It's just not right

February 9th, 2008. It was 9:59am. I was at work. Meghan was at home. At 10am, single tickets for Mariners games went on sale. We agreed that we'd both work together to find outfield baseball seats to go to Opening Day. So, we both did our ticketmaster searches and found 7 seats together in the outfield (3rd base side). Section 183, row 10 to be exact. It'd be me & the kids (since Mark was traveling) & the 4 Andersons. We were elated!!

Forward to today. March 31st. Today was Opening Day for the Seattle Mariners! The kids & I were dressed in our Mariners garb from head to toe...or at least head to ankles. We were actually dressed in many layers (since we woke to about 1 inch of snow yesterday). I picked up Lauren from school early and off we went to the game. It took us well over an hour to get there. Once we arrived at the parking, the sign said it was full. Ugh. So, we started to drive to find another parking lot near the stadium. As we waited to turn into a different lot, the stadium parking opened. We quickly pulled in and found a place - and "only" paid $30.

Once at the game we hiked to our seats. It was about 2:45 and game time was less than one hour away. There were plenty of opening ceremony events to keep us entertained. The Husky band, miscellaneous awards, etc. Then it was time for announcing the 2008 team. Unfortunately for us, we were seated right near where the fireworks went off. There were extremely loud! Enough for small children to burst into tears. Once the team was lined up on the 1st base line, I was sure the "booms" as Mason called them were over. Well they weren't. When the starting line-up was announced, the "booms" started again. Finally, they ended. Luckily, no more "booms".

It was now time for the game. Both kids were fabulous. I brought snacks so we didn't have to buy food. They didn't beg, complain, or anything else. They were great! We enjoyed watching, despite a home run from Texas in the first inning. They cheered, clapped, and danced.

As we started into the 4th inning, it started raining "sideways" into the stadium. You guessed it. Right to our section. It wasn't too bad at first. We bundled up a bit more with a blanket and our many layers of coats and gloves. Next came the snow. Then it subsided. We were then to the bottom of the 5th. Still 0-1 Texas. A few minutes later came hail. Not just tiny hail. Sheets of pea-sized hail. We decided it was time to take cover. See Thornley's hat for a sample of the hail!

We headed down the stairs laughing in disbelief. We went to get pictures with the moose. After the Moose, we drove home. As we exited the freeway, we drove through the neighborhood in slushy roadways. We arrived home to a white snowy house. And just think, tomorrow is April 1st! Hence the title "it's just not right". It's just not right to have snow on March 31st. So, I bid you Happy Spring...and go Mariners (who won 5-2)!