Seattle Day 4

Day 4: Sunday, August 16th

MAIN EVENT DAY!!!  The only thing planned for this day was our main reason for the trip.  My long awaited chance to watch the Mariners play the New York Yankees!!!  I have wanted to watch the Yankees play as long as I can remember.  Only two things could have topped this day and as of this publish date, only one of those things is still available....watching the Yankees play at Yankee Stadium (the since retired stadium) and watching the Yankees play the Red Sox at Fenway park.  Don't worry folks, that is definitely on my bucket list!  Brad and I have actually looked at tickets online and we're seriously contemplating it somewhere in the future.

In February, when Brad and I were starting to think about planning a family vacation for the summer, we weren't sure where we wanted to go.  We knew we couldn't afford an extravagant destination such as Disneyland or Hawaii but we wanted to do something fun and interactive just the same.  We had considered a couple options such as, traveling the Oregon coast (I made this trip with my parents at the age of 5 or 6 and had a blast) and other places.  I was busy at the computer trying to come up with more options when Brad, {watching ESPN as usual} yelled down the stairs that Ken Griffey, Jr. had decided to come back to the Mariners organization.  We immediately had our vacation destination...and no need to determine which date we were going...we already knew.  They had to be playing the Yankees!  We found the dates...which worked perfectly because the kids were on summer break and it would be one last fantastic trip before school started up again.  We decided that we would splurge a little bit on our tickets and guarantee great seats.  Fortunately for us, Brad's brother Sam lives in Olympia and he and his wife Amy decided to come too.  Sam purchased the tickets opening day and we had great seats...left field line, about 16 rows up from the field!  Unfortunately, a week or so before the game, Sam and Amy realized they couldn't make the game so they sold their tickets :-(  From there, the rest of the trip just sort of planned itself....and voila! here we are on game day...

We woke up early, had breakfast and started packing our goods.  Since we were headed home after the game, our van had to be packed all day with our belongings.  Not a bad deal since the entire day was going to be spent at the field.  We left bright and early...found a great FREE parking spot and even had enough time to stop at Krispy Kreme for coffee and donuts before the gates opened.  We were all dressed in our Mariners garb (yes, I love the Yankees but I also love the Mariners...it really was a win-win situation for me...and, I'm not stupid enough to wear Yankees clothes unless we're watching them in New York)!

We lined up early at the gate and anxiously waited.  Finally, the doors opened and it was a mad dash to our seats to watch the teams warm-up. 

Alex Rodriguez was warming up right in front of us.  I took TONS of pictures!  We even witnessed Derek Jeter tie the all-time record for hits by a short stop with #2,673.  {On a side note, it was fun to watch the kids' amazement when the Yankees won the World Series...they thought it was awesome that we watched the best team play that season!}  Before the game, we walked around the park and took in everything.

We had our pictures taken with Moose...

...and at center field.

The kids played in the playground and just had a blast.  They were soooo excited to be there...as was I.

The game was awesome but it went by at a fast rate of speed.  I was bummed.  I could have stayed there for at least another week.  We enjoyed our favorite foods....fresh squeezed lemonade, hot roasted peanuts, chocolate-dipped strawberries & garlic fries!!

We watched the Mariners defeat the Yankees by a large margin and just had an overall great time.

Alex Rodriguez warming up

Jorge Posada

Derek Jeter

He was looking right at me...I was very noticeable in my bright pink Seattle shirt!!!

Ichiro gettin' a hit

Griffey swinging for the ball...

...and then holding up on 3rd

Then it was time to leave.  The drive home was bitter- sweet.  It's always nice to come home but it's always sad leaving your fun times behind.  I guess that is why I take so many pictures.  I want to remember every moment.  And here is one more of Mt. Hood...not as visible as the trip over but just as beautiful and massive.

We did have a long drive home for various reasons (car-sick kids, cranky kids, hungry kids, well, you get the point), but eventually we made it.  Even though Brad insisted on driving across the Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge...aka the floating bridge..that goes across Lake Washington from Seattle to Mercer Island.  For those of you who know me, you know I don't like bridges very much.  Not sure why, I just don't...but he just loves to torture me.

We all had a great family vacation and can't wait to do it all again in another couple years...except we'll probably skip the zoo next time ;-)  So, with summer just around the corner this year....I'm wondering where we should go...hmmmmm.....