Team Andros: June Visitors

At the beginning of June, we had visitors come to stay. My younger sister and her husband and my parents flew up to spend a week with us.

Papa was anxious to start his second annual coloring contest with the kids. They were equally as excited. Each of them colored a picture, then Aunt Catherine assigned an award to each picture.

All of the contestants and their papers!

Papa's reward for each winner (all of the kids) was a trip to the dollar store to pick out 5 items, all of their own choosing. A simple thing like that is heaven to small children. Thanks Papa!

Their dollar store treasures, shopped for a few days later.

It's always good to have Grandma here! She loves feeding and helping with my little babies.

Papa took a turn one day too!

We love going on walks when my parents are here. The weather was beautiful for the first few days they were here, so we took advantage one morning and went for a walk one gorgeous morning.

Livy didn't want for attention that week. Too bad she is going through "stranger danger" and was hesitant when anyone besides me or Chloe picked her up. She adjusted after a little bit.

The big highlight of the week was going to the Yankee vs. Mariner game at Safeco Field. The Blakeslee's are die hard Yankee fans and my parents often plan their trips around the one time that New York visits Seattle. This was an extra special year as my childhood sports hero, Derek Jeter, is retiring after this season. This would be the last time he would play in Seattle, and my last time seeing him play in person.

The twins, sporting their Mariner gear!

The Yankee Fans! Mitch used to be a Yankee fan until the Seahawks won the Superbowl this year. After that, he was a die hard Seattle-anything fan. He was adamant that he was NOT going to wear his Yankee shirt to the game. With a small bribe from Grandma (candy talks!), he happily wore his Yankee shirt, saying he liked Derek Jeter AND the Mariners. (A few weeks later, he was back to only liking the Mariners).

Livy was pictured here but did not attend the game. We love her, but we love her a little less at baseball games. They are much more fun without her. A baby who goes to bed religiously at 6:00 p.m. is not much fun past that magical hour. Thanks to Grandma Cynde for watching our little muffin that night so we could really enjoy a great game!

We love going early to the games to watch batting practice.

Jeter, waiting in line for his turn.

We go down on the third base line and try to catch foul balls.

Another kid got a ball thrown to him by one of the players and Mitch expressed his disappointment of not getting the ball out loud. The kid was so sweet and gave the ball to Mitchell.

We think we spotted the new, up and coming Yankee pitcher Masahiro Tanaka. He was set to pitch the next night.

Chloe got a ball thrown to her by one of the players!

Darn my sister- she is too photogenic! And George is a converted Yankee fan. We will take them any way we can.

We love baseball!

Andros clan

Go Jeter!

Before the game, the Mariners did a tribute to Jeter. All of the teams are doing some sort of tribute for him. He is not only a phenomenal ball player, but a classy guy. He is known for his class act on the field and for just being a really nice guy.

Seattle (The Kingdome, to be exact) was where Jeter got his first career hit in the majors. It was on May 30, 1995.

Former Seattle greats including Jay Buhner, Edgar Martinez and current player (and former Yankee teammate) Robinson Cano were out on the field with Jeter to present him with a number of things. Above, they were presenting him with an original seat from the Kingdome (the former field where the Mariners used to play). It was seat number 2, Jeter's number.

They gave him a few other things too.

My favorite picture from the game- baseball loving Mitch with his baseball loving Papa.

Jeter on deck!

Jeter had a great game- he went 2 for 3 and scored 2 runs.

A house divided... a Mariner fan and a Yankee fan. (As a side note: if the Yanks aren't in town, I'm a Mariner fan all the way. I love rooting for our local home team and do, most of the time. I know most wouldn't consider that a fan, but I'm under the rule of it being ok to have more than one team you cheer for. So sue me!)

I love baseball fields!

Grandma and Mitch selfie

Final score- a great game!

Ben and I, Cath and George and my Dad went back to the ball field the next night for another Yankee/Mariner game. I haven never gone to back to back games before and it was so much fun.

We went to the game early again and went down behind home plate as far as we could. We stayed there until right before the opening pitch was thrown out. We wondered if we could have stayed the entire game, since no one had claimed their seats and thrown us out yet. Who doesn't use seats that close (and expensive)?

Cath is also a huge Jeter fan. It's fun having someone to share my pride and excitement over a sports hero with.

We got some close up view of Jeter during batting practice. We also spotted him talking to Seahawk QB Russell Wilson. It was an "eye spy two classy sports icon" moment.

I also spotted this "classy" guy with a classy tattoo.

Here's a close up. Now THAT is a die-hard Yankee fan. Forever, literally.

We love Wilson!

Wilson wasn't the only Seahawk there that night. Defensive End Cliff Avril threw out the ceremonial first pitch. For a guy great at football, he sure can't throw a baseball.

Jeter had another terrific game. He was so fun to watch.

He had two hits this night.

He also had two stolen bases in the game, moving him up to a career total of 351.

Sliding into third!

It was super cool watching Tanaka pitch. He had an amazing game! He pitched all nine innings and had a shut out going until the last inning when Robinson Cano hit a two run homer.

I love that my formally non-baseball loving husband has become a baseball fan. He isn't obsessed with it, but he enjoys watching a live game and loves being there with me.

This man right here is not only the Yankees biggest fan, but baseball's biggest fan. I kid you not. My dad knows more about baseball than anyone I have ever met. He follows the Yanks and the entire MLB every faithfully. He loves watching the games live and listening to the live commentary on local radio simultaneously. At home, he listens to and/or watches the games on the radio and TV every game, if he can. He keeps up on news about all the teams an what is going on in the league. If he is ever out of town or on vacation and there is a MLB team within a 100 mile radius, you'd better believe he will be at the game. I love that he passed on his love of baseball to me. I love going to games with him.

The Yankee fans of the night!

There were actually SO MANY Yankee fans there both nights we went. Lots of Jeter fans there as well. If you didn't know you were in Seattle, you might think you were in Yankee land.

The two Derek Jeter fans! Go number 2! Thanks for some awesome memories over the past 19 years!

The last time seeing DJ play in person! It was such an awesome two nights and two incredible games, really. What an amazing way to give final tribute to my sports hero.

(A HUGE thanks to my mom, who happily stayed home with our children so we could enjoy a kid-free game!)

Final score: 4-2 Yankees. Yanks went on to win the final game in the series the very next night. Jeter had another phenomenal game with three hits, two RBIs and scored two runs, helping the Yanks to sweep the 3 games series. They won 6-3 that final game. He received a standing ovation from the entire stadium on his final at-bat in the ninth. We listened to the game at home on my dad's radio (of course).

Seattle holds a special place for Jeter, as his career started here with his first hit. He said, "You tend to think about the first time you came, when you got here. It's still hard to think I'm not going to play another game here, but when you come to some of these cities, you start thinking about a lot of the memories you've had here. Seattle will always be special because it was the beginning."