Summertime Life has been Riveting!

Sweet Summertime

Ah, summertime! Summer is coming to an end and nothing says it more so than school starting. If you’ve read my About Me page, you’ll know that I’m a First Grade teacher. I’m getting ready to start Year 17. I love teaching the kids but summertime is my time to recoup and reset.

I make sure to fill my summer with things I love but also days where I do nothing. Some of my favorite things to do over the summer include shopping to my heart’s desire (ha!), being outside getting a suntan, traveling, and I’m sure this is going to surprise you most of all, watching baseball.

Since summer is ending, I decided to write my next post about what I’ve been up to this summer because it has been such a wonderful summer and it’s all that much harder to go back to work. But, you know I have to make money somehow so back to work I go starting next week.

Anyway, back to my summertime adventures. It really has been such a great summer that I could almost write a novel about it. Let me give you a glimpse in on all that has been happening in my life lately.

MLB Stadium Tour with Sis

If you don’t know, Kayla and I are trying to visit every major league ballpark within our lifetime. Last year we started in Denver with Coors Field. We decided that we would take a stadium tour every time we visit. We also toured Busch Stadium in St. Louis. We’re Cardinals fans to the core and have been since we were born. We’ve been to Busch so many times but for it to count on our quest to visit all 30 MLB parks, we had to actually tour it. So in 2023, we got two stadiums done on our tour!

Side talk about Denver: Denver was such a fun city! Coors Field was such a fun stadium and we had the best tour guide named Jim. He was so knowledgeable and the tour was great! The ballpark was so neat and we had a great time!

You can also search for any MLB gear on my links page!

Alright, now back to 2024! This year, Kayla and I went to three different MLB stadiums.

T-Mobile Park: Seattle, Washington

Our big trip was to Seattle to watch the Mariners and visit T-Mobile Park. Oh my goodness, was that place exciting! The Mariners are a fun team to watch and their fans are so energetic! We loved every minute of it! The tour we went on was such a great tour and T-Mobile Park is beautiful. It is still an open air park because it isn’t completely enclosed despite having a roof. It has a retractable roof so they can avoid rain out games for their fans. On weekend games they drop hot dogs from the air. They have free refillable drinks! Kayla and I were shocked! We loved our stadium tour and our visit to see the Mariners!

Kauffman Stadium: Kansas City, Missouri

Our second ballpark was Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. You would believe that living in Missouri we would visit Kauffman Stadium more than we do but we are Cardinals fans and not Royals fans so we usually head East on I-70 for baseball. However, for it to count on our stadium tour, we had to visit and tour the ballpark. My second favorite baseball team is the Yankees so when the Yankees were going to be in KC, Kayla and I picked a game in June to go see. The stadium is a really pretty park and when the fountains are going during the games they are so amazing to see. During the game we saw, Aaron Judge hit a home run into the fountains!

Oakland Coliseum: Oakland, California

The final ballpark we visited was the Coliseum in Oakland, California. This is the last season that the A’s will be playing in Oakland at the Coliseum. That means we HAD to visit this summer! The history in that stadium is incredible. The field is beautiful, but you can definitely tell why the A’s are leaving. The concourse is crumbling. We couldn’t even take a stadium tour. Fans are unhappy the team is leaving. During the games between cheers for the A’s there would be chants of “Sell the team!” It’s sad when you think of all the great players who have come through Oakland and the workers who will be out of a job come the end of the season.

Now that I’ve really been a Debbie Downer, it really was a great time visiting and the usher Jim and the server Tina in our First Base Field box seats were the best! Joe gave Kayla and I an itinerary for San Francisco on our second day visiting. The seating views are great but it definitely is an old stadium.

Oakland A’s gear is going to be keepsakes soon so you should get your A’s swag soon before there isn’t anything left. The team store and kiosks were getting low and we almost didn’t find the lapel pins that we put in our map that we have to keep track of all the parks we visit.

So now, we have visited five MLB parks on our stadium tour!

Breathtaking Seattle

Seattle was absolutely incredible! Now, I know when people think summertime vacation, Seattle isn’t the first place they think of but it should definitely be considered for a summertime vacation destination. The weather was cool, the food was delicious, the coffee was top-notch, we walked everywhere and we did all things touristy! Every time Kayla and I go to a new city we take a food tour. If you want to find out more about some of the food we had and a bit about Pike Place Market check out my post called Emerald City Eats.

Seattle is iconic. Pike Place Market is the place you see in shows and movies and it’s every bit the tourist spot you see. Crowds of people gather on the weekend to shop and eat. We also visited the Space Needle. It was incredible! The elevator to the top is fast and you’re at the top in no time. The views leave you in awe! Chihuly Glass Gardens is right next door to the Space Needle and you must visit when you are in Seattle. Dale Chihuly is an artist who has created such intricate works of glass that will blow your mind.

I definitely recommend a whale watching tour when visiting Seattle. The tour companies are great about respecting the wildlife and ensuring they are respected in their natural habitats. Make sure that when going on a whale watching tour, you take many layers! The Puget Sound gets very chilly! Now, the day we went on our whale watching tour, it was blue skies and a clear day. We got to see Mt. Rainier and it was breathtaking!

We went to visit a cat cafe. It was this cute place where you could order snacks and drinks while petting adoptable cats. We watched the Seattle Sounders play at our very first Major League Soccer game. There are even tours that tell stories about the underground streets of Seattle.

One of the most exciting things happened that Kayla and I never expected. Now, if you’re not familiar with the show Treehouse Masters on Animal Planet, you should check it out. Pete Nelson has changed the world in the construction of treehouses. He is centrally located in the Pacific Northwest just 20 minutes from Seattle. You can take a tour of some of the treehouses at his family’s getaway location called Treehouse Point. While Kayla and I were killing time before our treehouse tours we went to visit a local cafe. Low and behold, Pete Nelson himself was there at a business meeting. When he was done we introduced ourselves and got a selfie with him. He was the most genuine, friendliest man ever! Just like the man you see on the show!

Honestly, I could continue to go on, but I want to save some space for the rest of my summer!

Bundle 3 Jeans and get up to $40 off your order + a FREE 1822 Denim Gift Box!

When in Oakland…

…go to San Francisco. Ha!

I’m not kidding, but I’ll get to that in a bit. On our first day in Oakland, while at breakfast at the hotel, we saw a couple come in who were wearing KC Royals gear. Now, being the Missourians we are, we had to say something. Who knew that, like the quote from Casablanca, it would be “the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Jetta and Tim were the best people and were in Oakland for the same reason we were, to visit the Coliseum for a game. We struck up a conversation and ended up spending the day and went to the game with them and Jetta’s brother Josh. To be honest, Kayla and I had made no plans, because we had no idea what there was to do in Oakland. We had the best time with them!

Tim and Jetta flew out the next day and Kayla and I were sent to explore San Francisco on the advice Joe the usher. We took a ferry across the bay. Took a streetcar to Pier 39. We saw the sea lions. Had some cioppino from Scoma’s. Induldged in some ice cream sundaes at Ghirardelli’s then hopped the streetcar back to the Ferry Terminal. We went to a second A’s game and the caught and early flight back the next day.

It was a quick trip and that is a good thing. Oakland isn’t the safest or most well-kept city. I mean what does it say when the first thing we saw after leaving the airport and headed to the hotel was a police chase? But hey, it’s Oakland. Anyway, it was a fun trip because of all the people we met. I really can’t wait to go back to San Francisco and explore it even more!

Summertime is ending and School is Starting

The biggest chunks of my free time lately have been getting my classroom ready for the school year. It is always fun to get back and decorate my room. At the end of each school year, I pack it all up and cover things with paper. Then come the beginning of August, Room 15 comes back to life.

My summertime was incredible and filled with many memories! I hate to see it end but plans for next summer are already in the works!

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my life lately! How has your summertime been? Enjoy the rest of your summer and have a good one!

-Joelle

(Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.)