The 4th of July

This year we were able to continue our young tradition of going to a Seattle Mariners game on or close to the 4th. It just so happened that this year, the Mariners had a day game on the 4th of July. We left our house around 8:30 in the morning and arrived at the Mariners parking garage around 11:45am. We were all in shorts and short sleeves and I was surprised to discover it was cool in the garage. When the wind blew it was almost cold. I groaned inwardly because we weren't prepared for the weather to be like this.

We grabbed the backpack that housed the snacks and water bottles and made sure we had the diaper bag, but it wasn't til we were already in the park that I realized A) I left the camera in the van--hence no pictures [I took it into the park last year but forgot to get a family picture--ugh will I ever get it right??] and B) I left our frozen Capri-suns and a sippy cup of milk for Karcyn in the small cooler in the trunk of the van. I was mad about the camera of course (just ask Jared how many times I said I wished we had it) but worried about the milk. Karcyn likes her milk and I had none. Not even a juice box for her. None of us had eaten lunch either. We figured we would just eat our snack stuff during the game but my grumbling tummy convinced me that probably wasn't a good idea.

The first thing we did was buy Mariner shirts for the kids which actually started out as sweatshirts to stay warm, but before we made our purchase, it began to warm up. Thank goodness. After we found our seats in section 103 (a non-alcoholic section), I gave Calvin to Jared, still sleeping in the front pack, and took Karcyn with me (because whoever had the baby, couldn't also keep track of Karcyn). That was no problem. I needed to go potty and Karcyn needed food.

I bought Karcyn a Minor dog (translation: a small hot dog. A larger one is called, you guessed it: a Major dog) and a popcorn. Costing me 9 bucks. Surely she'd eat one or the other. The gal behind the register asked if I wanted anything to drink with that. I jokingly said, "Not unless you have milk." The lady said they didn't have any where she was, but there was milk in-house near the Kids' Club. We were in the other non-alcoholic section in the high 300s last year so I wasn't familiar with anything in this area of the stadium, but we had bought their t-shirts at the Kids' Club so I knew where to go. What a joy to find that for $5 I could get a hot dog or PB&J sandwich with Cracker Jacks or a large soft pretzel and a drink which included a large cup of milk. Oh, and this all came in a cute Mariners bucket with a handle. I was all over it. I got the last hot dog and pretzel so the other two buckets had the sandwiches and cracker jacks. I also got THREE milks. One for Cooper, one for Karcyn and another for Karcyn. Jake doesn't like milk anyway and had his water bottle. I couldn't believe my luck. What a deal! So the kids got lunch, they shared the popcorn I bought earlier and Jared had the other hot dog.

The other highlights included buying "Dippin' Dots" that we had seen on "Unwrapped" on the Food Network and were hoping would be at the park when the 5th inning started. And the garlic fries! I think they are a Safeco Field must. And finally...during a not-so-great season, the Mariners beat the Detroit Tigers 4-1!

Karcyn, though she was tired, was a trooper. She totally head jammed to the music when it played. (Again, wished I had that camera) and the boys were really good. We didn't catch any fly balls in the outfield (they even had their mitts) but we did have a photographer for the Mariners take pictures of our family. (Somebody should, I guess.) They are putting together a magazine to show how family friendly the games are at this Stadium. Who knows? Maybe we'll be in it.

The game ended around 4:30 and we left the parking garage with ease (totally worth the extra price for that convenience especially since I'd classify us as Seattle tourists!) and drove to the hotel where we had made reservations for the evening in Federal Way--about 20 minutes south of the field.

We found our suite since our family is now the size that requires one, and had pizza delivered right to our hotel door. After that we took the kids swimming, even Calvin got in and didn't once object. What a gem he was. He just laid his head on my shoulders and kept those big eyes open. He didn't whimper or cry. Just took it all in. The hot tub wasn't so hot, so we all got in that ,too. We were the only ones in the pool area when we went swimming. And it's a good thing...

When we were in the not-so-hot tub, Jared motioned around the corner at a timer. There was a timer and a red knob. He thought that might get the jets going for some bubble action. So I turned the timer to about 15 minutes, but I didn't hear anything happen so then I pushed on the red button. That's when I thought we were doomed. An ear-piercing siren started blaring from every wall and it only took me a second for my mistake to register and I frantically pulled the knob out. Fortunately for my pounding heart, the horrible screeching sound stopped. But we all just froze. I think Jared laughed. I was kind of panicked and didn't take my eyes off the entrance to the pool. I was just waiting for the feds or the fire department at least to escort me out of there and kick my family out of the hotel. Jared asked me why I pushed the RED button. I told him because I thought that it would help get the bubbles going. Okay, maybe in retrospect, that was probably a dumb idea. However, if I may add, I think whoever put that RED button there RIGHT NEXT to the hot tub timer is stupid!

Well, we all made it through our swim and tubbing time without any further ado and retired to our room. The boys loved that they had a big TV in their room. Karcyn got the plasma TV from the sitting area where her hide-a-bed was. But she was out like trout. We all slept soundly and awakened ready for our big Deluxe complimentary breakfasts. Boy, if you left hungry it was your own darn fault. And back home we came around noon on Saturday, July 5th. It was a weekend worthy of repeating. Minus the RED button.