Super Kids at PETCO Park

Last Sunday, I was fortunate enough to hang out with some very cool kids and their families at the Super Kids Day event at PETCO Park. PETCO recently partnered with the San Diego Council on Literacy and the San Diego Padres to sponsor a local essay contest for kids ages 6-9 and 10-13. Of the two age groups, we had 20 winners who each received 4 tickets to Sundays Padres vs. Brewers game. Not only did we get to sit in the super cool All-You-Can-Eat-Seats sponsored by AM PM (and boy did I take advantage of that), but the kids also got to participate in job shadowing with Padres staff for the first couple innings. 

Whether it was Savanah being our 4^th inning Little Star, Hattie delivering the game ball,  Archer getting to work in the control room, Ryan sitting next to Mr. Padre (Tony Gwynn) in the channel 4 broadcast booth, or Carly assisting the events crew, these kids got to see it all! I had so much fun spending time with all those great kids on a beautiful San Diego day cheering on our Padres – really, I felt like I had won a contest.

As for the essay contest, the topic question was, “If you could have any pet in the world, what would it be and why?” and some of the entries were just too great not to share. Below are some of my favorite lines from the winning entries.

Congratulations to all our 2009 PETCO Super Kids Essay contest winners!

•  Describing his current pet… “I think the cat goes outside because people feed her tiny groceries”
• On wanting a pet kangaroo… “He would have skin like a warm blanket and carry me on his back”
• On wanting a baby penguin… “Penguins can’t get into trouble compared to other baby animals”
• On wanting a family of meerkats…” I would go to the beach with them so we can dig huge holes together”
• On wanting a monkey… “I would pick a monkey because of their intelligence, curiosity and cleverness. In these ways they are quite like me!”
• On wanting a rattlesnake… “they sleep for 5 months a year. This gives me a break from it.”
• On wanting a cat…”I want a cat with a high IQ”  followed by… “this is my uncompromised choice for a pet.”