Friday, May 30, 2014

Spring Training, Part 2

Day 3 of our trip was probably the most epic of all!! Not only was Felix pitching that day, the weather was gorgeous, and we were at the park first thing, but the boys had the opportunity of a lifetime!!!
Since we were there so early to get a glimpse of Felix warming up, Teage decided to go to the other side of the field and see if the boys could get a few more autographs from the players. All of a sudden, Dylan comes RUNNING back to me with this huge smile on his face and says "MOM! We get to go on the field!!!!" :) It turns out that one of the HR interns was watching the boys as they were getting autographs and asked Teage if the boys would like to go on the field during the National Anthem, WITH the Mariner players!!!! Umm......let me think about that one for a second...YES!!!!!! I could not believe that it was for real! But sure enough, we went over to the meeting spot and the boys, Emery, myself, Teage, and Tutu all got to go out onto the field to watch the Mariners warming up. While we were down there, they got a ton of signatures and talked with some of the players (James Jones was especially friendly!!). Lucas was a little nervous, so he decided to stay with Tutu for the National Anthem, but once the players got all lined up, they showed me, Dylan, and Emery where our spots were, which just happened to be standing directly beside Michael Saunders!!!!! I looked over to my left and there he was, just 12 inches from me, with Corey Hart standing right behind him (I am convinced Corey winked at me.....haha). And that wasn't even the best part! Once the Anthem started, Michael Saunders pulled Dylan INTO the Mariner line and had his hands on his shoulders throughout the entire song. It was AMAZING!!! He even signed a ball for him and Emery afterwards, even though all of the players were hurrying back to the dugout. I think that Michael will forever be one of my all time favorite players because of this day, he really went above and beyond and is just a sweet guy as well!
 Our family on the field!
 Watching warmups


 Dylan and Emery getting signatures! Emery wasn't scared or timid one bit! She just stuck her ball out there and expected someone to sign it for her! :) The picture to the left is Corey Hart signing a ball for her, and the right one is James Jones. He specifically brought a ball over just for Emery from his warmups to sign for her. So sweet!!!!
 Tom Wilhelmsen warming up...he is fun to watch!
After that awesome day at the ballpark, we went to In and Out Burger for dinner (which we don't get in Washington), and of course swam with Tutu and Dale the rest of the night! A GREAT DAY!

Day 4 was our last game in Peoria, Mariners VS Royals. Lucas received a ton of signatures from the Triple A players, and Dylan got Taiwan Walker! the other player that was really nice to the kiddos was Leon Landsley from Triple A. He found a ball just for Emery and signed it, so nice! That day we spent half the time on the lawn in the outfield and then the rest of the game in the seats that were empty, near third base. It was a fabulous experience!
That night we went out to a special dinner for Dale's birthday and had a ton of fun just laughing and talking about the trip, and hopefully more to come! We swam one more time at Tutu and Dale's place, and then went back to Dean's house for the night. His dog Ellie, who is super sweet and loyal, went on a run with me, and even though it was 9 at night, it was nice and warm. I loved it!


We had such an amazing time while in Arizona, and honestly can't wait to go back! We were so grateful for the opportunity to be there, and for Dean and Brenda for letting us stay with them at their home. We are so blessed!!!!!

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