Ryan has been a big fan of the Oakland A's ever since he was a child - which is surprising, given his dad is a Giants fan, and that's he's stayed true amongst all the ridicule living in Yankee territory these past few years. I also grew up going to A's baseball games as a child, and have fond memories of giveaway nights and ice cream sundaes in little A's helmets.
So when we saw Opening Night was coming up we said "Hey, let's go!" Luckily, A's tickets aren't too hard to come by (ie: they are not very popular and have a huge, old stadium that no one likes to go to in a somewhat scary part of Oakland). We got decked out in our green and gold, packed along a backpack full of candy and Ryan's fleece A's blanket that I made for him 6+ years ago. The kids were really excited to go, and were very enthusiastic about the magnets they received at the gate with the A's schedule printed on them. Ryan and I both felt quite nostalgic and I think it really warmed Ryan's heart to see so many people who were {finally} cheering for the same team that he loves.
The absolute highlight was the National Anthem, which concluded with a fly-over and fireworks!! Awesome!! The game itself was nothing extraordinary (the A's lost), but the kids behaved (and ate a whole bag of cotton candy and a box of Charleston Chews), and we all had a fun time. I'm sure we'll be back again throughout the season...probably on $1 hot dog night or bobblehead giveaway night :)
