Houston Astros - Stadium #8

 

Going into Minute Maid Park, I expected a lot of heckling to which my response would be to cry which would make them feel uncomfortable and bad, so I'd be coming out ahead.  Fortunately, I only got two small comments about not wanting the Mariners to win so my plan would have to stay in my back pocket.  Why did I expect extra heckling at this game?  The Mariners happened to be in town playing the Astros and the Mariners are currently (at time of posting this) in 1st place!  Due to a problem with our initial plans, we ended up taking a pre-game stadium tour, so we learned a lot about the Astros' history and the stadium.  The main entrance to Minute Maid Park is built inside an old train station so the exterior has a lot of character and even walking inside, you feel like you're in a totally different time and place.  However, once you actually enter the concourse, you definitely feel like you're inside of a real major league ballpark (yes, this is a stab at Globe Life).  The park concourse gives me major T-Mobile vibes, which I like.  It was very spacious even though there were a lot of fans walking around and there were a lot of different places to get food from which is all a plus in my book.  Like T-Mobile, there is a retractable roof, but because of nearby thunderstorms, the roof was closed so we just sat in the air-conditioned stadium.  We sat 23 rows up from the visitor's dugout so we had a solid view of the field, yet we were still close enough to smell the 'roids.  What about the rest of the space in the stadium?  Advertisements, advertisements, advertisements.  It seemed like the entire game and fan experience were mentions of everyone that was advertising.  One thing I really liked is how they had two digital screens for fans to see all of the game stuff on, one ginormous one in centerfield and one very very large on on the 3rd level behind home plate.  Why do I care about this?  Imagine sitting in the seats under the scoreboard or directly to the side, you don't get to see anything that's happening.  With the second screen, everyone gets a chance to figure out which can of Goya beans the baseball is under. 

No longer unique to the Rangers, in my experiences so far, was the fact that the Astros also had cheerleaders.  Where the cheerleaders lacked in individual t-shirt cannons they made up for in the 8 barrel shirt cannon, all of eight of which are fired simultaneously by Orbit, the Astros mascot, from the back of a truck driving around the warning track.  They had pretty good fan engagement as there was stuff going on on the screen all of the time and had special graphics depending on the situation.

Now, for the real reason you're reading, the hotdog.  It was a good hotdog and I'm not just saying that because the hotdog at Globe Life was awful.  This hotdog had a good, meaty flavor, was proportional to the bun size and the bun was delicious (did I detect a potato bun?).  It was nowhere near the perfection that is the Petco Park hotdog, but this is definitely an above average hotdog.  The main hotdog vendor used a quick order process.  You go up to a screen and order everything and they just call out your number when your order is ready, just like the Costco food court.  It felt very efficient, yet I did prefer Dodger Stadium where you grabbed everything and went to check out with the cashier.  All of the other vendors were traditional lines.

The Astros played the Mariners on May 4, 2024 at 6:15 pm and we sat in section 113, row 23.  The price I paid for the tickets to this game was $$$.  For the value, I felt this was definitely overpriced, but I was willing to pay it because they played my home team.  I guess there's enough suckers out there to make flex pricing work.

If you want to see the box score, here’s a link

Texas Rangers - Stadium #7

 

We're doing a Texas baseball tour this year aka going to a Rangers game and an Astros game.  First up was the Texas Rangers at their converted airplane hangar Globe Life Field.  We parked on the other side of the old Ranger's stadium and let me tell you, the old stadium has that baseball character that you'd expect out of a ballpark.  The new stadium is, well...clean.  It felt like you were in an oversized high school sports stadium.  Didn't feel like a very baseball-y atmosphere except the fact that there was a baseball field in the middle of the place.  There were windows on the outfield side of the stadium that made it feel more open than it was, but the roof was shut today (on the plus side, they do have air conditioning, unlike T-Mobile).  There were only a handful of concessions available and the ones that were all were for the same things so there wasn't any variety which is odd because the concourse is very spacious.  Mid-day on a Thursday kept the lines down, which was nice, except when Jeremy wanted ice cream because then every other fan did too.  I noticed they didn't have any vendors walking up and down the aisles selling snacks.  Speaking of snacks, they had like 3 types of candy, popcorn, peanuts and that's it.  We just happened to sit in front of a group of 3 Mariners fans who came down for this game and an Astros game too.  They loved my Ryan Rowland-Smith jersey which pleased me.  I know that if we end up crossing paths in Houston, they'll recognize me.  The seats were fairly comfortable and not broken which is a plus.  One complaint from Jeremy is that the cupholders are in a strange spot behind the seats.  He kept putting his arm around the back of Jake's chair and dipping his finger into a stranger's beer.  It was awkward to say the least.

One thing I found very unique to this experience was the fact that the Rangers have cheerleaders and before you ask, yes, they do use a t-shirt cannon to launch shirts during the breaks and no, they did not use them to launch hotdogs.  The overall "fan experience" is somewhat lackluster.  They wanted to get the crowd fired up, but it seemed like they only had 1 way to say "Get Loud" and that was exactly how they said it.  With the roof closed, it was indeed loud in there and I can't imagine how much louder it'd get if it was actually full of fans.  There weren't any fun sound bytes during the various situations the players found themselves in, which made for a boring time.  Jeremy noticed they didn't have a place with a constant scoreboard or other team's scores so you'd have to wait until the inning was started to see where things were at.

How about that hotdog?  Imagine you are at a company BBQ in early August and Jeff from accounting is grilling up Dollar Tree hotdogs, but on top of foil so they don't get grill marks.  That's how they taste.  Very generic and you can't tell which meat they were going for, is it beef, pork, bork...who knows!  The standard hotdogs are like Ballpark frank size, but they do sell a 2 foot long hot dog which just seems unnecessary.  The bun was reasonably soft and not stale so that was nice.  Out of the hot dogs I've had thus far, I'd rank them on the lower side of average and definitely not worth the $7 we paid for one.

The Rangers played the Nationals on May 2, 2024 at 1:35 pm and we sat in section 223, row 10.  The price I paid for the tickets to this game was $30 each.  I want to say this was a reasonable price, but the "ballpark" was so lackluster that I felt like I was at an overpriced high school baseball game.  Would I come back for another game?  Probably not, sorry Texas.

If you want to see the box score, here’s a link

Seattle Mariners - Stadium #6

 Ah, to be back at our home stadium is a wonderful feeling.  For this game, Jeremy and I took the link light rail from Angle Lake to the stadium and ended up going in the home plate entrance as I needed my “front of the stadium” photo.  The concourse at T-Mobile seemed bigger than the others and no matter where you were on that first level, you could see the field.  In lieu of the team store, I just went to one of the official vendors in the stadium as all I needed was a ball (I already had a shirt for my quilt).

For the first time, we sat in what I refer to as the “fancy seats”.  Just above the diamond club, right behind home plate.  Almost close enough to smell the roids.  The fan experience, in my opinion, is the best we’ve seen so far.  Things for the crowd to engage in and various sound effects to supplement what was happening on the field.  Though, this fan is a bit mad.  Since it was Jeremy and my anniversary, I bought a surprise anniversary message to be shown on the big screen.  The screen glitched a few times during the messages and totally skipped the message I paid for!  I mean, how is Jeremy supposed to know that I love him now?  Ugh!  I did email the Mariners and the response was like 3 lines of “we’re sorry, here’s your money back, go Mariners”.  I didn’t feel like they cared at all which was a big disappointment.  The overall fan experience was incredibly engaging, though you’ve probably realized by now that I’ve been judging every other park against the Mariners.

The Mariners have a solid hotdog.  It’s a little thicker than a Ball Park, but the bun to dog ratio is fitting.  There was a good meaty flavor and the bun was soft.  Out of the ballparks thus far, I’d say this was my second favorite hotdog.  One thing that I had been missing all trip and didn’t realize how special T-Mobile was is that they have self-serve sodas.  You buy the cup from concessions and just refill your own drink all game.  Is it a good thing for your overall nutrition?  Nope, but that’s not why I go to baseball games. 

The Mariners played the Orioles on August 11, 2023 at 7:10 pm and we sat in section 131, row 27.  The price I paid for the tickets to this game was more than I probably should have spent and was also from a ticket reseller because the area of seats I wanted were already sold out.  I figured since this game not only capped off our road trip, but was also our anniversary, I should shell out a little more for the special occasion.  And that’s all I have to say about that.

If you want to see the box score, here’s a link

Oakland Athletics - Stadium #5

 

I know we showed up early to be there when the gates opened, but the number of cars in the parking lot was surprisingly low.  I guess I had forgotten the images of how many people actually show up to games.  Oakland Coliseum is…exactly as described by people on the internet.  If the team stays, they definitely need a new stadium.  It had major Kingdome vibes, down to the trough urinal in the men’s bathroom (according to Jeremy). The concourse was very crowded considering the number of fans in the stadium or perhaps it was just smaller than I’m used to.  It was dimly lit and not very inviting.  One very noticeable thing on the concourse is how many of the concession stands were not open and how hard it was to find the souvenir cup.  I counted all but one stand selling bottled drinks (also, not a variety of soda choices which was sad).  I guess one plus of not having the same number of fans as the other stadiums is that the lines were almost non-existent.  Our seats were really far away from the “action” and having walked around the stadium to get to our seats, it seemed like there wasn’t a “close” seat in the whole park.  It was strange.  In our section there was one other family of 4 and then the next closest people were 3 sections over.  There were more seagulls sitting and watching from the roofline, than there were fans near us.  Perhaps these seagulls came over from San Francisco to watch the game and that’s why I didn’t see them at Oracle.  The seats themselves were surprisingly comfortable considering they were stadium seats.  For a stadium that desperately needs updating, none of the seats were broken.  I did enjoy some of the things they did in between innings to keep the “crowd” engaged.  As far as various sound effects during the game play, the chanting of “sell the team” was the most I heard. This hotdog was a thicc boi.  It had a really good, meaty flavor and the bun was just soft enough, but it was so big that neither Jeremy or I could finish ours and this was to be our dinner.  However, it’s still not as good as the hotdog from Petco Park, but I’d still rank it high. The Athletics played the Rangers on August 8, 2023 at 6:40 pm and we sat in section 310, row 2.  The price I paid for the tickets to this game was $15 and it seemed dirt cheap.  Though, if I ever found myself at another Athletics game, I would spring for better tickets on a lower level to be “closer” to the field. If you want to see the box score, here’s a link

San Diego Padres - Stadium #4

 

The Padres sold parking in multiple garages next to the stadium.  Considering the ballpark has a city block built into it, the Padres seem like they own the entire city.  To get across the street to the stadium, there was a cool sky bridge to take.  The concourse was really crowded and kind of confusing to walk through since you went from the inside, to the outside in a city (essentially) and back inside.  I found it difficult to find the team store coming in from where we did.  I’m pretty sure they fit everything in a standard team store into a phone booth.  It was so cramped in the store, it was hard to move around, let alone, get by people who were stopped. If I thought the Giants game was hot, boy was I in for a surprise.  Jake even tried hiding under his seat to get away from the sun.  We ended up leaving our seats fairly early to get back to the shaded concourse.  There was a light breeze so it made it tolerable.  The seats themselves were fairly far away from the action and obviously in direct sun the entire game.  It was pretty cool to see an actual city building incorporated into the ballpark.  As far as keeping the fans engaged, they did an ok job.  Though, we did leave the game much earlier than we wanted to because it was so hot.  Jeremy and I had also been to a game there before, so I didn’t feel like we were missing out too much.   As for the hotdog, I cannot say enough good things about it.  It was just the right thickness, the bun was soft and the dog itself had a good meat flavor.  I contemplated buying a second one.  As I write this, I do regret not buying the second one, even if I did only eat it during our hour drive back to the hotel.  The only thing I will downgrade the food experience is they no longer have the slushies they had when Jeremy and I first went to a game there in 2008.  With the heat, a slushie would have made the heat more tolerable.  This marks a tick in the unhappy column. The Padres played the Dodgers on August 6, 2023 at 4:10 pm and we sat in section 311, row 15.  The price I paid for the tickets to this game was $54 and it seemed a bit high.  Again, if they use dynamic pricing, I’m sure I’m paying for the Dodgers and not the baseball experience. If you want to see the box score, here’s a link

Anaheim Angels - Stadium #3

 

The parking lot was a bit confusing to find the actual entrance.  We parked on the 3rd base side even though we walked up to the front of the stadium to get my customary picture.  Two very large, yet proportionally correct, hats greeted you at the entrance to the stadium.  The concourse wasn’t open to the field like T-Mobile’s, but it didn’t feel cramped even though there were a lot of people there.  I got in line later in the game to get some ice cream and water and none of the lines I saw were more than 5 people deep.  It was strange. I opted to sit in better seats than I would normally pick because they were playing the Mariners.  We had a good view of the field, but I didn’t realize the home team is on the opposite side of the field than at T-Mobile, so I sat us on the home team side.  I was hoping my Ryan Rowland-Smith jersey would have landed me a ball from a player during batting practice if someone was walking towards the dugout.  I did really like how the batter’s eye was basically a large water feature.  And you know I love a good water feature.  The team store was busy!  It was smaller than I thought it should have been and it was so busy that you actually queued up in zig-zag line outside like a ride at Disneyland. The overall fan experience was good and the whole place gave me T-Mobile vibes.  However, the Angels’ fans love doing the wave and they had a pretty strong wave go around 5(ish) times.  Though, the ushers were very strict about who could be down in what rows, but otherwise incredibly friendly. The hotdog at Angels Stadium was pretty good.  It had a nice meaty flavor and a soft bun.  I wouldn’t rank it as a favorite, but it was a solid choice. The Angels played the Mariners on August 5, 2023 at 6:07 pm and we sat in section 108, row V.  The price I paid for the tickets to this game was $65 and it seemed very reasonable and worth it.  The best part is that the Mariners won! If you want to see the box score, here’s a link

LA Dodgers - Stadium #2

 

After a slight mishap on my part, I ended up paying for parking twice, but I did pick two different lots.  Navigating the lot was a bit tricky and definitely required the help of all of the workers to guide us.  We ended up parking about 3 stalls from the entrance of the stadium which was really nice.  Looking 180 degrees from the front of the stadium is a view of Los Angeles and at night it was gorgeous! Right when you enter the stadium, you’re on the 3rd level and can see the whole field from the concourse.  The concourse itself seemed fairly large in terms of not feeling crowded.  Going down a level, there was a kid’s area…a small kid’s area.  There wasn’t a lot to do so Jake seemed to get bored of it quickly. Our seats weren’t that bad view wise, however, out of our 3 seats, 2 of them were definitely broken which made it difficult to sit.  The view out of the back of the stadium as the sun went down was splendid.  Even though the view was just a hill, it made you feel like you were away from the busy city and just there to enjoy baseball. On my quest for a hot dog, we found ourselves at a grab and go style stand.  Dogs, fries and prefilled souvenir cups were all set out to just grab and take to a cashier.  It was pretty handy.  So ‘Dodger Dogs’ are supposed to be a pretty big deal, my son even got a plush of the Dodger Dog.  Don’t come for me, but the hot dog wasn’t all that great.  I liked how it seemed like it was grilled vs just steamed, but that’s about it.  It was on the thinner side and much longer than the bun.  The flavor was rather bland and I couldn’t tell what type of “meat” they put in it.  I prefer Oscar Mayer over this one. The Dodgers played the Athletics on August 2, 2023 at 7:10 pm and we sat in section 8 RS, row R.  The price I paid for the tickets to this game was $43 and it seemed pretty inexpensive from what I was assuming it would be.  I’m unsure if they have dynamic pricing, but if they do, I assume the Athletics wouldn’t draw much of a crowd so that’s why they were so cheap. If you want to see the box score, here’s a link

San Francisco Giants - Stadium #1

 

The Giants game was the first game on our bucket list trip (well, the first we were acknowledging as we’ve been to a bunch of Mariners games already and one Padres game).  We took the short hop ferry (free) from the ferry terminal to the park.  Not only was it amazing to just pull up right outside of the stadium via boat, but it was so much better than looking for parking and paying way too much money to walk a quarter of a mile. The first stop in the stadium is the team store for my souvenirs.  I assumed it would be somewhere around home plate, but how to actually get around the concourse took some effort.  As we wandered around, we did see a game area which was dubbed “the arcade” by the locals.  It had cornhole, skee-ball and probably something else I missed while on my mission.  The concourse ended up being one of the more crowded stadiums that we went to.  We never did actually find the real team store, we just ended up at a rogue store.  After we got done at the team store, it was time to figure out how to get to our seats.  We eventually found our way to the third level and made the appropriate stop at concessions before we headed in.  It was an afternoon game and even though it was only about 78 outside, the sun was beating down on us.  It was HOT!  But the view from our seats was pretty spectacular.  Being able to watch a baseball game and lift your head ever so slightly to see the bay right behind it was a beautiful thing.  The game went into extra innings and since we weren’t sure how to navigate back to the ferry efficiently (and did I mention it was hot?), we left at the middle of the 10th inning.   According to the book Jeremy bought me for my birthday, the 8th inning is when the seagulls were supposed to show up in droves.  I saw one seagull the entire game.  There was a definite lack of seagulls when I was told there would be seagulls.  As far as the overall fan “experience”, it seemed like it was lacking.  They’d show some players answering various questions, but I don’t really recall much other fan engagement type things or things to make the game “fun” such as sound effects.  Though, I will say I am judging the fan experience based on what I’ve seen at Mariners’ games, so take it with a grain or two of salt. I know you’ve been waiting all post to hear my opinion of their hotdog, so wait no longer.  It was mediocre.  It had a nice and soft bun and was a good ratio of thickness to length, but flavor wise was just sort of meh. The Giants played the Boston Red Sox on July 30, 2023 at 1:05 pm and we sat in section 310, row 3.  The price I paid for the tickets to this game was $60 and it seemed slightly overpriced.  The view was amazing, but I think we were paying for the team they played, which was dumb. If you want to see the box score, here’s a link

Savannah Bananas

While the Savannah Bananas were not actually on my bucket list, the entire catalyst for this trip was to go to their game.  Since they were so popular, they had a lottery to determine who was eligible to purchase tickets.  My name was not picked for the ticket lottery and I never made it off of the waitlist after they drew the names. 

Sigh, maybe another time.

The Bucket List

Shortly after Jeremy and I started dating, we decided that visiting all 30 MLB parks was on our bucket list of things to do together.  Luckily, we got married and have plans to stay together, so finishing that task is doable.  Last year, Jeremy introduced me to the Savannah Bananas and how hilariously awesome their games are (find them on YouTube if you don’t know).  In fall 2022, they announced that they would be doing a tour and playing on the road at stadiums all over the country.  They happened to be coming to Arizona and California.  The date of the Arizona game was right next to Mariners' spring training so I could make a vacation out of that!  But there were two in California and both in the summer and you know what else is in California?  5 MLB ballparks.  I put my name in the hat for the tickets, as they were done from by a lottery system, and planned an entire trip around that one date.

I found a way to hit up the Giants, Dodgers, Angels, Padres and Athletics in that order while still carving out time to visit Alcatraz, Disneyland, Universal Studios and the Jelly Belly factory.  Of course, the Bananas’ game would be the first game on our trip.  After hours upon hours working on spreadsheets for this trip, I started buying tickets to the various events and booking hotels, all the while, waiting to see if my name was picked in the lottery to see the Bananas.  Out of curiosity, I checked the Mariners’ schedule and they happened to be at home the day after I planned on returning AND it was my 11th wedding anniversary.  Perfect!  We’ll let the kid spend the night at a friend’s house, as I’m sure he’ll be sick of having mom & dad 24/7 at that point, so Jeremy and I can go to the game to not only finish off the trip with a 6th game, but also go on a date for our anniversary.  The kid isn’t into baseball like Jeremy and I are, so I knew going to 5 games would be tough (6 if you count the Bananas), but I didn’t see another way for Jeremy and I to escape for 2.5 weeks to do it ourselves.  I figured he could tolerate a few hours of baseball as long as I tempted him with Disneyland, souvenirs and a phone with WiFi.

The next 6 posts will be about my experiences at the various games.  Before going to any game, I had decided that I wanted to eat a hotdog at every park (to judge), buy the same item from each park to put in some sort of display and buy a kid’s t-shirt with the logo on it to eventually make into a quilt.  We took various forms of transportation to the parks and that’ll all be included in my trip synopsis.  One last note before I move on, since Seattle is our home stadium and we’ve been there many times over the years (every opening day, except 2, in the past 16 years with Jeremy and the All Star Game in 2023), I’m going to be judging each stadium against T-Mobile Park.  “But Jenny, shouldn’t you be objective?”  No, it’s my blog and as Cartman said, “I do what I want”.

Bun's Story - The End

My phone rang and I answered it.  The vet agreed Bun definitely seemed lethargic, her temperature was “down significantly” so they were trying to warm her up and her stomach was “doughy” when she palpated it.  I told the vet about her kind of grinding her teeth at times and she said she saw it and tried to look in her mouth and was able to tell her molars were a bit “off”.  Grinding of teeth is a sign of pain and some combination of what was going on with Bun was causing her a lot of pain.  At this point I had two main options, try everything to get her back to normal [this included x-rays, ultrasounds of her belly, force feedings and more] or put her down.  Through my now streaming tears, I asked what she would do if it were her rabbit, somehow knowing in the back of my head already what the answer would be.  I asked if it was ok if I called my husband to talk to him before I made a decision.

I called Jeremy crying and doing my best to explain to him what was happening.  We both knew what would be best for Bun.  Since Jake was already asleep, we had to wake him up and called my mom to bring him over to watch him.  Once Jeremy dropped him off, he was on his way up to Bothell himself.

I called the vet back and told her my decision.  She asked if I wanted to say goodbye and I couldn’t imagine not, so they let me in a side door that led directly to a room where Bun was waiting for me.  I took some pictures with my cell phone as I knew this would be my last memories with her and I told her how much I loved her and how sorry I was.  While waiting for Jeremy, the vet brought in various paperwork to fill out and sign, asking what I wanted to do with the body, if I wanted an autopsy and a general estimate of costs.  I remember my tears splashing onto the paper as I struggled to write my name.  Jeremy finally arrived and they let him into the room with me. 

The vet explained how the procedure would go.  First she would inject her with a medication to basically make her drowsy and pain free.  Once that set in and she didn’t flinch to a pinch test, she would turn her over and inject the lethal medication directly into her heart.  It wouldn’t be long and then she would be gone. The vet asked if I wanted to be present during the procedure or if I’d rather she do it in a different room.  Jeremy offered to stay in case I didn’t want to be there, but still wanted someone with Bun.  As hard as it was, I wanted to stay with Bun.  I wanted every last second I could have with her.

I gave Bun more head pets and rubber my fingers through her ears like she loved as the vet administered the first medication.  She said she would come back in a few minutes to see if it had taken effect.  Bun’s nose twitches started slowing.  The vet came in and pinched Bun’s foot to see if she’d react; she didn’t.  She carefully unwrapped Bun from the towel that was surrounding her and placed her on her side.  She felt around her chest to see where her ribs were.  Once she found the spot, she pushed the needle into her heart and gave her the final dose of medication.  She took the needle out and brought out her stethoscope to listen to her heart.  After a minute or so, she told me that she was gone.  The vet left the room to give us a few minutes with Bun.

My sweet girl was gone.  My one connection to my grandma was gone.  I felt total regret for how her life was.  As I sobbed into Jeremy, he reminded me that most people would have given up on her within the first year of her life.  I was able to get 6 quality years of love with her.  I knew it was true, but I had a rock in my throat and my mind was barely able to concentrate on breathing.  As Jeremy drove me home, I sent an email to my work letting them know what happened and that I needed at least 1 day off.  We got home sometime around 5:30 and went to bed.  I don’t remember how long I slept, but when I woke up, my eyes were almost swollen shut.  I started crying again.  I was angry.  This was the first day of working from home and I was supposed to be spending it with Bun.  I struggled with how to tell people because non pet owners are easy to say “it’s just a rabbit” and not have emotion tied to it.  She was more than that to me, she was my friend and my comfort.  I stopped crying long enough to go back up to Bothell with Jeremy to pick up my car.

A few days later, I got an email from the vet with Bun’s post mortem results.  I both wanted to read it, but also wanted to ignore it and be in denial.  This is what the vet found “…several indicators of chronic disease in her liver as well as in her great vessels (particularly her aorta).  She also had a torsion or twisting of part of her cecum, which would have likely required surgery to try to fix.”  Looking back, to just get her corrective surgery would have been hard on her, but that coupled with the liver disease and issues in her heart, she might not have survived the operation.  This was as comforting of news as I could have hoped for, but it still didn’t bring my baby girl back.  It took me over a month to clean her cage and even to this day, the food is still in her dish where she left it in March.  I still have food, hay and litter left of hers and I both want to donate it, but don’t want to get rid of my last piece of Bun.  I’m not sure if I’m ready for a new bunny or not either.  All I know is that I miss her.  I miss smelling her and how she smelled like a cumulus cloud.  I missed petting that little patch of fur on the back of her neck that was somehow softer than silk.  I missed rubbing my fingers over her head and through her ears and hearing her teeth chatter as she loved being pet.  6 years didn’t feel like enough time.

My last selfie with Bun at 2:43 am

Bun's Story - Part 3

Nothing overly notable happened for a while, except my almost 1 year old son’s first word.  I was in Bun’s room, holding her and he walked up to the baby gate at the entrance to the room.  I asked him who I was holding and he said “beh-beh”.  I made him say it again and he did and every time I pointed to a bunny (in a book or Bun), he would repeat “beh-beh”. My son’s first word was bunny.  This is what I had always hoped for.  As Jake got bigger, I’d let him spend more time in the room with Bun.  He loved helping feed her and giving her treats.  When we’d put her away for the night (because bunnies can’t be trusted…it’s a fact, google it), he’d always give her a hug and a kiss.

I don’t recall the exact day, but I do know Bun went through another episode of stasis and had to be fed critical care and other medications for a little while, but other than being scary at the moment, it was overall uneventful.  On August 31^st, 2019, I took Bun back to the vet because I noticed a little squiggle in her left eye.  Needless to say, I was paranoid about eyes by this point and was worried she would end up losing her other eye and instead of being a pirate, she’d be blind.  The vet told me not to worry and that it just looked like beginning stages of cataracts.  So what did I do when I got home?  Googled blind bunnies.  I guess I would just cross that bridge when I got there.

We gave Bun an arbitrary birthday of December 1^st, 2013 when I first started filling out paper work for various vets.  We celebrated her 6^th birthday the same way I did her 1^st birthday; with a giant veggie pile and pictures in a homemade party hat that she clearly disapproved of [picture].  By the end of December, the whole world started talking about Coronavirus.  As far as we knew, it hadn’t made it to the US yet, but it was only a matter of time.  The end of February started getting pretty interesting as things were starting to ramp up.  Vulnerable people were supposed to work from home, people suddenly realized they needed to wash their hands (why was this a new thing?) and it was suggested we wear masks in public places.  By mid-March, we had gotten word that my work was closing down in person operations and everything was to be done remotely.  As scary as the virus was, I was looking forward to some quality Bun time because her room is the office where the computer I would be using was.

Sunday, March 22^nd, 2020, I woke up and fed Bun and gave her some loves like I always do in the morning.  I noticed a couple extra pellets were still in her dish and her hay wasn’t as low as I would expect it to be, but I just chalked it up to Jake giving too much food the night before because he was insistent he feed her.  I can’t remember what I did that day, but I ended up back home sometime after 10:30 pm and went to tuck Bun in for the night and give her the rest of her allotted food.  It didn’t look like she had touched any of her food, water or hay.  I tried giving her a treat, but she didn’t even want that.  I started to panic that it was stasis again and how long had she been like this and I didn’t realize it?  I called her vet (who has an on call doctor) and asked what I should do.  I still had critical care at home from the last time in case she needed to be fed something or I could bring her in.  For my piece of mind, I drove the hour North to Bothell at 1:00am to bring her in.  Due to Covid restrictions, I had to wait in the car while they examined Bun and wait for a phone call from the doctor for the findings.

Jake giving Bun some lovin

The little squiggle I saw

Bun's 6th birhtday!

Bun's Story - Part Deux

In August, I was finally clear headed enough to make Bun’s appointment for her spay and in early August, she went in for her procedure.  Luckily, everything went as planned and the nurse said that Bun was so cute she shared the cilantro from her lunch with her.  Bun came home and recovered like a champ.  But on August 28^th, 2014, I noticed a spot of blood pooling in Bun’s right eye, like a blood vessel had broken.  I took her to the vet and they didn’t seem concerned about it and said it would probably go away with time.  On October 26^th, 2014 rolled around, Bun’s right eye was so cloudy and filled with blood that I’m not fully certain she could see so I took her to a different vet.  This vet drew blood on Bun and she tested positive for E. cuniculi. [Parasite found in bunnies].  She gave Bun a month’s worth of medicine to take.  Now, you’re probably wondering, how do you feed a rabbit medicine?  At first, she was really good at taking it if we mixed it with a tiny bit of fruit flavored baby food.  In her later years, we learned the burrito method where you wrap up the bunny in a towel and basically force the syringe into their mouth and slowly push the plunger. 

After the month of medication, her eye didn’t look any better so we got a referral to an animal ophthalmologist in Seattle.  Once every 2-3 weeks I would take her up there to have various eye tests done and bring home eye drops to administer at least twice a day.  This went on until February 4^th, 2015.  I got home from work and the first thing I did was take Bun out of her day cage to hop freely.  I noticed she was standing still and her head was tilted ever so slightly.  When she finally did hop, it seemed like her equilibrium was off because she kind of stumbled.  Jeremy and I rushed her to the after-hours emergency vet in Tacoma where they gave us a small pharmacy of medications.  They thought it could either be the E. cuniculi again, ear mites or a brain tumor.  We opted not to have the scan done of her head as they would have had to sedate her and I was worried she wouldn’t wake back up.  So I started giving her oral medications 3 times a day for about a week.  Then she stopped eating and drinking.  I read about this while doing my research and knew it could be life threatening for a bunny to go 1 day without food.  I was able to get into the vet [ #2 if you’re keeping track at home] and they administered IV fluids and sent me home with critical care (which is basically ground up bunny food that you mix with water and syringe feed them, but it has all the nutrients they need).  So me, 6 months pregnant, was syringe feeding my bunny medicine and food for about two weeks straight.  Every other day for those two weeks, I took her to the vet for another round of subcutaneous fluids. 

By March she was done with the medicine and eating again on her own.  I was taking my dog in to the vet for his yearly shots when my vet asked how Bun was doing.  I told her that she made a full recovery.  It was then she told me that when I brought Bun in the last time, she didn’t expect her to make it through the week.  She called her a “miracle bunny”.  Bun’s eye never did get better, so she gave me a referral to an exotic vet up in Bothell.  I took her in for an initial exam and they recommended the eye be removed.  I had reservations about it because I was still scared something would happen under anesthesia, so we opted not to do surgery right away.  Eventually, her eye started bulging out in a cone shape and was completely whited over.  I started getting the impression she was in pain, so I scheduled the appointment for surgery.  January 2016, Bun got her eye removed and after two days of rest, she was almost like a completely new bunny.  She seemed happier and more energetic.

The first time I noticed something off

As it got worse

Bun exactly 1 year from the day I brought her home

Eventually her eye was completely whited out

This was the "worst" of the head tilt

After she had her eye removed

Bun's Story - A Multi Part Series

It was a week or two into December 2013 when Jeremy approached me with a question.  He wanted to get me a Christmas present, but wasn’t sure if I would be ok with it, so he wanted to know whether I wanted it, but at the same time didn’t want to ruin the surprise.  Of course, I was puzzled and tried to think of everything it could be, but alas, I was stumped.  I told him it was ok to tell me and that’s when he asked if I wanted a baby bunny.  I was giddy!  After the initial shock of getting something so amazing, I asked him more questions about where the bunny was from and how old it was, etc.  Apparently, his coworker [at the time] bought two female bunnies and had them for a month and one day discovered that one was not in fact female.  He had a new litter of kits that needed homes.  So naturally I said I wanted one and asked if I could get a picture to pick it out. Of course I picked the runt because it was so it’ll bitty.  My new bunny wouldn’t be ready to come home for another week or two as it was still too little.

Two weeks went by and I found out it would be a little longer than normal because rather than separating the two adults, the coworker left them together a little too long and the momma had more babies.  Apparently, my bunny was “taking care of” some of the other babies so he didn’t want to separate that one yet.  Finally, January 9^th, 2014, I got to pick up my bunny.  It was so small and fit in the palm of one hand!  We had no idea whether or not it was a boy or a girl and the soonest we would be able to make it to the vet would be on Saturday (2 days later).  So until we found out, we just called it Bun.  Of course, this didn’t stop the Facebook polls of what should we name the bunny.  Saturday finally came and the vet came out of the back with the bunny and said “it’s a girl!”  My first instinct was to go to the store and get an “it’s a girl” balloon and do a photo shoot because why wouldn’t I? 

Of course, with this photo shoot, I had to announce a name so I pooled all of my favorites together and Bun’s official name was Cinnamon Bun Ape Cakes Peaches Poof Averie Snowball IV Olson the first.  Now for the reasoning behind the long name.  Cinnamon because her eyes were creepy red, Bun because that’s what we had been calling her until we knew her sex, Ape Cakes because my 4 year old niece picked out the name, Peaches was from a Facebook poll and I had considered it before someone else suggested it, Poof because she was a little fluff ball, Averie because that’s what my other 4 year old ‘niece’ picked out, Snowball IV from the Simpsons and Olson the first because she was the first of her name.  Naturally, we ended up calling her Bun or B or little b for short, but she had a formal name.

I hadn’t owned a bunny since 5^th grade when I had Hocus Pocus, so I figured I should probably brush up on rabbit care.  I spent quite a bit of time on the Google and found a family owned company that sold hay and pellets from Central Washington, so I knew it would be fresh and I picked out a rabbit savvy vet that was local.  I had read that you want to spay your rabbits as they are prone to uterine cancer, but I couldn’t do that until she was at least 6 months old. 

At the time, my grandma was living in an adult care facility and I would bring Bun to visit her.  I was always amazed at how relaxed Bun was and how she loved being held.  Out of curiosity, I thought about getting her certified as an emotional support animal, but never did follow though.  Around the 6 month mark, Jeremy and I were going on a two week trip to Hawaii for a friend’s wedding then our postponed honeymoon.  We got back in early June and that’s when my grandma’s health took a turn for the worse.  Over the course of the next month and a half, she slowly declined until they focused only on palliative care.  My grandpa had passed away 3 days after we got Bun and now, 5 months later, I lost my grandma too.  I held Bun a little longer over the next week because I felt like she was my only connection to my grandma anymore.

Bun's first photo - she the runt at the top

The first time I held Bun

You can see why I wanted to call her Poof

Hocus Pocus

Bun and Grandma