The Pumpkin Patch with Trish, Amy and Ed

I got a hold of Trish and asked her if she wanted to go to the pumpkin patch again this year.  She said that would be fun but asked why this early?  I told her that every weekend was filled up with stuff already and that the Sunday was the only available day to go.  She said okay. I told her Ben was on shift at the fire station on that Saturday so it would just be us coming up on Sunday and going home the same day, but no overnight this time.  I asked her if we wanted to do dinner while we were there and she said yeah, we can do dinner and suggested chili.  I asked her what we could bring, and she said some sort of dessert. I told her we would see her on Sunday.

Early afternoon on Saturday, I went over to Erika and Zac's and got some bags of sticks from when they cut down trees because I needed some more kindling for our fire pit.  It was the perfect size, and it was dry.  Erika came out a few times to hang out with me.  We ended up watching one of the homeless people have some sort of medical emergency and the ambulance and Olympia cops came out to do an assessment on them.  Erika said it was always like that and she had to call the cops often.  

When I was done, I made run to the store for a few things and called Trish really quick to ask her about some dessert options.  I had no idea what or how much to get because I didn't know if Ed was coming over or not. I quickly grabbed some brownies from Safeway on the way home.  I put the groceries away and then I mowed the back yard before it got dark. 

Ben got off of shift and once I got up, we got ready to go and jumped into the Escape and headed out.  I wasn't sure how the traffic would be, but we let Trish know we were on our way.  We actually didn't hit any traffic, and we were able to get to Bonney Lake at a decent time.  We arrived in town just after noon and we called to ask if she needed anything before we got to the house, she said she had everything.  We asked Trish which pumpkin patch we wanted to go to, and she said we could just go down the hill to Spooner's.  It was the one we went to the year before in the smoke.  Ed and his truck were there.    

It was another nice fall weekend and hit almost 80 degrees.  I was able to wear shorts again to pick out my pumpkin.  We all got ready to go and we made fun of Amy for putting on rain boots to go get a pumpkin.  We told her it was so dry that we weren't going to see any mud until it rained. She didn't care, she was going to be the weirdo who wore boots.  We all crammed into Trish's Tucson and drove down the hill into the Orting valley. 

It was busy, like we thought it might be.  The Seahawks were on a bye that week, so that might be why it was busier than it would be if they were playing that afternoon.  Either way, it was crazy, and we had to be patient.  We turned into the overflow parking and Trish nabbed the first spot she saw.  I made fun of her because she parked us near sticker bushes, so we had to watch out where we were walking.  We grabbed another person's wheelbarrow as we walked towards the entrance to go in.  We had to dodge people and cars. 

We made our way over to the rows of pumpkins and spent some time trying to find the perfect one. I picked out three, one for me, one for Mom and one for Dad because I told them I would get one for them.  Ben picked himself out one, Amy was reluctant, but eventually was a good sport about it and even got one for David.  Trish picked out a good one and Ed found one he liked. We had eight pumpkins balancing in our wheelbarrow.  I got a few pictures and Trish took a couple.  

We weaved our wheelbarrow full of pumpkins in and out of the busy walkways full of people to the weigh stations, where we stood in line for a while until it was our turn.  I admired the various produce and the different kinds and sizes of the mini pumpkins. It was our turn to finally weigh our pumpkins and we had to adjust it, so everyone got theirs weighed appropriately.  We got our tickets and went and paid at the payment shed.

We wheelbarrowed them out to Trish's Tucson.  We placed them gently in the back so they wouldn't roll.  No one wants a busted steam.  We went back because Trish wanted to slingshot tiny pumpkins into the car they had in the slingshot area.  We each put in a couple bucks and we each got to fling pumpkins into the field, trying to hit the targets.  It took some trial and error to figure out how to fling them. Once we did, it was fun watching them fly! 

We walked back to the Tucson, got through the crappy traffic and back up the hill. Ben and I transferred our pumpkins into his Edge and went inside to hang out for a little bit.  We played a couple card and dice games until we were tired of them, which was quickly playing with Ed, and Trish started in on the chili, corn bread and I helped get the salad together. 

Once the food was done, we ate, chatted about random things as we ate and thanked her for making food.  For dessert, we each had a brownie.  It was sad we couldn't stay very long but she knew we couldn't.  We had to get home and get ready for the work week just like they all did. We gave out hugs and thank yous, jumped into the Edge and headed home. It didn't take us long to get home which was nice.

We got home just before 7, did a few chores, got cleaned up and ready for bed.  I really wish the weekends were longer.      

Next Adventure:  Early Birthday/Anniversary Weekend: Lacey to Walla Walla

Dad's Batman Birthday Party

A couple weeks ago, I was asking Dad what kind of a birthday theme he wanted.  He said he wanted a Batman birthday party.  I told him that I could do that.  I then added, what kind of food and dessert?  He said ribs, baked potatoes with salad and chocolate cupcakes.  I told him I could also do that.  I asked Erika if she would make Batman cupcakes and she said yes.  I told everyone when the birthday party would be and what we were eating.  Everyone set aside time for that day, including Trish and Amy.   

Since we were out of town during his birthday in Spokane, I asked him if it would be okay to celebrate his birthday the following weekend and he said he didn't care.  He added, as long as we got together and ate some good food.  That week, after we got back, was really busy.  On Monday, I went out to Rainier to pick up my jerseys from Grandma Karen, Tuesday I had a half day for my chiro/massage appointment and I was able to get a few Batman decorations from Party City including masks, Wednesday was the Mariner game with Alicia, Ben was also on call at JBLM, Thursday Ben had a dentist appointment and was still on call at JBLM so he didn't go to training, Erika told us on Friday she was pregnant, which will change the course of a lot of things coming up.  I started cleaning the house on Friday just to get a head start.  Between Doug and Charlie, our house got really dirty quickly and easily.  

On Saturday, Ben had shift at the station.  I asked Mom if she needed to come into town for some shopping and she said sure.  She drove out to Lacey and met me at the house.  We hit up Costco first, followed by a Dollar Tree visit for some Batman decorations, Walmart and finally Winco.  Mom was hungry so we called Erika to see what she was doing.  She said just hanging out.  Mom asked her if she wanted to meet us for pizza at Brewery City.  She met us there, but we found out it was closed for remodel, so we went to The Rock instead.  We had gotten $50 from Walmart that someone had left in the change area of the check-out register.  I could have been anyone to be honest and no one came back for it.  We used the money to buy lunch.

We ate pizza while Erika showed us all the literature she received from the doctor's office.  We all agreed, even though two of us have not had children, that you will never be ready to raise kids no matter how prepared you think you are.  It was going to be a huge lifestyle change for everyone.  Erika went home and Mom and I went back to the house to unload groceries and put hers into her Expedition.  She went home after that, and I continued with chores.  I did some loads of laundry, worked on my blog and finished getting the house as ready as I could to lessen the things I had to do the next day.

The next day, Ben came home from shift, took a nap and we started getting as much done as we could while we watched some of the NFL games.  The Seahawks played Monday Night Football that week against the Giants in New York, so we didn't have to be stressed out watching it during the birthday party.  Ben helped me bring chairs in, I started getting the decorations up and decided that I was missing a bat signal.  I got out the construction paper and my giant Sharpie and made my own.  It actually turned out well.  Ben got the grill going and I got the baked potatoes in the oven just before 3:00.

The next hour, the food cooked, I did the little last-minute things and people started to arrive.  I got some platters ready, pulled out the potatoes, got the salad, the salad and potato fixings on the table, Ben got the ribs cut up and everyone came in, grabbed their plates and the food frenzy started.  We all sat at the table and enjoyed food while we talked about random things. 

We finished food, Erika grabbed the cupcakes, we lit one, sang happy birthday and dad blew out his candle.  He wore his Batman mask the entire time.  Haha!  I got him some Hershey's chocolate bars and some work gloves and stuck them in small reusable Batman bags.  He looked like he was having a good time.  We got in a family picture before it was time for everyone to head home since the party time was late this go around.  Dad thanked everyone for coming, everyone gave out hugs and then headed home so they could get ready for the work week.

Ben, Doug and I put the tables and chairs away, I quickly vacuumed the living room, set everything back up and Ben and I got the dishes and the kitchen cleaned up.  We got cleaned up and ready for our upcoming work week.  Man, the weekends go by so fast!

Happy Birthday Dad! 🦇

Next Adventure:  The Pumpkin Patch with Trish, Amy and Ed

Seattle Mariners vs. Houston Astros with Alicia

Every Mariner fan was hoping to find our team back in the playoffs this season.  Last year, we finally won enough games to clinch a spot in the playoffs, something we haven't done in 20 years!  The drought was over!  We had a great run in August pulling ourselves into a great spot for the final run for the playoffs.  Then we hit a skid in September putting ourselves in a really hard situation at the end of the regular season.  I honestly didn't think I would be able to go to another game.  My friend Alicia wanted to go to a game and called me up a couple weeks ago to ask if I wanted to go with her to a Mariner game.  I said, yes, it would be fun! She said it would be her treat and she would drive us to the light rail.

A few days later, Alicia bought tickets and let me know which day we were going to go.  She picked the Wednesday game, and I immediately asked my boss if I could leave at 2:30, she said yes, so I put in my leave and blocked it off on the calendar, so my co-workers knew I was going to be gone.  Once Alicia got her tickets, she emailed them to me so I could put them on my phone.  

The Mariners beat the Astros the night before 6-1, keeping us in the playoff race.  We had to win, or we were out.  I got logged off at 2:30, and saw the weather was not favorable.  I dressed in layers, wore my hiking shoes so my feet didn't get wet from the rain.  I borrowed Doug's Mariner jersey since that is not a team jersey I own.  I brought my hat, gloves, sweatshirt and blanket just in case we needed it.  I wasn't sure how cold it would get.

She arrived at my house just after 3:00.  We got onto I-5 north and headed to the Angle Lake light rail station.  We decided to take the Link, so we didn't have to worry about parking when we got into Seattle.  This was easier.  Traffic wasn't bad but there were some slow spots near JBLM and in Tacoma.  We got to the Angle Lake parking structure in about an hour.  Because it was a workday and the Mariners were playing, we barely found a place to park.  The parking structure was extremely full.  I, personally, have never seen it that busy but most of the games I've ever gone to were on the weekends.

We left the parking structure and went downstairs to the ticket kiosk.  We each bought ourselves a roundtrip ticket to and from the Stadium Station.  We take the stairs up to the platform and wait for a northbound train to arrive. We did not have to wait that long.  We boarded the train and off we went up to Seattle to watch the Mariners. 

It took us roughly 45 minutes to get to the stadiums with all the stops the light rail makes along the way.  It was approximately, 5:10 when we got off the train and walked up and around to T-Mobile Park.  We got to one of the gates, they checked our bags at security, scanned our ticket and we went up the stairs and wandered around for a while.  We were there so early; we saw the tail end of batting practice.  I told her that I have a friend that is an usher over on the third base side of the 100 level and that I was going to go over and see her for a few minutes.  Alicia said that was fine and she was going to go get some food. I told her I would meet her back at the seats when I was done.

I meandered my way over as I checked Annette's Facebook post telling us what section she was in.  I found the section and I spotted her down in the aisle.  Annette!  She turned around and was excited to see me.  We asked how each other were doing and she particularly wondered how the wedding planning was going.  I gave her an update and as it got closer to game time it started getting busier and I didn't want to keep her from her job.  We hugged and I told her I would see her soon.

On the way back to the seats, I stopped by Ivar's and grabbed myself a fish and chips.  Pretty much when I am in Seattle, I will have Ivar's. I found our seats, Alicia was chillin' and taking in the ballpark ambiance.  I ate my food while we waited for the game to start.  We found out that we had to sit next to some obnoxious Astro fans. 

We really needed this game to keep us in the playoff race.  The first inning was awesome!  JP Crawford hit a home run into right field.  I really thought I was going to be able to get a home run ball. It went over our heads and I thought it would ricochet off of the scoreboard behind us and fall right where we were sitting.  Sadly, it went the other way, and we did not get a souvenir home run ball. 

The rest of the first and up until the third inning, each team left a lot of runners on when the side was retired.  It was frustrating watching our team leave valuable runners on and not hitting them in.  We needed as many runs as possible.  At the top of the 4th, the Astros hit a solo homerun that tied up the game.  We all thought, at the time, it's just one run, we need to get it back.  Then somehow that same inning, we fell apart and put people on base.  Then of course, the Astros hit a three-run home run, with one out, to put them up 4-1.  The air was sucked out of the stadium and the fans were disappointed.

The bottom of the 4th the Mariners started showing some life. Finally, we got some baserunners on, and Suarez singled to left scoring Caballero and Raleigh.  We were finally eating away at the Astros lead.  The 4th ended with us trailing by one, 4-3.  Our pitching will have to show up the rest of the game.  We could not afford giving up any more runs.

The fifth and sixth innings were scoreless on both sides, but each side stranded more runners.  I was okay with the Astros stranding their runners but not okay with us stranding ours.  We needed our bats to come alive.  In the last few weeks of September, our game really suffered with a bad hitting skid.  We weren't winning the games we should have been winning and it made for a tough road to the playoffs for us.

Then came the top of the 7th inning.  Sigh. Our pitcher put people on base, one intentionally, our fielders made an error, and they just base hit us to death.  We finally put an end to it with a strikeout and a fly out to right field.  They added to their lead, 7-3.  We stood up and sang, Take Me Out to the Ball Game during the 7th inning stretch.  Our bats really needed to wake up over the next few innings if we were going to close the gap that we created for ourselves.  The bottom of the 7th for us was not fruitful, a couple of strike outs and a fly ball.  Bummer.

The Astros hit one more solo home run in the top of the 8th inning.  Other than that, the last two innings for both teams were either strike outs, fly balls or ground outs.  The game ended around 10:20. I had a great time even though we lost 8-3.  I was really hoping that we would rally and get those runs back.  With that loss, it mathematically took us out of the playoff race.  I hope the Astros lose the first round of the playoffs. 

Alicia and I waited for most of the people in our section to leave before we got up and walked to the concourse. We used the restroom one more time, I got a picture of me with the field in the background and we exited at the left field entrance. 

We walked up and over the road and to the train platform to wait for one going southbound back to Angle Lake.  We had to wait a little bit, but we got on and it was really crowded.  We stood and held on.  As more and more people exited, we were able to sit in one of the vacant seats. It was interesting listening to the random conversations nearby.  We got to Angle Lake just after 11:00.  We walked back to her car, got back onto I-5 and headed south back towards home.  We got back into Lacey and she dropped me off at home just before midnight.  I thanked her and she drove home.  I had her text me when she got home.  

I got in a quick shower and got ready for bed.  I sure hope the Mariner make it to the playoffs next season.  Seattle fans desperately need it! 

Game notes:

The Mariners threw 6 strikeouts, had 97 total strikes, they allowed 14 hits and 4 walks.  

Houston threw 16 strikeouts, had 108 total strikes, allowed 8 hits and 9 walks. 

Seattle had 8 hits, 12 total bases and left 13 on base. 

The Astros had 14 hits, 26 total bases and left 9 runners on base.

Next Adventure: Dad's Batman Birthday Party