Yesterday was a great day. I mean a great day. One of the best. One of the better ones with Grace. Mick has been sick for many days, and was getting worse, so I took the day off to take Grace out of the house so she could rest. I had been talking about wanting to take G to a Tigers game, just the two of us. Live out my fantasy of taking her to the big ballpark, buying a program, teaching her how to keep score, eating a hot dog for dinner, and making a memory. That and she had been dissin’ the Mac because so many games are PC only. So, I put together a day that will live as a special one for years to come. The Detroit Date.

Mac Addict in training right here, baby!

We started off heading to Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi. What’s there? The Apple Store. It took us a bit of time because we were driving through a tornado zone. Grace was really fun in the car. She wrote stories in her journal and read them to me. I primed the pump to tell her all about how cool The Apple Store is. How you could preview the games before you buy. How there is a special spot just for kids to play. And how much cooler that was than a PC warehouse of crappy games. We stopped before and got some stuffed pizza at Sbarros. Then we crossed the threshold. She was loving life. We must have spend a half hour trying out games. She settled on Swan Lake Barbie.

After the Apple Store, there was another store looming accross the way. The Build a Bear Workshop. I had not heard of this sham of a store before, but quickly learned the cash cow this place was. You choose an unstuffed animal. They stuff it for you and then your kids beg you to accessorize it. By the time you leave, you’ve spent $50 on a bear. Nice.

Who’s your huckleberry? You are daddy!

Well, Grace talked me into going there, and we looked around. We did this after her special gift of a computer game she had wanted. She pleaded for us to at least consider a stuffed animal. I could tell she really wanted to do this. And I also thought of how I am usually the one to say, “No.” I played it out in my mind that I want Grace to know that she can change my mind sometimes. That she will always have my ear. So we talked about it, and I told her that Mom and I had wanted to get her a special gift for getting all “Y’s” on her report card. She had a great first year in Kindergarten. I told her that she could pick out one of the low end animals. She chose the tiger cat. She was soo excited when I said yes. And I was glad too. So, we went through their whole process, which is cool, and G ate it up. We got a birth certificate and “house” for it. Clothes were not in the budget. She’s saving up for those with her new allowance. When we walked out, I was the FREAKING HERO. And I don’t mind telling you it felt good.

We left there and went straight for Comerica Park. The rain had let off, and it was hot and sunny. We got free parking a few blocks away and went to the box office. Got front row seats in center field!

If it comes into center field, watch out. I’m catching it with style!”

I bought a program, we got a keepsake cup full of soda, and found our seats. Put on sunscreen, and got busy. Grace was loving life. Keeping score. Watching the game. She was telling me that last year she wasn’t interested that much, but she was this year. How great to hear. Everything was better than ever. Perfect day. Then the second inning came.

The heavens opened up and we were drenched before we got into the lower deck. Grace was sooo cool. She told me, “Dad, don’t worry about it. I’m having fun. We won’t let the rain spoil our fun.” She wanted to stay until the rain delay ended. Which we found out later was was around 10pm.

We may be wet, but we had some kind of fun!

We bought some cheap rain ponchos, waited a bit, and headed home. Before we got home we stopped at Jason and Shiela’s house to visit. We got to see Sheila’s pregnant belly, their cool new basement, and Shiela gave G some of her jewelry treasures. We tried to help them with baby names too. It was fun to see our friends.

We rolled home around 11:00, and went straight to bed. Grace got to snuggle with her new cat. She named him “Tiger”.