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I don't have all of the stories that go along with the pictures, but I do want to make sure I include some of the pictures from Graham's week in Tucson with Daddy and Pa-Paw.
Heading for Tucson
Helping Pa-Paw fly :)
A mountain hike
Graham and his daddy - looking a little bit alike :)
Posing like a cactus?
the golfer
a player piano
It looks and sounds like they had a great week - I'm glad G had the opportunity to go. He was able to see and learn so many new things :)
On Wednesday morning we packed up Matt's car and headed north toward Seattle. Our first planned stop was the outlet mall in Woodburn - I needed new jeans (yay - new jeans!) and I thought it would be a good place for Ellie to stretch her legs a bit. Matt and Ellie walked and played while I found some jeans (thank you GAP lady for helping me find a pair that fit) and summer gear for Eleanor (swimsuit, cover-up, sandals, and sunglasses).
A shot of Ellie with her new sunglasses - she loves 'em :)
We had pretzels then got back on the road. Ellie resisted sleep, but eventually napped for about an hour. We made it the rest of the way just fine and arrived at the MarQueen Hotel around dinner time.
According to their website, the MarQueen was built in 1918 as the Seattle Engineering School, and it was used to retrain blacksmiths to work at the Ford assembly plant on Lake Union. Each room is like a little apartment, complete with it's own kitchen and dining area. There was even a little sitting area which was the perfect place for Ellie's pack-n-play.
So we were in a part of Seattle called the Queen Anne neighborhood - I found a place to eat that looked good in the neighborhood called 5 Spot. It was a beautiful night so we thought we'd walk - I asked which direction to go as we were walking out the front door of the hotel. I should have known by the way the woman at the front desk looked at me that I might want to rethink this adventure, but she simply said something like "it's to the right and just up the hill." Let me say that "just up the hill" was the biggest understatement of all time.
I'm not sure you can fully appreciate the hill here, but I later read that this is one of Seattle's tallest hills - awesome :) "Sure....we can totally do this" quickly turned into "I think I might die on this hill." Matt took over stroller pushing (thank you Matt!) and I needed a couple of breaks, but we made it up the "hill" (seriously - there has to be a more appropriate name for this thing). I wish I could say that dinner was totally worth the walk, but it was just "so-so". The walk down was quite pleasant and as I mentioned earlier, the weather was great. I swear the front desk lady was laughing at me (on the inside of course) when she asked me how our walk to dinner was.....nice.
Saturday morning we got up and ready to head to Pike Place Market. We started with breakfast at the Market and had yummy omlettes with a great view out onto the water.
We saw the Seattle Aquarium from where we were sitting and decided to check that out after breakfast.
The aquarium was pretty impressive and we had fun wandering around and took in a little show/talk. Ellie even sat to watch the diver in the tank give her presentation...
After the aquarium we walked around the Market a bit....
(notice the "genuine pirate corn" right next to the "little green balls o' death")
We picked up some yummy doughnuts then went back to the hotel for naps, though Ellie fell asleep in the car on the way back to the hotel and was in no mood to nap once we got back there (bummer!)
The first and only rain we experienced in Seattle was on Thursday night when we headed out to the Space Needle for dinner. Not a big rain and there were a lot of covered areas to walk along the way, so it wasn't too bothersome at all.
Dinner was in the restaurant near the top of the Space Needle - both the view and the food were amazing.
The entire restaurant actually rotates 360 degrees while you are eating so you can take in the whole view - it took a little getting used to, but was just fine :) Ellie was a little more difficult than usual (see NO NAP earlier) but she was super excited to eat the ice cream that came with her meal. We went up to the observation deck after dinner where she was happy to run around a bit.
Friday morning we were thinking of trying to find some things to do inside before leaving - we were sure it was going to finally rain. But during breakfast (across the street from the MarQueen - no hill thank you!) the sun came out (so bright!) and there was a LOT of blue sky so we decided we should check out the Woodland Park Zoo. It wasn't very crowded at all (just a few field trip kids) and the sun stayed the whole time we were there.
Ellie's favorite thing was the penguins and she was sad every time we left to look at something else. My favorite thing was the gorillas and orangutans, but every time Ellie saw them, she got scared and started crying.
After the zoo we got on the road to head home. Ellie slept for a couple of hours (thank goodness!) and did pretty well until we got right into Portland (not the best timing for a meltdown). We stopped for dinner and a quick walk before getting back in the car to go the rest of the way. We got home about 8pm and Ellie was pretty happy (thank you iPod Touch).
I got to read a story with Graham before he went to sleep and I heard a little about his trip (hopefully more on that in a future post). I was fairly tired and ready for bed so everything is pretty much sitting right inside the front door to be unpacked and put away today.
I loved Seattle and had so much fun taking it all in. We were sooo lucky with the weather being as nice as it was, and our hotel was just perfect for traveling with a toddler. The city is really beautiful and seems to have a lot of character - I'm so glad we were able to go. For now I will leave you with a picture of Matt, Ellie, and I on top of the Space Needle - if you'd like to see a few more pictures from our trip you can go HERE.
It's Spring Break here and I was very ready for the time away from work.
Things officially kicked off on Saturday, when Pa-Paw, Uncle Bill, and Elizabeth all arrived in Eugene for the evening. We met them out at the airport, then had dinner at BJ's together. The next morning Wil and Graham got packed up and met them all out at the airport to leave for Tucson on the jet...
I'm told the flight went well and that Graham did well. Wil and Graham will be staying in Tucson for the week....I have never been away from G this long and I miss him quite a bit already. I'm sure he's having a great time though, and I talked to him on the phone today.
Ellie went to daycare these past couple of days so I was able to get a few things done around the house and have a little "me time". I sorted through all of the kids' clothes and weeded out the things that were too small. Eleanor needs a few things to prepare for summer, but Graham's closet looks pretty good.
I had lunch with my friend Teresa at 5th Street on Monday and we did a little browsing at the toy store. Sooo excited for her as she is expecting her first baby in the fall. Today I went to a movie and after took a nice long walk - the weather was gorgeous!
I've also run a couple of errands to prepare for a road trip we're starting tomorrow. My friend Matt is taking Eleanor and I to Seattle for the next few days. In all of the years I've been here, I've never visited there, so I'm excited to explore. Eleanor has never been in the car for more than a couple hours at a time, so hopefully the trip goes well. I have some new toys and plenty of snacks....we're prepared to take breaks so she can stretch her legs....I'm sure it will all be fine :)
Still many days of vacation ahead.....
The time between coming home from daycare and sitting down for dinner can be pretty chaotic and stressful. The kids are anxious to have my attention after being away all day, I'm trying to get dinner together and ready, and at some point the kids realize they are STARVING and must eat something right that minute. The other night I finally found a way to keep everyone quiet and content while I worked on dinner....
Graham's looking at the toy catalog that came in the mail from Target, and Ellie is tearing up a catalog that I didn't want or need any more - I think it has birthday party supplies in it.
This moment of peace lasted just long enough to get everything fixed and ready to eat - success :)
We will all be wearin' the green with pride today :)
Feeling so, so lucky.....
It's been quite awhile since I have actually played tennis, but I still enjoy watching. When it was brought to my attention that this event was coming to the new arena, I knew it would be the best shot I had (and the cheapest really!) to see this kind of talent.
Victoria Azarenka, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova, and Roger Federer
John McEnroe (a surprise participant!)
Many, many thanks to Chery for getting our tickets - the arena sold out within an hour of tickets going on sale and our seats were pretty awesome :) It was amazing to be so close to the action and they put on a great exhibition.
I had fun playing with my camera and got a bunch of shots like this...
You can see more of the pictures I took by clicking HERE
At the end of the event Phil Knight presented the players with their very own U of O Duck football jerseys....had their names on the back and everything!
It was so much fun and I'm glad I went - almost makes me want to get out there and start playing again!
Eleanor had her 18 month well-child visit to the doctor last week so we have some her most current stats to share....
Ellie is 32 1/4 inches tall, and this puts her at the 70th percentile. She weighs 26.8 lbs (and was measured on the "big girl scale" for the first time!) which is at the 80th percentile. The doctor says she looks great and he commented on how easy she was to work with - didn't complain or wiggle around at all. She also got a few shots - she wasn't very happy about it, but recovered quickly.
Feeling blessed to have such a happy and healthy baby girl :)
That is the question I got from Graham....I think it came up last weekend.
"Who is my father?"
I can only assume that this has somehow come up because of his recent interest in Darth Vader?!
I attempted to explain that "father" is another way to say "dad", but he doesn't believe me. That's right...my almost 4-year-old son is already certain that I have no idea what I'm talking about. He actually started to get a tiny bit upset with me, as if I was withholding some pretty important information from him...."Just telllll me moooom!" (uh huh - I don't know if you noticed that part, but he's calling us "mom" and "dad" now instead of "mommy" and "daddy" - it's breaking my heart!) Nothing I could say could convince him. He finally decided that he would have to ask Pa-Paw and Grandma Chery....."they will know who my father is." The whole thing still makes me laugh :)
Here's hoping the questions don't get too much harder quite yet!
