This past weekend I was able to go to Game 3 of the World Series and visit my family in Texas, thanks to my friend Megan's buddy pass to fly stand-by for Southwest Airlines. I wasn't guaranteed a seat, so I wanted to get to the airport fairly early. I took a half day off work on Friday and made my way to the airport via the Link Light Rail. It was really nice and took me straight there in about 35 minutes. Getting into the terminal took no time at all and I was able to get a boarding pass while waiting for the flight since it wasn't very full. I can see how flying on stand-by would normally be stressful if the flights you're trying to get onto are pretty full. I lucked out with all my flights since there were at least 20 seats left on all four I took. I got a window seat every time and no one next to me in the middle seat until the last leg from Albuquerque to Seattle.

Megan picked me up from Love Field, which I'd never been to, and we went to Uncle Julio's for dinner. It was really good - we shared the nachos and combination fajitas. It was a lot of food! I enjoyed catching up with her and hanging out. Then she dropped me off at my parents house for the night.

Saturday morning I woke up pretty early so we could go eat bagels at Einstein Brothers bagels, which owns Noah's, our favorite bagel place in Seattle. I got a sesame bagel and some hot tea. We picked up my grandma and took her with us to breakfast too. Then my Uncle Bob met us there so he could see me for a little bit.

After that, we dropped my grandma off and went to my sister's house so I could see my niece, Evie! We spent about 3 hours there and I took lots of video and pictures of her! She was so cute! She's already able to walk around a coffee table while holding onto it. She can even let go and still stand there for a few seconds on her own! I got to see her room too and it was really cute. My sister fed her while we were there too, so I got to see her eat solid foods. I'm looking forward to seeing her and my sister again during our Christmas trip. We're going to babysit her one night so my sister and brother-in-law can go out and eat dinner and have a fun night out.

My parents and I went to Cousins for an early dinner after that. I got a chopped brisket sandwich, fresh hot okra, and the potato salad. It was really good.

Unfortunately, my Dad couldn't get a third ticket for my Mom to go, so it was just my Dad and I at the game. I felt bad using her ticket, but she kept telling me it was ok and that she was just glad to see me. We left really early to get to the game about 2 hours before it started. I'd never seen so many people at the Ballpark. The game set an attendance record of 52,419. My Dad waited in line to get some souvenirs for an hour and a half. The lines everywhere were so long. It was really cool seeing Nolan Ryan throw out the ceremonial first pitch to Pudge. The game went by really fast and the Rangers won 4-2. It was exciting seeing all the home runs and watching the fireworks go off. I still can't believe I was able to go to Game 3 of the World Series! It's one of those once in a lifetime things you can't pass up if you have a chance to go.

We stayed up a little bit once we got back to the house and watched some tv shows my Dad had recorded about Seattle and a little bit of the UW-Stanford game. We had to get up early Sunday to get to the airport for my 9:10 am flight. There were plenty of seats available on the flights, so I had no trouble at all. It was a really short trip, but it was worth it to see my niece and the game. We'll be back soon too for Christmas in a couple months. Thanks again to Megan for getting me the plane ticket and my Mom for giving up her game ticket for me! :)