One More Time

The calm before the storm at Safeco Field on Sunday

PLAYING CATCH UP: We had a busy weekend, I'm still trying to recount it all.

Sunday was another fun day - we spent most of it at Safeco Field, hoping like heck that we'd be watching our beloved Mariners win their way into the play offs. Basically, after 162 games, their season boiled down to the outcome on a single day.

We got to the field early because we wanted to enjoy every minute we could of what might be our last Safeco trip of the year. It was Kids' Appreciation day at the park, and there were many mascots on hand to greet the youngsters.

Here the kids are with The Boxtrolls, characters from a new stop action animated movie. http://www.theboxtrolls.com/

They also got to hang out with the (WNBA) Seattle Storm's mascot, who had a sense of humor.

And they waited to get a word in with a very busy moose.

At the gates they passed out rally towels to all comers. What a sight it was to see during the game when 35,000-plus of those were being twirled around! I wish I'd taken video of it.

As we waited for the Mariners' game to start, we kept our eyes on the out of town scoreboard, watching for news from the Oakland-Rangers game, which started an hour before the Ms' game. That score was paramount, because not only did the Mariners need to win Sunday, they needed the Texas Rangers to beat Oakland. Unfortunately, it was 2-0 Oakland before the Ms even took the field.

Once the Mariners took the field, it was clear that "King" Felix Hernandez was in fine form. 

He held the Angels scoreless into the sixth inning. 

Until ... when the final score from Texas was posted. 

The Rangers had lost, which meant the Mariners had been mathematically eliminated from post season play. 

You could hear groans throughout the stadium as people got the news. But then something remarkable happened. Fans spontaneously rose to their feet and started cheering, a rousing ovation from 40,000 heartbroken people saying, "Thanks for the memories, and we'll get 'em next year." 

Mariners Manager Lloyd McClendon pulled Felix from the game shortly thereafter. He received a thunderous ovation as he departed. 

A couple minutes later, McClendon pulled superstar second baseman Robinson Cano, who also received an electric ovation.

In the end, the Mariners won their game, but the season was over. Players stayed on the field for several minutes waving at the fans and throwing swag into the stands.

And so it's over. No more baseball for us until April 6, 2015, the home opener at Safeco. You know we'll be there wearing blue and broad smiles. Go Mariners!

SPLASHY: For the second Monday in a row, we checked out a new-to-us indoor pool in the greater Seattle area. This week's destination was the Lynnwood Aquatic Center. What a sweet place that is! TWO big ol' tube slides, one for body sliding, the other you ride an inflatable down. Both of them have twists and turns and actually extend outside the building.

The pool also has a number of spouts, sprayers and even a giant bucket that fills frequently, tips, and douses happy swimmers. Impressive!

I asked CJ to write a description of a pool he'd design. Here's what he came up with: 

If I were to design a swimming pool, one of the first things I would do is make sure that the  pool is the right length, width and height. I would make sure that at one end, the pool would be rather shallow, but as it gradually progresses from one end to the other of the pool, the water would get less and less shallow. This would make it so that families with younger and/or learning swimmers could have fun along with those who are more experienced.

Another thing I would design for the pool would be to make a slide that you could ride down and crash into the pool with. A design I would consider for that slide is one where you could get a tube and ride down a large slide with, landing the tube into the pool. (Hopefully, you would put the tube where it belongs!)

Last, and possibly least, is putting a little "river" structure in the pool. You could swim (or walk) in the flow for a nice, pleasant experience that allows swimmers to relax. maybe at one point, there could be an intersection with a path that leads to a part of the pool, and another path that allows the swimmer to continue their pleasant path n the river structure.

Sounds a lot like the pool in Lynnwood!