When attending the U.S. Open...

...bring sunscreen. It is likely you will be sitting in full sun for most of the day.
...bring a hat. If you don't bring a hat, you will have to buy a hat and a hat costs $24.
...bring your own food if you think that $7.00 is too much to spend on a hot dog. We didn't think it was, but some people do.
...you can refill your water bottle at one of the many water fountains they have on the grounds. You can also clean baby bottles and refill them there. Somehow, being able to refill the $5.00 bottle of Evian makes one feel a little better.
...by making friends with an usher, you can discover that it is possible to move around the Grandstand so that you are sitting in the shade as much as possible. This is especially good to do if you take a baby to the tournament with you.
...you can make friends with lots of people if you have a cute baby that likes to smile at everyone that looks at him (regardless of how tired he is or how whiny he was seconds earlier).
...you should know that if you want one of those huge tennis balls to have the players sign, it is going to set you back $40.00. And you can only buy them in the Wilson Shop on the grounds.
...you will learn that the Polo store has cool clothes, but a jacket you like will set you back $125. (Sensing a theme about concessions and shopping at the Open yet?)
...you will see some bratty, spoiled kids turning their noses up at Polo clothes because they want Lacoste clothes instead.
...leave your stroller at home. We were annoyed that we didn't have it at first when we saw others with their strollers, but it was much easier to use the Baby Bjorn (which is possibly one of our favorite gifts we received in association with G-Man's birth. It is G-Man's favorite too. He LOVES riding in it.)
...you can go in the super speedy admission line if you don't bring a bag. We had to bring one for G-Man's stuff, but if you wear cargo pants, you can load stuff in your pockets and go through the fast line.
...you will see people point to Shea Stadium and tell everyone in their group, "There's Yankee Stadium where the Yankees play." You will really want to laugh at them for being so silly to think that Yankee Stadium is in the middle of Queens, but you will be nice and let them wallow in their silliness.
...congratulate the players on a match well played.
(This is Diggity with Nadal. We were able to see his match against Tsonga. It was a great match, by the way.)
...get day session tickets on Labor Day weekend. CBS always broadcasts during the day over Labor Day weekend and they have all the cool matches in Ashe Stadium when CBS is broadcasting. We saw Serena and Venus Williams play their matches in addition to the match with Nadal.
...you should ride the Long Island Railroad if you are coming from Manhattan. Other than that, go ahead and ride the 7 train. Better yet, stay in Queens about a block from the subway stop with your supremely nice friends.
...and you have a full diaper and your mom holds you at just the right angle while opening the changing table in the bathroom - you can pee right on her foot. (Which marks the first time the boy has peed on me in his lifetime. I'm pretty lucky it was just my foot and I didn't really care because I was laughing so hard that it happened.)

...take a family picture so you can remember what a fun day you had.


And if you get the chance to attend the U.S. Open, you should definitely go. I've wanted to go since my friend A.J. attended when we were in high school and she was nice enough to bring me a shirt. We were so tired and G-Man was so jet lagged from the trip to Germany, we almost didn't go. I'm so glad we did. And I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband who is so committed to making my dreams and travel wishes come true. He was still wondering if we should have gone until my face apparently lit up when I saw the grounds after we got off the subway. Then, he was totally excited to be there. What a great guy. I'm far too lucky to have him in my life, but I'm very grateful that I do.

P.S. The Sound of Music is on TV right now. The Captain and Frau Schrader are walking around by the lake and Diggity and I are taking turns yelling "we were totally just there! Standing right there!" at the TV set. (Okay, I'm doing most of the yelling at the TV. Diggity thinks it is cool too, but he's not yelling.)