Nationals Game

On Sunday we took our nephew Josh and our oldest Xander to the Nationals game… which turned out to be a great activity for our preschooler.

The ballpark reads more like a minor league park then a major. Since the team is in last place in National League East and 20 games behind, the attendance at the park is low. Less crowds equal happier preschooler.

We secured seats in the outfield near the kids’ playground. We were able to buy them from the box office minutes before the game, and they were actually pretty decent seats.

We had no expectations that Xander would be interested in the game – he is only four.

We figured a Major League baseball game lasts somewhere between two and half to three hours. The music, crowd cheering, salty peanuts and soda were enough to entertain Xander for the first few innings. I then took him for a walk and to the playground.

The playground at the ballpark is this neat structure with tunnels, slides, and netting. A child can get lost in there… in fact on our day one mother lost both her children. There is only one exit, so they were quickly found happily playing in the structure.

The playground kept Xander entertained for an hour and a half total (I came back after an hour, Xander rehydrated, then my husband took him back for a half an hour).

My only issue is that the park should invest in a big screen near the kids’ area to broadcast the game so parents running their toddlers and preschoolers can keep track of the score.

We were able to stay until the end of the game (a feet my husband couldn’t accomplish for our beloved San Francisco Giants – he and Xander had to leave after the seventh inning), and the Nationals won.

The other cool thing about National Ballpark is that Sunday’s are kids days, so if Xander was interested (and a little older), he could have run the bases after the game.