Mariners vs. White Sox

It's officially the start of summer - we went to a baseball game! :) We chose these tickets months ago because it was an afternoon game in the middle of the day (you wouldn't believe how many kids go to the Sunday afternoon games, we wanted to steer clear of that!). It turned out to be a beautiful day!

We picked Brent up at work and headed straight to the game, first pitch at 12:40pm.

We actually stayed in our seats for three innings this game! I think that's a record! Brent enjoyed two Mariner dogs and the rest of us split a chicken tender meal. Oh boy, we were eating healthy!

But then we had "reservations" for the playground by the fourth inning. Yes, you read that right - there are so many children in attendance, they pass out time slots before the game starts for when your child can come back and play in the play area! 

Super cute area and I know Kade so wanted to climb higher with big brother! 

It just so happened that the interns at Concur had their monthly team-building outing at the baseball game that day and the company rented out three suites for them! (There were lots of companies in attendance on a Wednesday afternoon game actually - we saw tons of Zillow employees in matching shirts and a Boeing group too!)

Brent wanted to introduce his intern Elisa, an undergrad from Stanford but local to Bellevue, to his family and she was so sweet to bring us tickets so we could come up to the suite too! Brock loved the view.... and the ice cream! 

By the ninth inning (which is the longest we've stayed for a game in 3.5 years), we were ready to head home. Thank goodness for extra innings so we beat the rush and yay for the Mariners bringing in the W with a final score of 6 - 5 in the 11th!

Oh and good job Kade! This was your first Major League Baseball game! (And Brock's fourth!!)

Evan & Kali's Wedding on Whidbey - Part II

 

Evan and Kali got married!! Besides the beautiful venue, the amazing dress Kali wore, the mouth-watering food and the good-looking guests in attendance; the thing I liked most about the wedding was when the officiant said the bride and groom asked everyone to be present for the wedding - as in cameras away and be present. It was nice not to see all the phones in the air of people trying to capture the moment.

But of course I captured lots of moments after the wedding!

With these two cuties in matching outfits, I couldn't help but pull out the camera!

Brian and Nancy apparently play Jenga a lot.... and Brian "always" loses. They had a really good audience for their game.

This was a tough game for Brock. I think he thought it was "who could make it fall down first" and when Brian didn't make it fall (this round), Brock went running up to the tower to try to push it down. That's when my lightning fast Mom-reflexes kicked in and I literally scooped him up centimeters before he hit the tower. That could have ended very badly.

But, all was good. Brock settled down after Aunt Carol saved the day with bubbles! And Brian and Nancy laughed off another Jenga battle! (Nancy won) :)

It was time for dinner. What a table! A very poor picture below, but it was amazing! One long row of tables with beautiful dahlias (I think?) down the middle.

We sat across from my Dad & Phyllis and Brian & Nancy. The food was amazing - just not so relaxing with two little ones. The menu was flank steak with roasted corn, grilled salmon, quinoa with vegetables and delicious brown bread. I'll give you one guess what Brock's favorite was.

Then it was time to PAR-TAY!

So lovely to see the new couple's first dance.

And then Evan dancing with his mother, Aunt Carol.

It was super sweet to see Andrew dance with his little girl, Ara!

Love the milk bottle in his back pocket! (HA - you're totally a dad now!)

Kade went right for it and was our little dancing machine immediately. It helped get the last energy out of him before he went down for his "nap".

Brian.... you need a new phone/camera ;)

The little cousins were LOVING the dance party!

Meanwhile, I think this is when we missed Evan and Kali cut the pie. Yup, they cut pie in lieu of cake. Super awesome delicious pie!

 There were various pies to choose from and what I hear, all were amazing!

Brock had TWO pieces of apple pie!

Eating with Uncle Jeff

About this time, Kade was DONE. So off I went, pushing the stroller, to circle the farm house over a dozen times to get him to fall asleep. And fall asleep he did! Everyone couldn't believe it when I strolled back up to the dance party with a sleeping Kade - there was a nice blanket covering the stroller to slightly muffle the sound, but he stayed asleep long enough to give us 45 more minutes of dancing.

Just long enough for me to see Brock let loose!!

Brock had turned in to Mr. Wild Man!

He was going crazy! He did this move with his arm going in a big circle like a windmill (like rock-n-rollers) and then would jump all around and jumped in to a handstand and kicked out his legs! The most dancing he does at home is literally jumping, so to see him do all these actual "moves", was hilarious!

We had a great time at Evan and Kali's wedding. It was so perfect for the two of them - everything was really lovely. Kali looked amazing in her dress and the two of them were smiling the entire weekend. We are so thrilled for you two and wish you all the happiness in the world. We were so honored to be part of your big day and to include our little guys as well. We love you, our fellow Washington family! :)

Evan & Kali's Wedding on Whidbey - Part I

 The crew loaded up the Highlander and Camry and headed north to catch the ferry to Whidbey Island!

We talked to Brock about this different kind of boat that our cars would drive on (he was very little on our trip to Bremerton via ferry), and he was quite skeptical about how this would all work. He loved it and asked us a million questions on the 20 minute ride. (If the car was driving, how many cars were on the boat, how are we going to get off the boat, etc) I love how his little mind works.

I'm glad we brought lots of snacks and things to do because somehow the two hour drive from home to hotel ended up taking four hours (including stopping for lunch, waiting for ferry, traffic on the one lane road on the island). After Kade and Brock stretched their legs at the hotel room, we headed for the Rehearsal Dinner on the farm.

Jenne Farm was gorgeous. Brock and Kade had so much fun exploring and watching the goats and chickens. Silly Kade got a little "push" to accelerate his walking as he does NOT like the grass touching his legs. He would stand as long as his little legs would last, then crawl doing "downward dog" with his bottom up in the air!

Andrew and Ara in the background

Brock had loads of fun with cousin Andrew!!

Meanwhile, Kade was making friends with Bella, Kali's niece and one of the flower girls.

We had a great time visiting with family before the big day!

The next morning, I convinced Brent to drive up to Deception Pass State Park and play on the beach.

It wasn't shaping up to be a pretty day... and playing on the beach is completely different than east coast beach days! (Read - sweaters and rain boots!)

Brock initially was just as cynical to this beach thing as his Daddy. He did not like the waves, he did not want to step on the seaweed, he did not like the sand and pebbles in his rainboots.... and the list went on. (It was a late bedtime with the four of us in a hotel room!)

But, after I pointed out the "super cool things", he was a lot happier - and hey, what's better than throwing rocks??

Kade didn't mind the rocks one bit and was laughing with joy at all the things he could pick up!

We went on a mini walk up the hill to see more and even though it was really cloudy, the view was amazing!

Yes, Brent was definitely prepared for the beach wearing his flip flops! ;)

Bridge in the distance connects Whidbey Island to Fidalgo Island

We ended our family outing with a trip to Papa John's for lunch and some "quiet time." It was a nice leisure morning before a big afternoon!

Brian and Nancy Visit Seattle!

First picture and I'm already lying to you! ;) On the Saturday BEFORE Nancy and Brian arrived, Andrew and Lauren and Ara came to visit! They were spending the week before the wedding on Whidbey Island as a family vacation. Good planning for them to stop in after their airplane ride (and stretch their legs) - it was a really nice visit and so glad the boys were able to spend a little time with their cousin!

Selfie from the Winery

Finally Uncle Brian and Aunt Nancy arrived in Washington! Poor Brock has been asking "When they were coming to my house???" for about two months now!

Sweet as always, they brought gifts for Kade's birthday and something for Brock too!

Adorable little dinosaur rain jacket

The boys loved having them here - Brock wanted to show them everything! One night we went for a nice walk so Brock could show off all the playgrounds we visit.

We let Kade walk the pit bull.

Nancy may have had some fun on the playground too!

This really was such a steep slide!!

 On Thursday morning, the gang traveled to Bellevue to visit our local farm. Quick tour to see the animals before lunch.

Brian and Nancy did some other sight-seeing while they were here too! They toured Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery in Woodinville. It was a beautiful sunny day in Seattle - I wore a short-sleeved shirt (and yoga pants) and Nancy wore jeans and a sweater. :)

Then Brent took the pair to the gun range and had some good adult fun. Brent was excited to go shooting and from what I hear, everyone did pretty well! :)

Here is a video of Brian shooting Brent's Smith & Wesson MP15. 

Meanwhile, the boys and I had lots of fun at home! :P

It was nice having Brian and Nancy here visiting....and here to help while I ran around the house packing up our family for our weekend trip!

Up next.... wedding on Whidbey Island!!