awesome august

We've had an absolute blast in August. I am so glad summer is finally here. Here are some highlights:

Mariners Game

Our awesome buddy Christi and her little girl Emily (+/- one week older than Wesley) invited us to join them for a Mariners game. I didn't know at all what that meant! Christi's mom worked for the Mariners ownership group for 30 years or something, so she had earned lots of perks in that time. We got free parking in the garage right next to the ballpark and great seats.





But it gets better. At about the 6th inning or so, Christi's mom invited us up to one of the suites. I'd never been in a baseball suite before! It was awesome. An open, airy space, tons of free food (good food! like caesar salad and turkey and mashed potatoes, as well as hot dogs and popcorn and a HUGE table full of desserts I ate my fair share of), a great view of the game, and even SWAG BAGS we got to take home. Included was a toy train which Wesley has yet to let go of, some baseball bobbleheads, a beach towel, a hat which Shane promptly claimed, Mariners earrings!, and more.





My friend had lots of great stories. When she was in high school the Mariners went to the playoffs, and her mom would write her sick notes to get her out of school so she could go to the games! She was also saying how one year the Mariners did really well, winning a record number of games. The year was 2001. It was the year there was a crippling earthquake in Seattle, and then later 9/11 hit. The whole morale in Seattle was down, but the Mariners were doing awesome. It was like everyone needed something to rally behind, to bring them something positive, and the Mariners were it. Interesting.

She also mentioned how right about the top of the 9th, like they were summoned, seagulls start circling the stadium. They KNOW the game is about to end! And as soon as everyone files out, they scavenge for fries and popcorn and leftovers. How do they know? They just know. Funny!

We had a blast. It was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity to hang out with our cool friends in such a cool place.


Blue Angels

The first weekend of August was Seafair. Since this is the first year that Wesley is old enough to skip his nap (and does so regularly to spite his parents), I thought it would be a blast to check out the hydroplanes and Blue Angels.

Due to some extreme craziness at Boeing, Shane had to go into work at 3 AM on Saturday morning -- seriously!! Soooo he came home and slept and we hit the Seattle beach without him. Although you can pay admission to one particular park and have a great view of the hydroplanes, I figured I'd try to do this event on the cheap. I googled some good Blue-Angel-viewing locations and picked a random park, mapquested it, and took off. Little did I realize, the park I picked was RIGHT NEXT to the admission-only park, and our view was AWESOME.



I got there at about 10 AM and parked on the street (for free). I got a great spot. Parking is also a nightmare so that was great. Wesley played on the swings at the park for maybe an hour, then we headed down to the beach and staked out a spot. I brought all our sand toys and lunch and even a magazine. I am a good planner.

We had awesome views of the hydroplanes ("really fast boats" I told Wesley), and then when the air show started at about noon he was just one captivated little boy. There were helicopters and warplanes first, and the Blue Angels were last. They were LOUD. He kept saying, "airplanes need to be quiet!" (Since I say that to him when he is loud! haha...) It was awesome. He did cry once, when they flew by and they were SO LOUD. The beach had gotten really full at that point, so he needed his momma close to protect him.





Anyway, it's now been like 3 or 4 weeks since that Saturday, and he still says, "I saw Blue Angels on Saturday at the beach." He may remember this forever.

Overall, it was a great beachy day. We played for a bit more after the airshow, and came home and slept good. I'm so glad we went!








Les Miserables

I found out awhile ago that this year was the 25th Anniversary for Les Miserables, and the show was coming to the 5th Avenue Theater in Seattle. Basically, Shane had no choice. We were going on a date! His mom at one point even told me if I couldn't persuade him to go, she'd come and go with me! Haha! Luckily, I convinced Shane and we made plans.

I got tickets ages ago. Because I have bought tickets to 5th Avenue shows before (maybe just one show?), I was on their e-list and was allowed to buy tickets one day before any other random Joe bought tickets. I found decent tickets that were still expensive, but it was worth it. Shane still doesn't know what they cost!

We had a problem finding a babysitter: that week was Girls' Camp, and ALL the young women at Church (my choice sitters) were all at camp until noon that Saturday and would be too exhausted to sit for us. I mentioned my problem to my visiting teachers, one of whom is a newlywed, no kids, and it occurred to me to ask her if she and her husband wanted to come over and have a date night at our house, watching our kid! She totally wanted to! What a miracle. They came over, played trains with Wesley, put him to bed, and watched a Redbox. It was an awesome night for them (and presumably some birth control!) and meant so much to us.

I made reservations for a restaurant I like in the building next to the theater; the girl on the phone was so jealous when I told her we had tickets to the show at 8, so what time should we eat? She said it was sold out and she knew we'd have a great time.

There was no traffic, we ate great food, the restaurant validated our parking so we got to park for free!!!, the play was awesome. It was a non-stressful wonderful night. Just what we needed. All the great songs came back to me and I really enjoyed it. For Shane, musicals are kinda like meh, but I figure if I'm going to force him to see a few, I'll have him see the best. And this was one of the best. (For reference, we've also see Chicago and Wicked. I pick good ones.)

For the record, the part I cried during was Bring Him Home. I didn't recall liking that song so much before, but with my point of view now as a mother, it really was a special song. Both times Jean Valjean sung the tune, I got all teary eyed. It was terrific.

I was so happy. I had been so busy and stressed, it was so nice to just sit and be quiet and enjoy a show. And most exciting, when I'm still and able to focus I notice the baby moving more. She moved plenty during the play! Maybe she heard the loud music. It was so nice to just enjoy.


Boeing Family Day

Only once every two years does Boeing open its doors to family and friends of its employees. Basically, if I wanted to waltz into Boeing and surprise Shane with a box of donuts on any random day, I cannot do it. Their security is too tight.

I went four years ago, and Shane showed me his desk and we walked around the hangar where they assemble 787s. Two years ago, Wesley was a little guy and I think we were on vacation or something because we missed it.

This year was fun. Wesley is SO into airplanes. We walked around and saw a ton of big planes up close -- 777s, 747s, 747-800s, and 787s. At one point, Shane had heard they were test flying a 787 and it would take off, and sure enough it started taxiing and took off on the runway right in front of us. That was fun.

We walked a lot. There were a ton of people -- Shane heard later there were 38,000 people there. Insane! We got free Boeing bags and airplane stickers and granola bars. The "kids area" was SO BUSY (long lines) so we didn't do much there. Wesley had fun just sitting in his stroller looking at airplanes. We went to the hangar and saw the 787s being assembled, as well as a handful of others. It was really cool to see what Shane does. I'm glad we could hang out as a family at Boeing! I love Boeing!


Miscellanea

Other fun things I got to do this month:

• Saw The Help with a girlfriend; what a sweet movie. The book is terrific. I also cried much, mostly afterwards when thinking about it more. What a story about being fair and decent to each other. Any mother would be moved.
  
  
• Got a pedicure today!
  
  
• Went to the ER. I don't want to talk about that really. It was pregnancy related... baby and I are fine, not dead, but I was in a lot of pain. I FEEL MUCH BETTER. Sometimes a good ER visit is exactly what you need. Sadly enough.
  
  
• Stayed super busy with Primary. We have a lot of changes going on -- classes splitting, scheduling being rearranged -- so frankly I am exhausted! But it's all good and positive and I'm happy to be part of it.
  
  
• Offered on a house nearby. And it was accepted. We were excited... but then we did an inspection and just got an overall funky feeling about the house. On top of that, I hadn't really had a "spiritual confirmation" in my heart that this was the right house for us. I knew it was perfect in a lot of ways, but I just, meh, was wishy washy. Not committed 100%. Something didn't click. Shane's gut feeling, after inspecting the inspection report, was to walk away. I said OK. So we are back at square one. Sigh. It's OK though. I know the right house is out there. I just desperately want to be living in it before I am 9 months pregnant and it's Christmas! What an emotional roller coaster this is.

Seahawks Game

I'm too good of a mood reminiscing about this fun month to talk about the Seahawks game. It was a complete disaster. Stay tuned for more on that. How's that for a cliffhanger?