Birthday at the ballpark

When we saw that the Mariners were home on Dad's birthday (April 10), we knew we should surprise him with a trip to Seattle. Mom woke him up early Sunday and told him to put on his Mariners shirt... it was time to leave for the train!

Free parking and slightly cheaper tickets convinced us to depart from Vancouver, Wash., instead of Portland.Getting up early made us goofy, and we immediately started taking a lot of self portraits.
Then Dad made this face... and we all totally lost it!
We laughed so hard that we deemed it our ab workout for the morning. Tears streamed down our faces.
All aboard!
We snagged a table so we could play cards on the trip north.
Made it to Seattle:
Dad reenacted "the face" in the Seattle station. Someone's excited :)
We had about 90 minutes before game time so we walked across the street to our favorite thrift store to hunt for bargains.
Closed Sundays?? Bummer. (I think we've been through this before...)
The stadium roof was closed when we arrived but opened during our walk across the street from the Salvation Army store:
Umm... little kid butt crack. Nice.
They were doing a live broadcast when we arrived. Took me back to my TV days.
Nice view from our seats:
Rally monkeys!!
The rain returned, and they closed the roof. I'd never seen a game at Safeco with the roof closed. Kinda weird.
The M's starting pitcher really sucked it up, and Cleveland took a large, early lead. We rallied toward the end but lost 4-6. Mariners' seventh loss in a row - nice way to start the season, fellas!
A few more self portraits before we left for some shopping and then our train ride home. Notice my M's jersey? I found it this summer at Value Village for $7! It's a kid's size but fits great - and it's in perfect condition. SCORE!!!!
Outside the stadium was a Pepsi Max giveaway, and we found tons of full, unopened cans discarded on the street and in a nearby souvenir shop. Of course, I took them home!
Dinnertime came while we were riding the rails, so we bought food in the dining car. A vegan burger for me (SO GOOD! - and only $4.50):
Cheese and crackers for Mom and Dad:
And Ivar's clam chowder for Eryn:
Happy Birthday, Dad! Thanks for sharing your special day with us :)