Friday Fun

MMM, DONUTS: If you were on the Internet or watched the news today, you probably already know that it's National Doughnut Day.

The kids have enjoyed Doughnut Day for several years running now. 

However, it wasn't until today that we learned there's actually a pretty neat story behind the 'holiday.'

Turns out it started in 1938, with very noble intents. According to an article on TIME magazine's Web site, during World War I, women volunteers for the Salvation Army made doughnuts to send to soldiers serving overseas as a way to help boost morale.

The Chicago branch of the Salvation Army launched the first Doughnut Day as a fundraiser for their organization, and as a way to raise awareness of the women volunteers doing what they could to help with the war effort.

During World War II, the American Red Cross picked up the doughnut campaign.

You can watch TIME's short video about Doughnut Day here: http://ti.me/1RQ6r3v 

LAST NIGHT:  With the days getting shorter this time of year, it seems like the International Space Station is only visible in the dead of the night lately. Fortunately, last night was not one of those nights. It was the bottom of the ninth, and as we watched the Mariners lose their sixth (or is it seventh?) game in a row, there was a lovely, six-minute fly over of the ISS.

Next Thursday (June 11), three of the people who zipped cross the sky over our house will be coming home. NASA's Terry Virts and Flight Engineers Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA (European Space Agency) and Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos will have been in space 199 days and traveled more than 84 million miles since their launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Nov. 24. 

photo: NASA

LAFF O' THE DAY:  Did you know you can't run through a campground?  You can only RAN, because it's past tents. 

Not far Afield

BACK AT IT: Another day, another post from Safeco Field. Tis the season, I suppose.

Wednesday we were at the field earlier than ever - by 10:15 a.m. - for a special event. It was the Mariners' annual Weather Education Day. About 5,000 kids bused in from local schools for the event. 

Weather experts from KOMO were on hand, including Steve Pool.

The event started with a Trivial Pursuit-style game show, with all the questions being about the weather, of course.

There was also a segment on life jacket safety, featuring some Coast Guard members and a local swim team. 

KOMO's weather writer and blogger Scott Sistek showed a cool video all about weather, with clips ranging from beautiful to terrifying.  

After the weather program, we went and warmed ourselves by the fire for a bit. It was a chilly morning!

Annabelle, as always, had her sketchbook with her and produced lots of artwork. 

The game itself was (yet another disappointment).  Annabelle's moose face says it all when the last out was recorded.

Ms were swept at home, by the blasted Yankees. Ugh.

SUMMER COMING:  Today was the kids' last day in a couple of their classes (art for Annabelle and social studies for CJ).  They have really enjoyed the classes and are sorry to see them ending. 

While at the learning center, we dropped off some summer-forever inspired cookies for a travel-loving teacher who is retiring. 

THROWBACK THURSDAY:  Check out this lovely snapshot of our home planet, taken on this day (June 4) in 1965 by an astronaut on board Gemini IV. 

Image Credit: NASA

The photo is of the Florida Straits and Grand Bahama Bank. It was taken the day after astronaut Ed White's historic first American spacewalk. 

Bronx Bombers

DAMN YANKEES:  Monday evening, we decided (kind of last minute-sh) decided to go to the Mariners' game. King Felix was going to be pitching and the Yankees were in town. The Ms had a special - a $20 ticket in the "King's Court," complete with t-shirts and "K" (strike out) towels.

We got there a bit early and watched batting practice. We stood right by the Yankees' bullpen and watched their starting pitcher, former Mariner Michael Pineda warm up, and visited with a family from Alberta, Canada, and a Yankees fan from NYC. 

While we were watching and waiting for the game to start, I told the kids the long, sad story of Alex Rodriguez, a whiz kid with the Mariners back in the 1990s. I told them how Alex was so naturally gifted, and he had a reputation for being a hard worker and polite. And then ... something happened. He left the Mariners, saying it wasn't about the money (it was), and his personal downhill slide started in a big way. His ego was a runaway train, and he, at some point, decided to start cheating, taking steroids. He was caught, repeatedly, and defiant rather than apologetic. He became one of the most hated men in the game, unpopular even with his own team, now the Yankees.

The kids heard A-Rod roundly booed with each at bat. Annabelle, who always has a sketchbook with her at he game, drew an A-Rod inspired pony.

Unfortunately, the Mariners' pitcher struggled mightily Monday night, and the game was a runaway about mid way through.  We decided to leave our lofty seats and make our way down to the concourse.

Imagine our surprise when we happened upon a group of gentlemen who were My Little Pony fans (some articles of clothing gave them away).  Annabelle gave the Bronies (male MLP fans) a couple of her drawings. They were THRILLED!  They thought her Pay-Roid pony was hysterical.

At the end of the game, we wound up visiting with another Yankees' fan. There all by himself, he was in the midst of a multi-city dream trip, following the Yankees on the road. 
He was impressed with all of the hubbub surrounding King Felix and the King's Court shirts and asked how he could get one. We told him he would have had to buy a ticket for the King's Court for the game ... and then proceeded to give him one of our shirts. He was VERY grateful for the cool keepsake from Safeco Field. 

So, overall, though the game was miserable, we managed to have a lot of fun and a memorable evening. 

FIT TO BE DYED:  CJ attended a pizza and tie dye party last Friday evening, and this weekend, he undid the rubber bands cinching the shirt up.  

We washed it (alone, of course, with some vinegar to help set the colors), and boy was he happy with the finished product!