Homerun Derby!!

So on Monday, as you can see in the first few photos, the weather was MUCH better! 82 degrees and sunny with a beautiful blue sky. Since most of the events didn't start until late afternoon we took the opportunity to get some pictures around the downtown area in St. Louis. I think these turned out pretty good!

This was down at Kiener Plaza (walking distance from Busch). The pillars closest to us were set up for Mike and Mike's live broadcast (they do an ESPN radio show that is also aired on TV each morning). We all thought about going but we would've had to get up way too early. I like sleep too much!

This fountain was really cool (figuratively and literally!) and it was fun to watch the kids play in it on a warm day.

A neat photo of the Courthouse with the Arch in the background. Reminds me of a certain outfield...

More neat scenery!

As a promotion for the All-Star stuff they put up these mini-Arches all around the downtown area. It took us forever to not get people posing for photos in our picture! The arches all had different graphics on them too, so it was neat to check them all out. A pretty neat idea!

Another one of those mini-Arch things. We tried to get "artsy" with this one.

When we got into the stadium they were having batting practice and the players had their kids shagging balls in the field. This is Prince Fielder (plays for the Brewers) and his little kids. They were a riot - that hair flying all over was a blast to watch!

These guys look ready to go!

A view from Devin and Christy's seats. What a pretty sight!

Again, all the Mascots were there! They were all dancing together on the dugout (this is only half of them!). I could've watched them all night.

Before the Homerun Derby went live, the grounds crew would go out to the graphic they mowed into the outfield and use push brooms to try to "clean up" the image so it looked good on camera. They would stomp down in the "windows" where the grass is lighter and they would push the darker grass to make it look good. Too funny! Jason said he would love to see a time-lapse video of them mowing that into the grass. How cool would that be? Haven't found one yet.

David Cook performed a few songs before the big show. He had some awesome pyro!

Prince Fielder hitting. He would end up winning the Derby.

I just thought this was really neat. This is all of the players who were NOT in the Homerun Derby and their kids having a blast on the field. They didn't have to be there but they all wanted to watch the action!