Addison's REAL first game at Wrigley

Okay, so I wrote a story a couple years ago or so about a fictional excursion to Wrigley Field with my daughter.  And since I'm trying to brainwash her into being a Cubs fan, and I'm also a glutton for punishment, I decided that this was the year to make that fiction a reality.  When Cubs tickets went on sale this year, I took the day off work as I have each of the past several years.  After carefully selecting the games I wanted and opening up in excess of 30 browser windows, I was randomly selected from among the thousands of annually-disappointed fans to purchase.  The high volume of traffic meant that my transaction for two bleacher box tickets at $55 a pop didn't process the first few times I tried.  I told myself that if it didn't go after one more attempt, I would opt instead for the bullpen box seats.  Yeah, those seats, the $160 seats.  And so, after about 10 more minutes, I had dropped well over 3 bills on 2 tickets to watch a group of underachievers play baseball.  But there was some good news: 1) I would be there with my little girl, and 2) the fact that the game was against the Pirates meant it was just a Silver-level game, so the tickets were actually $90 less than they would have been against, say, the Cards.
In any case, the day of the game eventually rolled around and I got out of bed feeling supremely anxious after getting very little sleep the night before.  My semi-insomnia came from a mixture of excitement and also little feet kicking me at random intervals (Addison shared the bed with me at my parents' house).  Oh yeah, reality differed from fiction in that we didn't depart from our own house.  We left early, around 8am Eastern, and got into the city with relative ease.  The pertually-under-construction snarl of I-94 slowed us down right before that distinctive bridge right by the landfill around, what is it, 130th St?  Anyway, we eventually made it through that and I neglected to re-route on the return trip (more on that later).  We parked in an alley for $25, but the easy-out capability was a must with a not-quite 4-year-old in tow.  My bag was packed with our gloves, a couple of baseballs, and a giant sign declaring that this was Addison's first game.  We arrived about 3 hours before game time, so we headed to Wrigleyvilled Sports in order to do our part to aid the local economy.  As we walked out, Addison was sporting a new pink Cubs hat, a Cubs purse, and a Cubs #1 Sister keychain; the bag I carried also had an incredibly dope-ass throwback T for me and a tank for my wife.  The disappointment of the trip was the fact that Addison did not get the Wrigley snowglobe she had coveted so desperately. 
Before long, we were in line to head in.  We had our tickets scanned, then Addison grabbed her free giveaway: a Cubs Build-A-Bear, who held several names through the course of the day.  After being dubbed Sally, Marlon Byrd, Alfonso Soriano, and Starlin Marlon, she finally settled on Ernie.  She then got a small silver bat and we grabbed a t-shirt and socks for Ryne.  Cheeseburger, pizza, pretzel, Diet Pepsi, cotton candy, maybe more food in there somewhere.  The seats were amazing, her attitude was decent, and we actually made it through the whole game.  Of course, she did sit or stand on me for a great deal of it.  And she eventually squirmed into a fetal position and fell asleep during the 8th and 9th.  Of course, that was after we rose to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," which was her favorite part of the day.
True to the story, the Cubs were losing and mounted a comeback in the 9th that fell sadly short.  The difference came when Addison slept through most of it and was awakened by the explosion of 41,000 fans rising to celebrate a Fukudome triple into the corner.  I held my screaming daughter for the next several minutes, standing in anguish as my team squandered oppotunities to score.  I then carried Addison and our impressive collection of merchandise through the throngs of fans in various stages of inebriation.  I wanted to head back to WS to pick up a polo shirt I that had caught my eye earlier and was finally able to placate the blubbering blob in my arms with the promise of the aforementioned snow globe.  Of course, a Mardi Gras necklace also managed to find its way onto the ticket.
We were able to navigate back to the car with relative ease and Addison actually used her own feet for a good deal of the trip, now sufficiently recoverd from her tantrum.  Narrow one-way streets and nefarious traffic directors conspired to keep us in the neighborhood for a few extra minutes, but I eventually ended up back on Lakeshore.  Getting out of the city was a breeze until I encountered the south-bound lanes of the earlier stretch of under-construction freeway.  Of course it was at this time that my daughter decided to announce her need to potty.  My growing fear of a urine-soaked backseat was finally quelled when I was able to exit at Sibley for a quick trip to White Castle.  We then hit the road again and stopped in Merrilville for a meal at Red Robin.  Addison didn't sleep a wink in the car and watched 10 episodes of He-Man.  Yeah, that's right: He-Man, the orginial iteration.  She was psyched to show mommy her haul for the day and talked about singing, lamenting the fact that we were not able to sing "Go Cubs Go."
All in all, I must say it was one of more rewarding experiences I've had at a baseball game.  The Cubs lost, I spent a buttload of money, had to deal with countless a-holes on the Illinois roads, and had to make a couple of trips to the Wrigley men's bathrooms, but I wouldn't change any of it.  I got to share Wrigley and the Cubs with my daughter and was so proud of her for lasting (sort of) through the whole game.  Now I can't wait to take her back again and again and to take my son in a couple years.  And then I'll be able to take both of them, maybe even with my dad in order to really complete the circle.  Good times.