Spring Training is one of the best weeks of the year. We had quite the eventful start to the trip, all thanks to the SeaTac Days Inn. While Dad and I were checking into the rooms, a guy came off the street and started accusing the clerk of throwing away his pot or something. They got into a big fight and the clerk called the cops. Eventually the guy left and we were able to get to the rooms. At two in the morning we woke up to the fire alarm. As we walked down the stairs, we smelled the distinct smell of marijuana smoke. We were all up because some dumb donkey was lighting up in the stairwell. It took 20 minutes for the fire department to show up and clear the building. We were all a little tired the next morning, but we made the shuttle and got through security without any other issues.
The flight down was quiet, thanks to electronics.
The kids were pretty excited to see a cactus right in the car rental lobby.
Marissa, KC, and Whitni met us at the house. With Emily and Hadley coming with us from Seattle, we had quite the daycare mommy group going on.
Baby Brandon was pretty excited to see everyone.
Uncle Cheese was rocking the full beard.
Rock, Ryker, and Jens were great help with the little cousins.
It was fun to be free to help with the littles, since my kids are old enough to go off on their own.
The cotton candy guy isn't stupid. He saw the group of kids he came all the way up to the top row and almost incited a riot when the moms said no. Papa Dale calmed the rising insurrection by forking out $6 for a bag.
Sticky fingers for everyone!
We spent the last few innings out in the grass playing with the dogs there for "Bark in the Park".
More nephew time!
If you have food, Brandon will find you and he will stare you down.
The kids think that it's a rule that we go to Culver's the nights after games.
Because the best thing for a group of tired, sugared up kids is even more sugar right before bed.
Uncle Mobely got in on the nephew love.
Whit stays with Stewie's sister, this year she hooked us up with access to a pool. It was a lot of fun for the kids.
Baby Leo is just along for the ride.
Hadley was always on the lookout for a bottle or bites of food.
You know it's a good trip when Rock passes out cold.
Papa Dale made sure the kids didn't go more than half an inning without another treat.
It wasn't as warm as other years, but it was still pretty each night.
This is how Uncle Cheese enjoys the game.
We finally made it to practice on Friday and let the kids run around and bother the minor league players.
Marissa and Leo were there to direct the kids to the best autograph opportunities.
A coach walking by rolled a baseball to D-rel.
Jens loved teaching Max and Madison how to ask for autographs. They were great autograph bait.
Ryker and Rock spent the whole practice playing catch and fielding grounders and pop-ups.
Some of the players asked the kids for their autographs. They took it very serious.
Chick Fil-a is a very important part of the trip every year. Madison loves the balloons.
Brandon sees the food, and he notices that he isn't getting any. He's not cool with that.
Leo's just along for the ride.
Ice dream cone!
Brandon still sees the food, and he isn't happy that he doesn't have any.
A pair of goobers.
Hadley is ready to party.
I caught him trying to negotiate for a snack an inning early.
Saturday brought an early morning practice and some grass time for the babies.
More CFA, more delicious chicken and fries.
Did I mention how great the kids did with the little cousins?
MAXAMILIANO!! tried so hard to keep up with his older cousins, but ultimately exhaustion won.
The kids did the speed pitch last year, and made sure that they found it again to show off their cannon arms.
Our last night was spent at Five Guys and their ridiculously inflated prices.
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Max sure did better after his nap.
Did I mention how pretty the sunsets were during this trip?
We tried to get a picture of the kids all together. It was like herding cats.
Eventually they got a decent picture.
Our flight left at 7am, so according to airport math we had to get to the airport by 5am, and wake up by 4:15am. Well, this weekend was daylight savings weekend. But, they don't spring forward in Arizona. Unfortunately, our phones sprung forward anyway, and woke us all up at 3:30am. In a way it made things easier, the day wasn't quite as rushed as it would have been. The poor kids were completely wiped out.
It was a long trip home, but finally we made it home and back to 21* and icy.
Was a great trip. Kids were a blast, even with parents around.
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