Shopping at Pike's Place Market

Of course you can't visit Seattle without a visit to famous Pike's Place Market, the home of the thrown fish! We had a great time, as the weather was absolutely gorgeous and there was PLENTY for Sophia to eat and see!

My favorite way to eat is to literally graze along through different snacks and meals, which seems odd that I absolutely hate a buffet, but there's other factors that go into that! Anyway, we walked along and sampled some of Seattle's finest from the various vendors throughout the market! We had mac-n-cheese with cheese that was made right in the store, some yummy Greek food that Sophia absolutely devoured, jumbo pastries and more! Plus, we had to visit the original Starbucks! Charlie wasn't that impressed, but I gotta have my Starbucks!

We only saw one fish being thrown b/c you actually have to BUY the fish for them to throw it, which makes sense, but I must say it's kinda pathetic the way people hover around these poor fish mongers waiting to see some action. There was a huge crowd and they literally just stood there, cameras poised and ready.

In the background there are giant cranes that load cargo onto ships, but more importantly, in the foreground is the Seattle Real World House! It was somewhere near the yellow awnings!

You can just make out the silhouette of Mt. Rainier in the background! It was absolutely beautiful to see mountains and ocean every day!

Although I REALLY wanted to eat one of those donuts, I decided against it. Instead we opted to share a chocolate, cream cheese cinnamon roll that was slightly less big, not sure if that was a better choice, but oh well! In case you can't tell, they are literally the size of your head.

We found a store displaying walls and walls of Fiestaware. Charlie and I both went screaming, but for seemingly different reasons! ;)

I had to take this picture because a few friends of ours hunt Morels every year and bring them home and fry them up for us! They are so yummy! I was astonished at the price they were going for...thank goodness we get ours for free! Thanks Neil and Jason!

Sophia gets the best view of all the action!

How cute is this, need I say more?!

We actually purchased this hat for Sophia and decided against mine b/c it really was a little kid hat and a bit snug, but as it turns out we lost the bag that contained said hat (and some pretty adorable sneaker, no less) somewhere in the market that day! Booooo!

PS...thanks to Kathleen for giving me the skinny on the picture uploading!

Having a Gas!

Okay, this was too funny not to share. Those weak-stomached or just generally against toilet humor should not read any further!!!

Sophia has been unusually gassy the past few days and has been tooting her way from room to room. Today she was sitting on the floor playing and she let a string of toots go so loudly that even she turned around with a puzzled look wondering where on earth that sound was coming from!

LOL!

Lake Side Festivities

She's got the whole world in her hands.

Sophia has taken up badminton. She is most skilled at eating the birdie.

Big Cousin Zoe running interference.

Steph and Charlie takin' a break and having a beer (when Bud was still American, that is!)

Learning the finer points of football

We were lucky enough to tag along to a lake side party hosted by good friends of Stephanie and Jonathan. They live on beautiful Lake Washington, where it was a little too chilly for those of us over the age of 10 to boat, but there was yummy food and fun activities. The kids played all kinds of sports while the adults mostly supervised the games and the grill! We even saw a bald eagle flying overhead, very cool! It sure wouldn't take much for me to pack up and move lakeside, I'd order a big fat yacht and have a grand ol' time!

A side note to all you bloggers out there...how the heck do I get my site to post more than 5 pictures at a time! GRRRRR! I know it can be done b/c I've seen it on your blogs! Help!

Walter's Vacation

I know that I've said it before, but doggy day care is seriously the best invention ever! Walter had quite an action packed week of fun and folly while we were away and enjoyed his own private vacation. Any of you dog parents here in the area really should try out Pawz at Play...they are all so sweet and caring, and you can't beat the photography either! ;)

Peas in a Pod

George, who is going on 10, turned out to be one heck of a playmate for Sophia! It was just too cute to watch them together. He had a great time playing with her, and he's a bundle of energy anyway, so it was a perfect match. But, even more was the fact that she absolutely adored him! She would light-up and giggle every time he came in the room.

Here we are on our first morning at this very yummy breakfast place called Pancake House or something. It has a similar name to IHOP, but the food is waaaaaaay better! Sophia and I were supposed to share some banana pancakes but she enjoyed them as much as I did. They were by far the yummiest pancakes I've ever had! After she plowed through one whole pancake I made Charlie start sharing his breakfast with her so I could monopolize the cakes for myself! Isn't that horrible! But it's oh-so true...;)



Here George graciously lets Sophia play with his old garage toy. Luckily Stephanie had lots of baby toys that she kept for occasions just like this! Thank goodness because the tub-o-toys was a life saver!

After breakfast, Stephanie and I went out to run some errands and left the guys in charge of the kids. Here's what happened...

Well, I suppose corralling her in the trunk is better than letting her crawl into the streets??? Silly Uncle Jonathan! I think he may have even put some toys in there for her!

Lastly, I put on this video of Sophia and George because I absolutely love it! I think it is a true display of George's sweet and caring personality and I think he's just a crack-up!

Going to See Attle

Nothing like a little pancakes, sausage, and yogurt at 3:30 am!! Technically, it was 5:30 Central time, but we were still on West Coast Time!

Clearly, Sophia eats in any time zone.

Sophia scored her very own seat and she told Daddy, and the rest of the plane, all about it!

Many years ago when Shelby was about 3 or 4, Stacy, Mom and I planned a trip to Seattle. For days and days we would tell Shelby about our plans and the people she would meet, etc. So about a day or so into our trip, a very confused Shelby looked up at Stacy and said, "So when are we going to see Attle?" Priceless. Well, last week we took Sophia to meet Attle too!



Overall, we had a wonderful trip! I seriously didn't want to come home and almost didn't! We almost got talked into staying another few days, but I decided against it. Although next time we'll know what a great time is waiting for us and maybe plan accordingly! :)



We left on the 4th and after a very disappointing flight delay in Minneapolis, we missed fireworks in both places, oh well! I will say however, that descending upon Seattle you could see every surrounding town and their fireworks display and it was pretty cool; most definitely not as impressive as being on the ground, but still fun, and a whole new perspective, that's for sure! Sophia, being the wonderful baby that she is, just slept herself right into the new time zone...gotta love a smart baby! Her sleep was disrupted when the plane landed and of course we had to exit, get luggage, get car seat installed and get home! Whew! But she gladly played with Aunt Stephanie and chatted the whole way home. We set up her crib, put her to bed and she didn't wake up until 9 am Seattle time, like I said, gotta love a smart baby!



Our week was filled with lots of family fun! I always remember how much I miss my cousin and the kids every time we're together. Stephanie and I are the only two granddaughters on our moms' side, so we have a lot in common and always have lots to catch up on too! Charlie and I tried to balance between being the tourist and just hangin' out. We even got some much needed adult time while we utilized the family babysitter and even got a couple of date nights in!



The way home was not quite as smooth because we left on the "red eye" flight, leaving at 12:40 am and arriving back in KC at 8:15 am. Blech. Well, the first flight was delayed so we managed to get the last two seats, literally, on the earlier flight (at 12:25 am) so we didn't miss our connection in Minneapolis. The plane was jam-packed and the guy next to me was none to pleased to have a baby next to him, but continued to leave his overhead light on and i-pod blaring at full volume the entire time anyway. Sophia slept, but only agreed to sleep if she were perched precariously on the edge of my knee hunched and over my leg for the next 3 and half hours. We arrived in Minneapolis and the Gods were shining on us b/c not only was our flight not full (the only one of the last 3) but they let us carry on the car seat and Sophia got her very own seat...hooray! This meant that Mommy and Daddy got a much needed cat nap. The bad part was that we were delayed again, perhaps Minneapolis is really a black hole, and were late arriving to KC. Poor mom, who was late to work and braved the rain to come get us, was happily waiting at the gate for us and even took Sophia last afternoon and all night to give us a chance to regroup and rest. Gotta love grandparents!



I will post more pictures from our vacation soon, now the laundry and cleaning begins! Aaaah, I miss vacation already! ;)

Daddies

Daddies are for playing fun games....

and giving out cold, hard cash!