Busy Weekend

I'm just getting around to posting about the weekend, because Monday was also busy.

It's SPRING!

Starbucks has Spring Cups! The first ever. And No, they ARE NOT Easter cups. There are three colors - blue, green and yellow,  some have hand drawn designs, and some are blank so you can draw your own. 

I know about the Starbucks cups because we stopped at a Starbucks near the stadium on Sunday, but first I have to back up to Saturday. 

We picked up the grand kids because Jill was in the mountains again. It was another rainy day. We took them to Furney's Nursery so Tom could get his bees and some mud. I'll have to explain the bees and the mud on another post.

The kids enjoyed the pancake breakfast at Furney's. 

Point a camera at them and they get goofy. 

 Isaac thought we should buy a banana tree. 

Then we went to the mall to check out some "important stuff". It gave us a chance to walk around inside since outside was WET!

We took them home, fed them lunch, and then deposited them back at their house because we had a memorial service to go to. 

My Aunt Evelyn, my mother's sister, died just before Christmas. We celebrated her life on Saturday. I had time to be with people close to me. In this photo are my cousin Dan, my sister Laurie, my cousin Kris, Tom, me, and my sister Ilene. It was Kris and Dan who lost their mother to complications of dementia. 

I didn't take photos, but I did visit with my brother Hank too, my  Aunt Jeanne and Uncle Don, and some friends from way back in my childhood. After the service and reception and visiting at Kris's home, we met my cousin Susan and her husband Jim for dinner and conversation in Bellevue. Sorry, no photos. I just enjoyed myself. 

It was late by the time we settled in back at home.

The view of the city from the light rail.

Sunday was sunny! We went for our walk, read the paper, had a light lunch and then geared up to go into the city early to have coffee, walk around, then meet up in Occidental Park for the March to the Match. It was the Sounders season home opener. 

 We sang and chanted our way to the stadium.

The Sounders flags were flying. 

It took a while for the 46,500 fans to get in to the stadium. The Sound Wave band plays us in. 

Last season, which ended just a little over two months ago, the Sounders won the MLS Cup. The cup was presented to the fans and the championship banner was unfurled in the stadium. 

 Jill moved her seats up from the 100 level to the 300 level this year, near where we sit. Irene found us. 

After the National Anthem, the tifo we had worked on during those cold evenings at the stadium in February was unfurled. 

The "Champions" banner and the curtain above it are 100 feet wide. That's what I helped sew together. It all started out as bolts of 45 in wide white fabric. Lots of seams later, lots of drawing and painting hours, and this is the result. The gold star in the middle of the card section is earned by being champions. The team now wears it on their uniforms. 

 And we won! We stopped the NY Red Bulls from setting a new regular season unbeaten streak record. 

 It was still light when we left the stadium about 6:30. We got back on the train, back to our car and went out to dinner.

We got back home just in time to watch "Madame Secretary" on TV, one of our favorite shows. 

Today, the first day of Spring, was mostly sunny and dry. We went for our walk and then worked in the yard.  There's still lots to do out there, but the rain has come back this evening. We'll be dodging showers this week to get any more done. 

Maybe things will actually start to bloom!