Washington ( CNN ) -- Thanks to Sen. Patty Murray , Sharon and Blake Ilstrup can have their big inauguration date night after all . Last week , the Seattle-area couple , along with many others , were shut out of the first-come , first-served official Presidential Inaugural Ball ticket sales when a mistake by Ticketmaster , the ticket vendor , inadvertently released tickets for both the inaugural ball and parade early , as CNN first reported . Ticketmaster and the Presidential Inaugural Ball later apologized for the mix-up , but thousands of potential partygoers were upset and flocked to Facebook and social media demanding a remedy . So the Ilstrups -- who had planned on breaking out their finest formal outfits for Monday night -- found themselves and their two kids headed to Washington with no ball tickets in hand . But after seeing their story on a Seattle TV station Friday morning , Murray , a Democrat from Washington state , came to the rescue . Murray called her office and told them to track the couple down . Obamas party with 30,000 close friends . `` Sen. Murray was touched by how much effort ( the Ilstrups ) had made to try to go to the ball and felt ( terrible ) that even though they were online so early an error dashed their hopes , '' Murray spokesman Matt McAlvanah told CNN . `` She told staff that she thought 'their enjoyment was the best use of my tickets . ' `` But Sharon Ilstrup said the office had a hard time tracking them down in time since the family had already left for Washington . Finally , just hours before the big event , the office was able to locate her cell phone number and made the connection . The Ilstrups , who planned the almost 2,800-mile trip to Washington as a part of an educational experience for their two children , Alec , 14 and Anna , 11 , were touring the National Mall on Sunday when they got the call from Murray 's office offering them the tickets . `` We just walked across the street , '' Ilstrup said . The Russell Senate Office Building , where Murray 's office is located , is a couple of blocks from the Capitol and a hop , skip and a jump from the Mall . `` They were so excited to give it to us . '' Murray 's office later tweeted a picture of the happy family . While Alec and Anna wo n't be attending the ball with their parents , they wo n't miss out on all of the fun . The whole family will attend the President Barack Obama 's second inauguration ceremony on the western front of the U.S. Capitol , with tickets they secured from U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene , D-Washington . With her gown secured , Sharon Ilstrup , an Obama supporter , said she was most looking forward to the ball for `` the energy . '' `` Just being there and the energy of the day ... just to be a part of another celebration of Barack Obama and of our country and not to be in my hotel room packing to go home . ''
Seattle couple was shut out of inaugural ball tickets after ticket vendor mix-up . Sen. Patty Murray heard about the story and offered them ball tickets . Comment: