Such was the case for Carson yesterday at the pediatrician's office. He received two shots - and made his appointment for another round in November when he will be a year off treatment and able to have live vaccines. After all he's been through I thought he wouldn't care too much, but he basically acted like every other kid that has to get a shot. UGH!
After the shots, it wouldn't have been too hard to make the day get better; but lucky for us, we were headed to the Nationals Ball Park. Our day was about to get A LOT better. It was time to stalk, I mean VISIT, the Nats star player Bryce Harper.
Before Thursday, Mr. Harper was assured of at least one super fan (in the form of a light brown haired, dark eyed little boy). Today, Mr. Harper has a whole family of super fans to contend with. I'm getting ahead of myself though. Let me start from the beginning......
and before the beginning, a big THANK YOU to Harper's Heroes and Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
It all started by getting on the right gear, a Harper's Heroes shirt and a magic wristband!
The magic wristband gave Francesca and Carson, along with a handful of other kids, access to Nats batting practice. There, they stood within a few yards of Davey Johnson, the general manager, and watched hitting phenoms like Ian Desmond, Ryan Zimmerman, Anthony Rendon and Chad Tracy hit ball after ball out of the park.
(I am hoping the magic wristband also has special side effects that include children automatically cleaning their rooms and carrying things for themselves!)
That's Davey Johnson near the guy with the green shirt and Anthony Rendon about to take a swing.
Next it was on to the Nationals Press Room to meet with none other than......
Can you guess who these legs belong to? Photo credit: Francesca
BRYCE!!! Bryce spoke to kids and parents about family, faith and baseball. He said "If no one is laughing at your dreams, they're not big enough."
After that, the floor was open for questions. Carson was silent, and I think I spotted drool coming out of his mouth. Francesca asked him what he did for cross training (he does CrossFit) and about his tattoos. He sports Mom and Pops on his wrists and, although we didn't get to see it, he's got Luke 1:37 on his torso.
Luke 1:37 "For nothing is impossible for God" CEV
Imagine confidently living out that verse in daily life!
Then it was time for pictures.........
Carson and Francesca brought Bryce a souvenir from the Field of Dreams movie site that we visited on vacation as well as a 8x10 glossy of the picture Carson took with him earlier this summer at Dave and Busters. I think Francesca is hoping for a re-creation of this picture without mom, dad or Carson for an upcoming school formal.
And then it was time for signing things..............
Carson got another copy of his pic with Bryce signed, his hat signed and a batting practice baseball signed! Francesca and Carson immediately started to fight over whose room would play host to the baseball.
Francesca got her shirt signed. By the way, everything he signed included the Luke 1:37 verse.
And then, we finally made it to the baseball game,where we watched Bryce hit a 2 run home run, doing his part to help the Nats to a 7-0 win over the Marlins. A little visit with Taft, another photo and we had one tired boy on our hands.
He was so tired in fact, he claimed "he hadn't had any fun at the ball park", yeah, right.... that smile and pizza sauce all over his mouth don't mean a thing.
We got the boy into bed around 11. He still had energy enough for a few more rounds of verbal sparring with Francesca about the signed baseball as he went to bed.
For a now healthy 7 year old what could be better? A visit with your hero and a fight with your older sister, in that order! Shots? What shots?
-Jennifer
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