Some more firsts for Gunnar...

So it seems I've made this a weekly blog, since I can't seem to get it done on a daily basis. This week, we headed to Seattle for a Mariners game with Brandon and Kristy, who I must say is very brave traveling so far at 36 weeks pregnant. When I was pregnant with Gunnar I'm sure at that point I was almost homebound by backaches and swollen ankles. Anyway, we had a lot of fun, and Gunnar got to experience a lot firsts while we were there. It was a 2.5 hour drive up, and Gunnar slept almost the whole way - of course it helped that we left at naptime. We stayed at the Westin, which was very nice, but we decided not so kid-friendly. The lobby was always full of business people, and there was no place for us to sit downstairs to have something to eat or drink where we could also take Gunnar (before 5:30 when the restaurant opened anyway). That was one of Gunnar's firsts - getting kicked out of a bar. We thought an area of the lobby by a TV was just a sitting area, but turned out to be part of the bar, so they sent the busboy over to tell us since Gunnar wasn't 21 (what? really?), we couldn't sit there. We also overheard a guy the next morning complaining to someone on his phone on the elevator that he couldn't sleep because there was a baby who kept him up all night. Seriously though, Gunnar only woke up maybe 3 times that night, which is amazing for sleeping in a strange place. Anyway, the Westin was very nice, but we'll probably try another hotel next time. Here are a few photos of our room, Gunnar exploring, the view from our 36th floor room, and wandering the streets of Seattle.

We got there first, and Brandon and Kristy were about an hour away, so we decided to go check out a brewery the concierge recommended. We tried the beer sampler (they have nothing on McMenamins), and then ordered a light lunch. We decided to let Gunnar try something off the kids menu, so we ordered him a grilled cheese. When our food arrived, Gunnar's sandwich was huge, and had a giant mountain of fries next to it! He enjoyed a few pieces of the giant sandwich, and Justin and I had to help him with the rest (I should be surprised?). He ended up with lots and lots of cheese all over his shirt, so we stopped at the Gymboree on the way down and found him a couple very cute new shirts to wear on our trip. Nevermind we had shirts in the suitcase back at the room. I'm such a sucker for baby clothing. Here's the "ants working" shirt we got...

When we got back to the room, Brandon and Kristy were there, so we headed back out so they could get something to eat also. When we returned to the hotel, the whole "baby in a bar" incident happened, so we headed out to find a bus to the Mariners game. Luckily, I recently bought a framed backpack carrier for Gunnar. He's too big for the Bjorn, and a stroller just wouldn't have been practical. With all the excitement, Gunnar fell asleep on the walk to the bus, which was about 4 blocks. He slept almost all the way through his first bus ride, and woke up just in time to enjoy the crazy crowd going into the stadium.

Sleeping on the walk to the bus...

Gunnar sleeping through his first bus ride...

Brandon and Kristy enjoying an exhilirating bus ride...

Once inside, we had some good photo ops with some amazing views behind us.

Kristy suggested we get tickets for the "Hit it Here Cafe", where we had a reserved table and a server who brought us food and drinks. I definitely recommend going to the game this way. Gunnar was getting pretty tired by the time the game started (it was bedtime after all), but stayed awake for the entire game. He didn't watch much of it, but spent his time snacking and playing with each of us. The Mariners won, and we took the concierge's advice about heading up to a different street to catch a bus back to the hotel, but after 25 minutes of waiting, and no bus in sight, we started walking and hailed a cab. Gunnar was long gone by this point, and slept the entire way home. The cabbie was a crazy driver, and I immediately regretted the decision to get into the car with him, but miraculously we made it back alive. Gunnar slept most of the night, keeping me up for only a few hours.

Daddy's watching the game, Gunnar's always watching the camera...

Gunnar enjoyed a snack when we got there...

Here's Gunnar eating his very first waffle fry... he loved it!

Gunnar and Brandon had a blast playing "stack the condiments" with the ketchup and mustard. It was a good 45 minutes of entertainment for Gunnar.

The next day I had to be back to work at daycare at 1:30, so we got up, got coffee and breakfast, and headed home. We had such a great time though, and we have some great photos to show Gunnar his first trip to a pro baseball game. We had a lot of fun spending time with Brandon and Kristy, and we can't wait to meet little Kaitlyn (shouldn't be too long). Our trip was a success, and we all had a lot of fun and firsts. We can't wait to do it again!