Safeco Field

Mariners vs. Redsox

Bobbie Jo let Craig borrow her Griffey jersey...we totally made fun of Derek and Craig matching all night!

My man Austin gave this batter some pretty good pitches!!

Mariner Moose! Bobbie Jo and Derek had never experienced the Kid Zone and the Moose at the ballpark. We thought they'd like a new experience!!

Awesome field! I loved it! It was a beautiful night for baseball! The roof was wide open. It would have been fun to see it open and close, but i'll take outdoor baseball anyway! Lots of redsox fans around as well...we knew it would be a fun game!

Our seats were WAY up high! But, we could see everything! The kids enjoyed cheering

"I-CHI-RO!!!!" My favoite was "Let's Go SMOAK"!...very clever!

Our favorite "matching" couple! haha!!

Did these people take a wrong turn to Target Field? (one guy did ask me if I was lost, one said "yay twins"!) We had to support our team!

Love it!

Did I mention our seats were WAY up high?

We thought the bullpen was awesome! Fans can stand right behind and watch the relievers warm up!

(Kris, this picture is for you! No idea where he got this!)

This picture was taken at 1045pm (1245am back home!) 13th inning!! Craig and I thought it would be interesting with 7:00 starts with the kids, being it would be 9:00 back home...we never imagined extra innings!! The Redsox had a no hitter through the 8th inning!

Then it got exciting! Mariners scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 9th to tie it up! (second and third with one out...no scoring! Bottom of the 10th inning bases loaded one out..no scoring! Game should've been over!) The Redsox hit a two run homerun in the 13th and held the Mariners! We left in the top of the 13th because it was so late! I don't think the kids were even ready to leave then!!

*Austin thought the Mariners had won at one point and was looking for Minnie and Paul shaking hands!!*

We LOVED Safeco Field!!

Morning in Downtown Seattle

A typical Seattle morning...rainy and cool. Checked out Pike's Market...crazy and smelly! Floors and floors of vendors and food!!

Went up Columbia Center to Obs. deck (much better than going up the Space needle...cheaper, no lines, and higher than any other building!) Walking up a huge hill to get there I was thinking it wasn't a great idea. When we got up the elevator the kids were so excited and Austin saw Saefco, then it was worth it!!

Saefco and Qwest Field (which we decided you wouldn't be able to see from the Space Needle..another bonus!)

And...you can see the Space Needle from here!

The Freemont Troll

Austin actually found this in one of Bobbie Jo and Derek's travel book...so we thought we better go see it. He calls it "The Grumpy Old Troll" (who lives under the bridge...from Dora!)

Once we found it we thought it was pretty cool!!

Seattle here we come!!

So beautiful once we hit mountains middle of Montana! The overnight was rough in the car. The kids had a hard time sleeping in their car seats...stopped at a rest stop to sleep...no sleeping...and hour later decided just to take off again. (the van next to us was having a party and smoking something?!). Made it another hour or so and stopped again..everyone got a few hours of sleep in. (I will never make fun of anyone if I see them on the side of the road by a hotel sleeping in their van!.....or maybe I will!). Took off about 530am. Katelynn got car sick after the first round of mountains (oh no....going to be a long day!) Stopped for breakfast and the color came back in her face (and lips!) The rest of the LONG driving day the kids did well...watched movies, played leapster, and had snacks. Craig did most of the driving...he did AWESOME!

Picnic lunch in Couer D'Alene! (Discovered lunchables are only for kids....gross!!) The squirrels and seagulls wanted to have lunch with us too!

Super fun huge play area to burn off some energy! (I wonder if Grandpa Steve could build something like this at the lake?)

This beautiful lake with mountains as the backdrop made this a great place to hang out after lunch for awhile. The kids needed a little playtime before we got back in the car again!

The water was a little cold..Craig and Katelynn didn't care!

Austin, of course, needed to get dirty!

We had 5 hours left to Bobbie Jo and Derek's after this stop...we can do it!!

Had a big stretch with no mountains that I was suppose to drive but Craig thought he was okay to keep going. However, the kids fell asleep and he didn't want to stop to wake them so he ended up driving the whole rest of the way! We hit mountains again in the middle of Washington. SOOOO pretty with the evergreen trees, lakes, and rivers! Beautiful to look at, but we were sick of the windy roads and steep hills. 10 hours of it in one day is a little much!

Snoqualmie Falls
We stopped off at the amazing waterfall about 45 minutes from Bobbie Jo and Derek's (so close!!). It was worth the stop. This is not peak season so I can imagine how big it is when it's at its peak!

The last 45 minutes was the hardest part of the trip! Everyone was tired, hungry, and ready to be done. 5 minutes after we left Katelynn had to go to the bathroom, then the GPS got us turned around due to new construction, then Austin had to go to the bathroom (guess what...he went in the bucket!)! We finally got to Lynnwood at 7:12 (Pacific time). Craig had a schedule of the driving of course and had us arriving at 7:15!!! Can you believe it?!?! Bobbie Jo (my cousin by the way) and her husband Derek were waiting for us with open arms!! They had a bedroom all ready for us and the kids, and pizza just out of the oven!! We are so thankful for them and are so excited to hang out in Seattle with them before they come back to MN in August!

*Things we've learned so far about Washington*

1. You cannot just go into a gas station and use the restroom! I had Katelynn in there and heard all this yelling from the worker and Craig. She said we couldn't use it....we had to buy something...she kept yelling...CUSTOMER SERVICE!! (isn't customer service what you should be providing to us?!), and couldn't speak english very well. I asked her where my daughter was suppose to poop (she didn't really have an answer!) So, Craig bought a Mt. Dew. Bobbie Jo said that is kind of how it is here...gotta buy something!

2. They have photo enforcement at the stop lights..no rolling stops through the light when turning right or you will be sent a ticket....and no talking on cell phones...just passed a state law, and NO ONE here is on their phones in their cars...kind of nice!

3. Naked coffee shops....seriously! (not the one Bobbie Jo works at!!). Drive up windows for coffee and girls at the window are topless!! yep..Java Juggs, Baristas, The Beehive "come see what makes our coffee beautiful".....OMG!! I think I better stick with the starbucks (which there are a lot of) and be safe. We did see the first starbucks ever....COOL!

So Cool!! Can't wait to watch a game on this field...the turf looks awesome! We all headed to the new and improved field this afternoon and the 3 kids got to be the first to run the bases!

checking it out!

The first slide into home plate (didn't even get dirty!)

We love running bases!!

The football field looks amazing too!! The football field still needs the sand/rubber filling. It takes 8,000 ground up tires (yes, tires!) to cover the baseball field. It takes 80,000 tires for the football field!! We saw all the bags waiting to go on!

The Rice's (some family friends) happened to be on a walk and stopped by and got a tour of the fields!! Al Rice used to coach football at Concordia so I am sure that was really fun for him to see!

4th of July Highlights!!

(first of all...I dropped my camera in the lake!! Very sad...so no pictures!!)

*Katelynn and Austin LOVED swimming! We swam Friday night at the swimming hole...the kids jumped off the pontoon to Craig! (we are all thankful he likes swimming so much!)

*Katelynn went tubing at the Gundberg's and Gpa Steve and Gma Connie's!

*Celebrated Drew's 5th birthday at the Gundberg's!

*Played cards every night after the kids went to bed!

*Had a campfire and watched fireworks on the 4th from the pontoon....the fireworks were amazing! They surrounded the lake!

*Floated down the river on Monday!

We had a great weekend!

Heidi and I have declared 4th of July our new FAVORITE holiday!!