Boys Will Be Boys: FIRST DAY IN ST. LOUIS

We started our 2010 trip to St. Louis on July 16. This year we went with our friends the Vos' from Ankeny. Ron, Holly, AJ and Megan had never been to St. Louis before. (Well, Holly did as a young child, and Ron had been there, but not with kids! HA! HA! Was he in for a treat!) We drove as far as Wentzville, Missouri and spent the night. After breakfast at the local Waffle House in the morning we were on our way!

We unloaded our luggage in our hotel and started walking the few blocks to Busch Stadium. We had tickets to the Cardinals game. They were playing the Dodgers at 3:00. Anyone who has ever been to St. Louis in July knows that a 3:00 game promises to be HOT!!

Here is Trevor getting a special ride. A ride he did NOT like! He had both arms wrapped around Ron's head and neck so tight that Ron could hardly breathe OR see!! This ride lasted about a half of a block. Trevor preferred to have his feet planted on the ground. Megan, AJ, Jared and Cale are following pretty close. (Did I mention that Cale is 12--and that his phone is always close by?!)

It was a HOT afternoon at the ballpark. We were lucky that our tickets were in the shade, and only a few steps from an air conditioned concession area. So when we got too hot, we would go in and have something to eat at one of the tables in the AC. Ahhhhhhhhh!!

This is AJ, Cale, Trevor and Jared. I am not real sure where Megan is! Why is it that the heat doesn't bother the kids as much as the adults?

Cards win!! How happy we were that the Cardinals beat the LA Dodgers 2-0!! We didn't sit in the heat for nothing! :)

It was Christian Day at the ballpark. There were 3 of the Dodgers that spoke about their own Christianity and what it is like to be a Christian in such a competitive line of work.

Then, Rick Horton (In the red shirt on the left) introduced 5 Cardinal players. They spoke in order: Ryan Franklin, Albert Pujols, Blake Hocksworth, Matt Holiday and Adam Wainwright.

The key note speaker was former NFL Coach Tony Dungy. I recently read his book titled "UNCommon: Finding your Path to Significance" so I was very excited to hear him speak. When he would draft players he was known for not signing players that failed the category "Do Not Draft Due to Character." He believes that young men today believe the path to significance includes: money, power and celebrity. He thinks that the TRUE path to significance includes: attitudes, ambitions, and allegiances. As a Mom of 3 boys, I worry about how my boys are growing up and the examples from todays athletes that they have to follow. My boys are very lucky that they have a Dad, 2 Grandpas, 3 Uncles and a host of others that are good, positive role models. But there are many boys out there that don't. Those are the ones we should all be worried about.