by Victoria

On Sunday, June 3, 2001 Alex, Mason, Paul, Jeff and I went to see the Pittsburgh Pirates play the Atlanta Braves.  We met at Paul’s shortly after 10:00 and decided to go in separate cars because the Pirates were playing a double header.  The drive was pretty uneventful except that about 5 minutes after leaving Paul pulled over, got our of his car, walked up to my car and asked if I had the tickets.  I did, and we continued on our way.

We arrived at PNC Stadium about 11:30 p.m.  On Sunday’s, the Pirate’s have a street carnival.  Kids can climb and jump, hit and run, and get their faces drawn and painted.  Each carnival has a theme, and this particular day’s was Nickelodeon Games.   Alex joined the audience for a live version of Double Dare 2000, (as the host told us 50 times).  If you are not familiar with this show, the audience participates in goofy games that are very messy. 

After watching several such events, Alex managed to get on stage in a game of musical chairs involving whipped cream pies.  A pie was set on one chair and the person left standing when the music went off had to hit him- or herself in the face with the pie.  This went on until Alex won.  (Surprised, aren’t you.)  Alex had the choice of hitting herself with a pie, or choosing a family member.  Of course she chose me. 

I went on stage and stood in a small orange wadding pool. This pool holds nothing except people about to have something gooey dumped on them from somewhere.  Alex was then given two pies and told to hit me with both of them.  This she did with great joy.  As the great mounds of whipped cream hit the sides of my face, my first thought was I couldn’t hear anything. 

My next thought was that this was probably real whipped cream.  It was sweet and thick and stood on its own.   I could hear a muffled laugh, and from a distance I could hear the host tell me to give Alex a kiss.  I did my best, but Alex didn’t let me get too close.   Back stage, I was given a wet towel to help me clean off the whipped cream mess.  I did the best I could, but I can’t believe how much was in my ears.  Even the stage helpers noticed.  We each received a Nickelodeon mug and were sent on our way. 

As the day went on, my hair smelled more and more like sugar and stuck to my head.  I was grateful for a shower when we got home.