Oh, Ichiro, you are so collectible!

I finally finished grading the big stack of essays that has been hanging over my head for two weeks. Thanks to the five students who decided not to write one and got me out of the building even sooner (I don't really mean that; now they are failing). I left work without homework for the first weekend in a long time, so the boys and I headed off to Friday night Mariner's game to celebrate. It was a really nice night and we didn't even need the extra sweatshirts and blanket that we took with us.


The M's got a slow start, but then Simon did some sort of magic dance.


Simon at the M's Game from Jen Robinson on Vimeo.

After the dance, we went to the team store for a foam thumb to cheer them to victory, and they scored 5 runs before we got back to our seats. I guess Simon's dance worked.

Saturday we were up early for a lacrosse game on Vashon Island. I can't really remember the last time I went to Vashon. It could have been almost 30 years! We did a little exploring before the game.





After the game, we had a bit of a wait before the ferry and stopped at this country store. Just in case you decide to go to Vashon sometime and find yourself in need of a pit stop after exploring, you should know that this is not the place. There was a sign outside that made it very clear there is no restroom. And the lady who runs the place was a bit cranky, so I wouldn't go asking if you can use the restroom that you know they have, but for some reason don't want you to use.


Actually, it wasn't really that bad of a place (the lady was cranky, though). We picked up a gummi pizza, because pizza and gummi totally go together. And they had these really cool mini boxes of Boston Baked Beans for only a quarter. You can hardly get anything for a quarter these days, so we had to pick up a few boxes.



You may have noticed the sign that says, "Sludge Fest." It was definitely not as cool as it sounds. Simon had visions of people chucking mud at each other, but it turns out that it was just a discussion of sewage. Like that deserves to be called a fest.

On the way to the ferry, we saw a sign that said "Road-Side Attraction Ahead." This is the only "attraction" we could find, although "attraction" might be a bit of an exaggeration.


Just in case you wondered about the history of Vashon: (apparently, it can be summed up on the face of a rock)


This is what Steve thought of the road-side attraction:


While waiting for the ferry to Tacoma, we enjoyed some sun. It was one of those days where you feel like living in the Northwest is awesome. Simon helped Grandma find some beach glass.


On the ferry, we were parked next to this giant daffodil.


We ended the day with some lunch/dinner at Chevy's and a trip to Trader Joe's. After that we were pretty much beat.

The Spring Break Report: Days 5 and 6

Wednesday we went to the Mariner's game. Ichiro was not playing that day, which was a little disappointing, but we did get to see Griffey. He even hit a home run. Our seats were nice and close, just up from third base. We never get to sit that close to the action at Safeco. It was fun to see a game in such a small stadium. We wished we could have stayed another day to go the game the next day. The boys and I walked out to the grassy area, where you can sit for only $6. The view wasn't as good as from our seats, but you can stretch out and relax while enjoying the sun and the game.



After the game, we had dinner at Cheesecake factory with Janet's friends who moved to the Phoenix area after retiring. And then we were off for another stop at Costco to see if they had anything different in Phoenix, and to get a book for the drive back to St. George.

On Thursday we started the drive back to Utah, but stopped in Camp Verde (about an hour North of Phoenix) to go to the Out of Africa Park. There was a lot of whining from Simon about stopping there as he wasn't feeling that well, but it was pretty cool and the whining stopped right away. We started off on a safari drive. The best part of that was meeting the giraffe. He was so friendly and even gave Steve a kiss. At the end of the safari we saw him standing by the gate, as if he were waiting for the next bus to come through with their treats for him.




There were other animals on the safari and other places in the park. You can see more pictures of our stop (and other Spring Break pictures) here. We ended the visit with a camel ride, which the boys and Stacey seemed to enjoy.



The rest of the drive was long and uneventful. There is not a lot to see once you are past Flagstaff; there is just a lot of red rocks flat ground. Every once in a while you will see a small collection of houses and wonder what those people do out there in the middle of nowhere.

We finally got into St. George around 8:30 PM and stopped for some burritos at Cafe Rio. I got the pork, which was good, but really not as good as the Cafe Rio "taste-alike" that my mom makes.

We now have to pack and get ready for the flight home. The week just flew by, and I'm not looking forward to going back to the cold weather and rain.