This Could Only Happen To Joey

Tonight our whole family went to a Jethawks game (our local minor league baseball team).

We don't often do this unless it is a special event (like Scout night), simply because doing anything with seven children is not only labor intensive, but expensive as well. However, we went to just an ordinary game tonight because we picked up some tickets from the Knights of Columbus (thanks, guys!) that made it much more feasible to squeeze our entire family into the stadium.

It started off on a good note, because we ran into Joey's football coach and two boys from his team. It continued to go well, as Natalie enjoyed climbing up and down the aisles and generally left us in peace, and Bella loved Kaboom (the giant bird mascot). Everyone was warm enough (until Natalie dumped an entire bottle of water on my jeans, that is), no one begged to go on the ever-present inflatable jumpers.

The real kicker came, however, when Lindsey ventured into the gift shop to buy a baseball with money she had brought. It was a "photo ball" and had a collage of five or six snapshots of players and fans running around it.

As we were about to leave, she asked if she could unwrap it and have Kaboom sign it for her. I said she could and she started to skip off to find him. She didn't get far before she came running back and said, "Mom, this looks like Joey!"

Sure enough, one of the photos on the ball was very clearly of Joey, getting something signed by Kaboom. We are guessing the shot is from two years ago, but are not entirely sure. Given that we go to two or three Jethawks games a year, it was absolutely shocking to me to see him on the ball. What are the chances?! Further, what were the chances that Lindsey would decide to bring money and buy that, of all things, in the gift shop? We could easily have never even known.

By this time, Sam had tuned into what was going on and said, "I almost always follow Joey, so if he's in the picture, I probably am too." Darned if he wasn't right. He is standing behind Joey, wearing his Cub Scout shirt, although his arm is in front of his face so only I would know it was him. Still, he was beaming to be included, no matter how obscurely. (I later joked with him that he was just like Mike in Monsters, Inc. when he kept getting covered up in the company's ads.)

Needless to say, we ran back in and bought three more balls. So far.