Boys trip to Atlanta

Justin and Stockton left for Stockton's birthday baseball trip on August 22nd.  Their flight was at 7:00 am which meant they were leaving our house at 4 in the morning.  They wanted to give themselves and hour to get to the airport and 2 hours to get all checked in.  They met my dad there.  No one was complaining about the early morning, they were too excited!

 

Like Molly's trip to Atlanta, I won't be able to go into too much detail since I was not there but I will do my best to summarize from what I heard from them.  Stockton had never flown on an airplane before so this was his first experience.  He thought he'd be nervous but I think he was fine the whole time.  He had plenty of movies downloaded on his phone so he had some distractions if he needed them.

 

They got to Atlanta that afternoon but didn't have a game until Monday.  I think they spent that day getting checked into their hotel and exploring the city around them.  They may have visited the Tanner's this day.

that round building in the back was their hotel

they were very close to the Olympic Park from the '96 Olympics

the Olympic torch, maybe?

The game was a night game so they had most of Monday to kill time.  They went to the Coke factory and got lunch.  Then they headed to the stadium.

 

Their first game was that night at Truist Park Stadium.  I was so excited for Stockton (and Justin) and I was thousands of miles away!  There is nothing like being in a major league baseball stadium.  The Braves lost but Stockton didn't seem to mind.  And he caught two balls!  There is a funny story behind one of them.  I won't go into detail because I wouldn't tell it right but pretty much one of the balls rolled down from up above right into his mitt!

Freddie Freeman

Ozzie Albies

Hank Aaron was a Brave so they have a large section dedicated to him. He passed away earlier this year.

 

Tuesday's game was at night as well so they went to the Aquarium that afternoon.  Both Molly and Stockton have loved the Atlanta Aquarium.  If I ever get there, I'll have to check it out.

At Waffle House, I believe.  They are famous in Atlanta.

 

They went to their second game that night.  I was just hoping the weather would hold but they lucked out because it rained the day before they got there and started again on the day they left.  The skies were clear on the two days they had games.  It was a relief that they didn't have to deal with any rain delays.  The Braves lost again but it was a really close game-came down to the last batter with the bases loaded.  Bummer they couldn't pull it off but Justin and Stockton were so happy to be there that they didn't mind too much.  And Stockton got two more balls that night!  4 balls in 2 games is amazing!

Hank Aaron

This is a statue of Bobby Cox

We call him "Gobby Cops" because that is what Molly called him when she was little. Braves manager, maybe?  Justin would be offended that I don't know.

only for Stockton would my dad (a Dodger's fan for his entire life) wear Braves gear

With Austin Riley, Braves 3rd baseman and MVP of the regular season

 

They flew home the next morning, traveled all day, and got home that night.  We were happy to see them!  They had lots of fun stories to tell!  It's been fun for Stockton to watch the rest of the Braves season and see the stadium where he watched those games.

And to top it all of-the Braves just won the World Series!  Stockton knows all the stats and pretty much anything there is to know about Braves baseball (and tells me something new everyday) but back in July they were given a 7% chance of making it past the regular season.  Then they made it to the NLCS against the Dodgers.  They lost to the Dodgers in the same series last year but beat them in 6 games this year then went on to beat the Astros in seven games to become World Series champions.  The last time they won was when Justin was 13, just a year older than Stockton, and he remembers so many details from that series so many years ago.  It made for some super exciting days in our house during late October/early November.  Stockton just kept saying how awesome it was that they won the year he was there and for a 12-year-old (and his 39-year-old dad and 70-year-old grandpa) that is pretty awesome.  He was already a true-blue Braves fan but this trip and their comeback win-the-World Series-season has solidified his loyalty!