Stomper in the Town

If you're following Little Hiccups on Instagram you would've seen our adventures this Summer finding Stomper statues around Oakland. I figured it was time I shared them all here on the blog as well. We've found quite a few of the Stomper statues so far, so prepare for a lot of fun photos. But first, a little background...

If you're not familiar with the Oakland A's then you're probably wondering just who Stomper is and why there are statues of him around town. Stomper the elephant is the mascot of the Oakland Athletics (or simply the A's) baseball team. This year the A's are celebrating fifty years in Oakland and as part of the celebration they have teamed up with local artists to bring the Stomper in the Town exhibition to the streets. Fifty Stomper statues decorated by fifty artists can be found dotted around Oakland. From the port to the hills, from the northern border with Berkeley all the way down to the Oakland Zoo, Stompers can be found all over. Intrepid Stomper hunters, like us, can download the Stomper in the Town map and checklist (or pick one up from Visit Oakland in Jack London Square) and head off on a city wide treasure hunt. 

We've spread out our treasure hunting over the Summer, and so far of the fifty Stomper statues on display we've made it to thirty four. The statues will be on display until the end of the current baseball season, so we still have time to make it to the rest - fingers crossed.

Here's a look at the Stompers we've found so far. I've put them in the same order here that they appear on the numbered Stomper in the Town map and list.

52 Weeks: Week 36

Week 36: Baseball, Green Day & Fireworks

I'm a little behind with my 52 Week Project posts so this fun evening from week 36 already feels a world away.

Over the recent long weekend we attended an Oakland A's baseball game. We try and make it to one or two baseball games a year as it's always a fun day out. It's especially fun when it's a firework game; a game with a fireworks display after the final innings. This particular firework game caught my eye when I saw it advertised thanks to two little words: Green Day. Bay Area locals Green Day were being honored at the game after their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year. The trio were presented with A's shirts before the game, Billie Joe Armstrong threw the first ball, and an amazing fireworks show set to Green Day music provided much entertainment after the game.

Father's Day 2012: Australian Edition

Time for Father's Day number two for the year!

Lucky Kim gets to celebrate Father's Day twice a year. American Father's Day was back in June and now we have just had Australian Father's Day this weekend. Can you believe it's September already?

Seeing as Kim has already been spoiled once this year with Father's Day treats we decided to keep it a little more low key this time around. No presents this time but we did come up with a cute card.

You may recall that we attended our first baseball game a few weeks back. You may also recall that the girls were super excited to wear "baseball fingers". I thought that these two things would work nicely together for our Father's Day card. I'm always partial to a little cheesiness!

I took one of the photos from the game of the girls wearing their Oakland A's "baseball fingers", edited out the logo and text, added in my own details, added a cheesy greeting and voila, perfect Father's Day cards. I personalised them with the names Daddy, Papa (for my Dad) and Doug (for Kim's Dad - yes, the girls call him by his real name!).

Papa's #1 fans

Take me out to the ballgame...

Ok, ok, so that is probably the most overused title when it comes to things baseball related but I just couldn't help myself.

Last Sunday we attended our first baseball game as a family. Kim had been a to a few games with workmates but the girls and I were total newbies when it came to "America's favourite pastime".
Kim had previously attended San Francisco Giants games but this time we supported our local team and attended an Oakland A's vs Cleveland Indians game at the Oakland Coliseum.

Lola having a ball at the game!