched pictures)