While we have been writing about our recent road trips, last weekend we had a wonderful staycation making memories at the Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Stars Charity Concert benefitting victims of Hurricane Sandy in New York City (NYC). A family can experience such fun exploring their local area and making priceless memories that last forever. Pair this with our family’s love of baseball and you got a home run. Since our family’s plan is to hit every park in America together, attending the MLB All-Star festivities became the icing on the cake. Using our new Nokia Lumia 928 camera to document the memories made the weekend extra fun!

IMG_3050

MLB All-Stars Staycation Memories With Our Nokia Lumia 928

The Warm-up Memories

Our new Nokia Lumia 928 has incredible photographic capabilities.  The clarity and crispness of the photos just blows us away!  We used to have to work really hard to take great photos. Remember the days when we used to carry the bulky video camera, the large lens camera, the digital camera and our cell phone? Now, the best benefit of the Nokia is that we only had to tote around one device when packing for MLB All-Stars events.

Meanwhile, our children could barely contain their excitement about attending the Major League Baseball All-Star Charity Concert. They could not wait to see Joe Torre do a special reading. So to burn off some of the excitement, we kicked off the day with some family soccer. Every day, we have to think of creative ways to tire out our energetic crew. So why not a family soccer match that we can film?

Nokia Lumia 928 Shoots Incredible Video

Check out the family soccer video above that was our pre-concert warm up. With our Nokia phone, we are able to capture action shots no matter the lighting to create steady, and lively high-quality video and sound. Do you see an Oscar in our future? If not, at least our staycation action memories aren’t blurry.

WP_20130716_004

Family Soccer Game Staycation

The Concert:

So after we worked the kids really hard, we cruised down to NYC for the  MLB All-Star Concert benefitting Hurricane Sandy in Central Park on the Great Lawn. Over 1 million dollars was raised to help hurricane victims thanks to MLB, MasterCard and the many sponsors.  The New York Philharmonic Orchestra began the evening with themes of classic baseball movies like the Natural and Field of Dreams (one of our favorites!). Joe Torre welcomed the crowd and then read the iconic poem “Casey at Bat” by Ernest Thayer.

IMG_3056

 Joe Torre  reading the iconic poem  “Casey at Bat” by Ernest Thayer.

After the applause died down for Joe Torre, Mariah Carey debuted to a standing ovation from the crowd. Our daughter thought she looked like a Mermaid since her arm was in a “silver bling” sling that matched her evening gown. Emotional about the peril of the hurricane victims, she promised more soul after intermission. During the twenty-minute break, the children loved dancing around the great lawn trying to catch fireflies.   The weather could not have been more perfect.

 

IMG_3062

Catching Fireflies in Central Park

After intermission, the Orchestra Conductor donned a Mets jersey honoring the All-Star game hosts and led the symphony in debut of the theme of the recent hit 42.  For the grand finale, Mariah sang “Hero” which captured the essence of the beautiful evening. The Orchestra closed the night while fireworks graced the night sky for a patriotic good-bye.  We had a leisurely walk through lamp-post lit streets to our car.  Along the way, we discussed that our staycation at the MLB All-Star Concert in NYC will be a night to remember for many years to come.  What is your favorite staycation? What tech helps make it memorable for your family? Thanks to Verizon for our Nokia Lumia 928 to help make wonderful MLB All-Stars Staycation memories.

Disclosure: We are members of the Verizon Lifestyle blogging team and did get a free phone to use. However, our opinions are purely our own.

Related Articles:

Family Road Trip Apps and Tech Create Family Memories

Great Travel Apps To Plan Family Vacations

Gulf Coast Road Tripping: Leg Two of Vacation Adventures: A shout out for our Nokia Lumia 928