Stories from Seattle- Day Two

Well, here we are, Day Three of our sojourn in Seattle and I am just now getting to blogging about Day Two. It was a really big day yesterday and we got a quick start to our day this morning, so this is the first chance I've had to sort through the pictures and get something up. :)

The first event in our day (after breakfast and morning naptime) was a trip to the Seattle Locks- where the boats go to and from fresh and salt water via a system of "locks" of water (google it if you are curious how this works- it's very interesting). Part of the arrangement in Seattle has been developed to assist the salmon in their trips to and from salt/fresh water and we had hoped to see them jumping, but unfortunately, work was being done on the salmon locks and so we just got to see a ship moving and no fish. Oh well.

Here are Andrew and Brad posing for a picture with our Stroller Princess. :)
Someone made these fun metal curlies that remind me of something I've seen in a Dr. Seuss book and I just had to have a picture with one. :)
After we saw the locks, we had lunch at this fun park with the water in the background. It was a beautiful day! We met up with some of Chandra's girlfriends and their little ones, so it was a little something like Fridays back home for me. :) I enjoyed this little snapshot of Chandra's "real" life.
Carolyn has been living to a great extent on fruit the past few days! There is an abundance of good fruits and berries and she has loved being able to have (almost) as much as she wants- hey, we're all on vacation here! She especially liked these raspberries... and we managed to get by almost stain-free! :)
After a wonderful supper prepared by our gracious hosts, we set off for the evening's activities- a walk in downtown Seattle to the ferry, which took us to Bainbridge Island and the finest ice cream I've had in a long time! On our way there, we saw these pigs everywhere! They are in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the big market here in Seattle. This one with the saddle looked just right for a picture. If my mother had been with me, we would have had pictures of every one we saw. :) But she wasn't, so we didn't. But in a way I do feel that something is missing! :)
Here we are in front of the Market. I'm really excited to visit this place on Monday (with Brad alone! Auntie Chandra's babysitting for us)!
We even stopped by the Gum Wall, where Brad felt compelled to take a little taste... (not really...)
He found it endlessly amusing that this Parking Enforcement vehicle is parked in front of the No Parking at Any Time sign. :)
Here we are on the ferry that took us across the Sound (I think) to Bainbridge Island.
It got a little windy for Miss Carolyn outside, so I brought her inside where she had a party practicing her walking! :)
She also enjoyed standing next to the grate and looking out at the water.
Here we are, having yummy yummy ice cream. I bought a small cone for Carolyn, but she cried because it got sticky and then dropped it on the floor. She informed me she'd rather have the one I got for myself. :) She seemed to like that really well. :)
And here are two silly boys making faces over their ice cream. We have a very similar picture to this from the time that Andrew and Chandra visited us in Phoenix a couple years ago and we took them to our favorite ice cream place there. :)
After the ice cream, we wandered around for awhile before it was time to take our return ferry. I thought this picture turned out so nice with the boys contemplating the water and the many masted ships in the background. :)
Finally, we boarded the ferry again and got prime seats to watch the city lights of Seattle come closer and closer. We got home really late, but had a great time! Carolyn was quite the trooper!

We've had a great day so far today, but it's almost time for us to get to dinner, so I'll post about Day Three later on tonight or tomorrow.

Stories from Seattle

Well, we made it to Seattle! It was a fairly uneventful trip; just the usual delights that come with traveling with a toddler who has just learned to walk and wants nothing more than to practice. If Carolyn ever takes piano lessons, I hope she wants to practice that with the same determination that she has brought to learning bipedal locomotion! :) I was happy when the plane landed in Seattle and we could get her out to stretch her legs! Trouble was, she kept on stretching her legs pretty much from then on until bedtime- so I didn't have a chance to update my blog until now, and I'm hiding in the bathroom to do it! :)

We are here visiting our friends Andrew and Chandra. Chandra was my roommate at Hope College, yea 5 years ago now! :) They have lived here for the last 4 years and though they have been to see us both in Michigan and in Phoenix, we had not ever been to see them- so nine months ago we decided to do this trip and started making plans- and here we are! Finally here! They live in a darling condo complex right in downtown- I feel like I'm staying at a really nice hotel- but they actually live here! The complex has a special "guest suite" that we could rent for only $60 a day (a total steal!) It's a very sweet little place with room for us to unpack all our stuff and settle in for a few days. I took pictures of it, but due to a sad accident I'll discuss later, those pictures are unavailable.

Chandra is the quintessential "camp director" personality. She submitted a list of Seattle attractions to me weeks ago, and based on the things I told her we were most interested in, she has created a wonderful itinerary for us that will help us really see the city from an insider's perspective, and also provide for the maintenance of my sanity by giving Carolyn some semblance of normal nap times. :)

Yesterday, after a nap, a snack of Cheerios, and an "emergency" Old Navy/Baby Gap run (it is much cooler here than I expected and I forgot to bring Carolyn's jacket from home), we arrived at our "main course" of entertainment for the day. We paddled around the water in a kayak!
Carolyn was not especially pleased with the life jacket (you might recall her previous experience with one), but she consented to get in the kayak with me, and thus began what turned out to be a really wonderful time, marred only by one rather significant disaster.

The trip started out pretty good, with Carolyn seeming to really enjoy being at the front of the boat where she could see everything passing by- she especially liked the ducks that were paddling along near where we took off. She pointed and waved at everything. We thought it was so cute! Cute enough that I wanted the camera to take pictures of my own, so I asked Brad to hand it up to me... and, well, you can just guess what happened. It slipped from my fingers during the exchange and sank quickly to the bottom. My kind husband didn't yell at me or even tell me to "be more careful," because both our minds were full of "should haves" and "if onlys." I felt so bad because the camera is sort of like an extra body part for me- I feel sort of lost without it and one of my chief joys in doing anything fun is being able to take lots of pictures of it.

I'm afraid this experience very nearly ruined the kayak trip for both of us... but in the end we decided to make the best of it and we contrived to enjoy the rest of our time on theater, and thankfully Chandra had her camera and took lots of pictures- and I'm even in them for a change. I won't say, though, that we didn't go to Best Buy immediately after dinner and buy another camera... we did... but they didn't have the color that we wanted, so we might take it back if we can find a black one today. I simply cannot do this vacation without the camera. No one else can properly document it for me- though it IS interesting to get another perspective!

I really had the best seat on the boat- I got to hold the baby who was so interested in seeing everything around her that she sat almost still in my lap for more than an hour! Heaven! And Brad, my manly, heroic husband paddled us everywhere! He was such a good sport and did such a great job! :)
Chandra got lots of really great pictures of us with pretty things behind us- much better than I could have done! Here we are with the Seattle skyline.

We saw lots of house boats and floating houses- and learned the difference between them!
We even saw THE floating house where Sleepless in Seattle was filmed. I think I am going to have to rent that one when we get home...
And I'll wrap up with this picture, which I include even though I look goofy because it so captures Carolyn's experience on the boat- she had a great time. Stay tuned for more... Stories from Seattle. :)

Look What I Can Do!

I cannot believe how quickly Carolyn is catching on to the whole walking thing! She's just so excited that she can do it that she's practicing all the time (though still speed crawling when she really wants to get somewhere). She especially likes walking from Mommy to Daddy and back again. She likes it when we celebrate her tremendous accomplishments. :)

The video is a little bumpy- she was moving toward me faster than I could adjust myself, so consider yourself fairly warned! And I claim no responsibility if you get sick from watching it. :) That said, enjoy! She looks so cute with her wobbly little walk. :)

At the Fair

Today we went with Grandma ("Ama") to the 4-H youth fair. Grandma was excited to introduce Carolyn to Horses (her very favorite animals). Carolyn's reaction to Grandma's rather real-looking rocking horses has been somewhat unfavorable (okay, she cries and waves "bye-bye" every time she gets close to them), but we thought maybe she would enjoy the real thing more. Well, maybe next year. :)

We got kind of a late start and arrived at the fairgrounds at about the time Carolyn should have been napping... but she did all right with the donkey. It didn't try to get too close or make any alarming noises. I can't say the same for the sheep, unfortunately. They were VERY loud- and the constant baaa-ing seemed to grate on poor Carolyn's already tired nerves, so we made a quick exit before she started adding her own sounds to the cacophony. [isn't it cool that I used the word "cacophony" in a sentence?!]

The bunnies were the best part. Soft, fluffy, and quiet. Just right for small hands eager to touch but nervous about getting too close.
To Grandma's dismay, the horses were probably the low point. This handsome black fellow came out to take a sniff at us while we stood in front of his stall. I'm sorry to say he moved a little too quickly and suddenly for Miss Carolyn and you can see her reaction below.
She wasn't a big fan of the pigs, either, though she did get to hear a real, live "Oink" while standing there- and that "Oink" was much better than Mommy's poor imitations. I was glad she didn't touch his dirty nose. Who said that pigs are actually clean animals. Maybe that's just the little potbellied pigs people lead around on leashes- these hogs were NOT what I would call hygienic.

Finally! Someone's giving me a little peace and quiet! Maybe I'll enjoy the fair more when I'm 2! :)

And for those of you who wonder (Mom :)) Carolyn was walking up to about 10 steps before falling tonight and she is just as pleased as can be with her new skill! I'm pretty pumped, too (though I have been told by those who have gone before that this is another one of those "the end of the world as we know it" moments :))

A Weekend of Rest

It was a much-needed quiet weekend in the Irving house! We caught up a bit on chores, enjoyed some time at the park together, read books and Mommy and Daddy together reveled in the joy our little girl brings. :) It's not very often that we have two such golden days of inactivity all together as we had this weekend- and it sure did feel great to be together and NOT do much of anything! :)
Carolyn and Daddy on the Slide.
Carolyn loving the way her hair feels when the wind blows through it

Carolyn has been such a delight lately! Among the many things that make us laugh are her groovy dancing skills, which she shows off anytime there's music around- or even just a rhythm. :) See the little video clip below to see what I mean.


Our quiet weekend turned out to have a little nugget of excitement at the end- Carolyn is walking!!! It was so funny, like a light switch going on tonight- all of a sudden, she just started doing it! She gained confidence and skill in just the hour or so she was practicing tonight, and no doubt she'll be running around before we know it! I felt so proud- my little girl is growing up! :)

Sand and Sun

Today we went to the beach with Caimon (and Lenore) and Aidan (and Christi). Rachel (and Heather) couldn't come this week because they had an unavoidable conflict. :( We missed them! We met up at our house before leaving and Carolyn and Caimon had such a fun time playing with our napkin rings- they make great cymbals for chubby little hands, and this picture was so cute, I just had to post it. :) I love how Carolyn's hair has grown longer and how cute those pony tails look!After quite the to-do with packing up an absurd amount of stuff and hoisting the kiddos into front and back carriers and walking with them down the big hill to the water, we were finally ready to hit the sand! Here's Carolyn before she got really dirty. :)
And this is the best picture I have of all 3 getting ready for the water. The sand and the sand toys were pretty distracting...
Aidan is definitely a boy- he reveled in the delights of being truly dirty!
Carolyn's favorite part was this little crater that someone made in the wet, cool sand.
She spent most of the time we were there crawling up the side (note the rebounding rolls on her legs; I'm so happy that they didn't leave forever, yet)...
... and down again. True to personality, Caimon's favorite thing was actually using the sand tools to play in the sand.
After a bit, we took a break for lunch. Carolyn was so tickled to be able to sit in the big blue chair and eat her lunch!
The excursion to the beach was the beginnings of learning to share for these three little friends. We're beginning to see the first hints of cooperative play as they vie for ownership of the various objects and start to learn the rules of the game of playing WITH one another. :)
I am breaking a cardinal rule here and posting a picture of myself in a bathing suit because walking with Carolyn in the waves was one of my favorite parts of the day. :) Please promptly forget what I look like in this wonderfully "flattering" floral print I picked up several years ago in a ski shop in February because I had forgotten to bring one along for use in the hot tub on our ski trip to New Mexico. You can imagine how extensive the selection was. :)
Carolyn didn't think much of the water this time- except during this brief time when I was holding her hands and helping her walk through it. She liked the sand much better. In the last month or so since we went last time, she's kind of developed a bit of an aversion to water- I'm not sure why- but hopefully she will learn to appreciate it more by next summer! Cool water on a hot day is just the thing!

We came home tired and a little sun-dazed (she slept the whole rest of the afternoon), but we had a great time, and look forward to our next journey to the beach with Cousin Peyton in a couple weeks!

Hard At Play

Well, I'm pleased to report that Carolyn has returned to her usual, energetic, happy self. :) We have had two good days in a row. :) Since she hasn't felt well for the past couple weeks (and I also rotated some of her toys), it's like she's rediscovering all her stuff and it's all fun again! :) I converted her walker hippo into a ride-on toy, and she is just tickled pink every time she's able to successfully climb on top of it! Soooo! Big!!!
We've been having a little fun with Carolyn's hair at bathtime...
I call this the Dr. Suess look. :)
Horns. HOW did Brad get her hair to stay like this long enough to take a picture?!


You can see we've been having fun lately. Carolyn is at such a great age right now. I love to listen to her "talk." I think we have a little chatterbox on our hands! She babbles almost constantly from the moment she wakes up and so much of what she says sounds like her own little language! She often seems to expect me to understand and she gets frustrated when I can't interpret what she's trying to say. It seems each week or two she grabs on to a new word and it's fun for me to watch her learn how to describe the things in her world using words. The development of language is something I've been so excited to watch because as she grows in her vocabulary she grows in her ability to express to me what's going on inside her and I love to learn all about this little person God has granted me the enormous privilege of "mommy"-ing. :)

She's really beginning to grasp more of the concept of "no" and this seems to be her favorite word (I think she sometimes says it just to hear herself say it!) Today I was leaving for work and I had my lab coat on and I was holding her to say goodbye, then I asked her if she'd go to Auntie Laura (who she loves of course :)) and she said quite clearly "No," and held on tighter. We laughed, she said it so seriously.