"I'm Free" and the Tin Caps

Maddie woke this morning in a great mood!  She's "free" today! (translated 3)

She snuggled Daddy for a few minutes before breakfast!

 Then we were off!  Let me explain a little.  Ronnie and Nathaniel had won tickets to the Tin Caps for today for the reading program through school.  When we realized that the game day was Maddie's birthday, we decided that we would take the whole family!  This was the first time Eli, Maddie and I got to go!

I was a little worried when we woke to thunder and rain this morning, but we bundled up and headed out!  It was suppose to be warm, so we prayed no rain and headed for Ft. Wayne.

We were not disappointed.  No rain until we got back to Ney and it turned out to be a warm, sunny beautiful day!

 The Mascot for the Tin Caps is Johnny Tin Cap.  Maddie loved him and tried every chance she could to yell and get his attention!  She was pretty happy to have her picture taken with him too!

 The one thing she kept telling people leading up to today was that she was going to the "tim caps and gonna get a hot dog".  So here she is...with her hot dog!  I mean really, does it get any better than a hot dog and a ball game on your birthday! (thankfully she is 3 and easily convinced by 3 boys that this was the greatest gift she could have gotten)!

 After the game, all the kids were invited down to run the bases.  Maddie wasn't sure at first, but when she say that Johnny was on 3rd base giving high fives, she was ready to get in line.

 Nathaniel was off first!

 Maddie was suppose to be next, but she froze.  Not wanting to go alone, her big brother stepped in to help her.  She and Eli went all the way from 1st to home, arm in arm.  It was priceless!  So proud of that little man to help his little sister and they made quite the cute little pair as they rounded.  They had all the  parents exclaiming how cute they were!

 Unfortunately, I didn't get Ronnie and only got the end of Nathaniel coming off the field. Eli and Maddie were just too cute.  They were lapped by their big brother and many others, but they held tightly to one another long past home base.

 They were both thrilled to stop and give Johnny a High Five and then continue on!

 All 4 kids enjoyed the day at the ball park!

 Yes, Maddie is the youngest and in surrounded by boys, but she is loved beyond belief by all those boys!  They love and protect and defend her to the end!  So thankful that the boys love their little sis.

 Oh yeah, and that big boy likes her a lot too!  As she rode on his shoulders for the 4 block hike to the van, she retold the story of Eli helping her around the bases, ending with "and Eli saved the day".

So, today we celebrated our little girl! 

Hard to believe she is three years old.  Growing so fast.  Changing so quickly. 

As I bathed her tonight, I asked her if she enjoyed her birthday.  She replayed the yellow cake, the presents, grandparents and the "tim caps".  It was a fun filled birthday!