Tickets

For the past two weeks, we have really crammed a lot of events that require tickets into the last bit of summer. Lucky for us, most of the tickets have been half price or on sale (and in one case FREE). Can't beat a good deal on a fun activity.

Our first ticketed event was the Les Miserables play we went to at the end of August (see here). That was the FREE event.

On September 1, the Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey Circus came to town. We went 2 years ago and loved it, so we decided to get tickets and go again (half price!) I would have to say that the show 2 years ago was better, but this one was still amazing and we had a great time. Notice our random seats? We are way up at the top on folding chairs behind a rail. We decided to go last minute (like 5 hours before the show started) and this was the only seats together that they had left. It actually worked out great for us- there was plenty of open room behind us for the babies to run around when they got restless.

Leah loved sitting on Chloe's lap and really got into it.

Chloe was also impressed with some of the amazing acrobatic events and animal tricks.

Lexi, by the end, was exhausted. The show started and ended way past their bedtime and her short nap that day did not adequately prepare her for this.

The next day Ben's sister and her family came into town and the day after their arrival, September 3, we headed to the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. (Discounted tickets for Pierce County residents, which we are).

We were quite the attraction ourselves- 2 sets of twins in a group of 7 kids six and under. We saw a number of other sets of twins that day and had many people comment to us that "It must be twin day!"

Lexi and Henry loved feeling the shark teeth in the aquarium.

A group shot- amazing that we got everyone together and standing somewhat still, even for 10 seconds. Two 2 year olds and two 1 year olds makes for some hard pictures.

Mitchell could not wait to see the Polar Bears (or Holar Bears as he pronounced it) and asked every 5 minutes if we could go see them. They were one of the last animals we saw that day. When we finally saw them, they weren't doing anything exciting and I think it was a bit of a let down for Mitch. Oh well- we got our picture taken in front of this Polar Bear painting.

The whole gang, minus Ben's sister Meredith who was taking the picture.

This was Meredith and Dave's first time visiting us since their honeymoon 6 years ago (first visit with kids) and we couldn't let them come see us without introducing them to our favorite restaurant "Zoopa's."

3 days after the Taylor family left, my parents came into town. We got tickets to the Puyallup fair, naturally. This is our 5th year in a row going with my mom and dad and it has become tradition and we love it. (Half price tickets on Groupon for these and the kids were all free.) 5 years ago we had just Chloe. Packing 4 kids around the fair now (instead of just one) is a bit trickier but still lots of fun.

Monday September 12 we headed off to the fair!

Gotta milk the cow!

This was Mitchell's first time milking the fake cow at the fair and he was a natural.

We always get the free milk samples by the cow barn, and always get ice cream, too. This year they had strawberry for sale and it was yummy!

The day we went, there was a special on ride tickets. We let the big kids ride a few rides and they loved it.

Can you see Mitchell's face here? He and Chloe were in the front row of this roller coaster. He squealed with delight on each and every ride. Totally worth the money to see that.

The next night, September 13, we kept with tradition and bought tickets to a Mariner game. We have been going to a Mariner game with my parents each year dating all the way back to 2004. We may have missed a year, maybe two, but not many. And my parents often plan their visits around when our family's favorite baseball team is in town- the New York Yankees. I always root for the Mariners, unless the Yankees are in town. And they were in town this night!

You can't see it (it was a cool day), but Mitch has on a Yankee shirt and a Mariner hat, Chloe a Mariner shirt and a Yankee hat, and my parents both with Yankee shirts.

Yankee shirt for me, Mariner hat for Ben.

Before the game, Ben tried his hand at throwing a baseball to clock how fast he can throw. He was sure that he could throw it faster than before and kept wanting to go back and try it again.

So in all the years we've gone to a game, this was the most historical game we've ever attended. In the second inning, Robinson Cano from the Yanks got up to bat and hit a home run into right center field. We were sitting 4 rows from the center field row, but the ball dropped right between the right field bleachers and the center field bleachers to where no one could get the ball. The grounds keepers snatched the ball up and then began looking around for someone to give it to. Lucky for us, we were the only family with kids in our section (attendance was shockingly low that night, and probably all season with the Mariner's record, and it was a school night), so Mitchell was picked out of the crowd to receive the home run ball.

Here is the Mariner's worker handing Mitchell the ball.

So... if anyone is a baseball fan, you know how rare it is to get the home run ball. Rare is an understatement. Lots of baseball games don't even have a home run hit in the game, and if one is, it can be hit to numerous places in the park where hundreds of eager fans are waiting to catch it.

Mitch didn't quite understand what was going on, but boy were all of us excited. No no, we were ecstatic. Getting the home run ball is a true baseball lover's dream come true. We were all living that dream that night. We didn't catch it live off the hit (which would be amazing) but being picked from a crowd is really awesome, too. Go Mitch! A Mariner's worker gave us a little card that authorizes that we got the home run ball, writing the date on the card and who hit it. It couldn't have worked out better that it was hit by a Yankee too- our luck was so great! While Derek Jeter is my all time favorite Yankee, Cano is my little sister's second favorite player. She was in tears when she heard that Mitchell got his ball. (I think I would have been in tears had we got Jeter's ball).

We love sitting in center field. It's close to the Mariner Moose Den, and we went and visited him later in the game. Mitch is obsessed with him, as is shown in this picture. Instead of looking at the camera, he couldn't take his eyes of the Moose.

Papa, Mitch and me with the famous ball! Mitch kept asking to hold his baseball periodically throughout the game, but we were very hesitant because Mitchell loves to throw things and we were nervous that he would throw it back out on the field. He did NOT understand the significance of the ball by any means. To him it was just another ball.

To say that my dad is a die hard fan would be an understatement. He has followed the Yankees religiously for 40+ years. And by follow I mean he watches every Yankee game that is aired on TV, and if it isn't aired on TV, he listens to the game on the radio. He plans his schedule around when they play so he can be home to listen and/or watch. If the Yankees were in the World Series growing up, it was a sacred holiday in our home. If they lose important games, he is bummed for days or weeks. He yells at the TV screen and cheers loudly, just as if he were at the game in person. He knows every rule about the game, knows stats on every player who ever played for the Yanks, and can recall the major and historic years of Yankee history.

In the above picture, my dad is sitting at Safeco Field watching the game AND listening to the radio broadcast of the game on his phone. This night, the Yankees famous closer, Mariano Rivera, (number 42), was ready to make some history. The current Major League record for saves is 601. Rivera had 599 going into that game. Dad was listening on the radio to hear what was being said about Rivera, as there was no mention of it at the game that night as the Yanks were the visiting team.

Here is Rivera, trotting out to the pitchers mound from the bullpen in the 8th inning.

At the mound, ready to go.

It was a close game that came right down to the wire, but the Yanks held on to win 3-2 (ending the game with throwing out our favorite Mariner, Ichiro who was trying to steal second) and Rivera picked up his 60oth historic save. Only one man has more- Trevor Hoffman's career record of 601- which since that game, Rivera has gone on to beat with 602 career saves and is now the all time leader in saves. Amazing! Above, all the Yanks rushed out to the pitcher's mound to celebrate their win and this milestone.

It was an awesome game and we were so lucky to be there to get a Yankee home run ball on a historic Yankee night. Goooo Yankees! (And Mariners, just not tonight!)

(The twins were home with a babysitter- our two older kids have all gone to games as babies, but two babies at once has proven to make some events unbearable, so we were more than happy to leave them home. Sleeping in their beds at home instead of being tortured to stay awake until 11:30 p.m. made them happy too, I'm sure.)

Our next ticketed event came this last Saturday, September 17. This past Spring, Ben found a great deal on Groupon (we love Groupon!) for a 90 minute horseback trail ride at a local stable. We have both ridden horses before, but not for years and years and the activity sounded too fun to pass up for the good deal that it was.

Ben rode "Rosie"

I was with "Roader"

We had the host quickly brief us on controlling the reins, and then it all came back like riding a bicycle.

The 90 minutes took us out in "country" land (if you can call any land in Auburn "country")

And then wound us through some forested area, which was beautiful. We also ended up on city sidewalks for a few minutes, with cars passing by. It was such a fun time.

The only thing that could have been better was if we could have ridden side by side each other so we could have talked more. We were asked to stay in a single file line, as the horses follow each other. It was fun to go back to my Idahoan/country roots for a few hours!

Most of our ticketed events were family affairs, but a few of them we got sitters for. On Saturday, we were lucky enough to get our favorite local Grandma to watch the kids while Ben and I went horseback riding. Grandma Cynde is an amazing person and a close family friend. She is always more than willing to help out with the kids when she can (at church and at home) and we love and appreciate her! Thank you Cynde!