Sounders!

As a totally awesome side perk to my job, I skipped a good portion of the work day today and took everyone to hang out with the Sounders instead! What did this entail you ask? Well, here's Clint Dempsey playing a game of keep-away:


Here's Vivian, totally unimpressed:


Here's Theo and Vivian with Clint Dempsey (#2), Marco Pappa (#10), Chad Marshall (#14), and Osvaldo Alonso (#6):


Here's Theo with a Clint Dempsey autograph on his soccer ball (conveniently, Red Apple gave both kids soccer balls four days ago!):


Here they are with Obafemi Martins (#9):




Here's Gonzalo Pineda (#31), Lamar Neagle (#27), Marcus Hahnemann (#1), Josh Ford (#29), and Kenny Cooper (#33):


And of course Stefan Frei (#24):


Near at the end, Theo did a little "kick-around" and got some 1-on-1 time with Damion Lowe (#31):


And he scored a goal on Dylan Remick (#15):


Finally, since this was made possible by my job, I should mention we are hiring software engineers (and related fields). Get in touch.

Blueberry Farm and Jonah's Birthday

Last weekend we went blueberry picking at the Bellevue Blueberry Farm. We picked for an hour and gathered 6 pounds -- although the kids pretty much ate blueberries at a constant rate of about 1 per second, so probably 3,600 berries apiece.





After they had their fill of blueberries, we snuck out the back onto some trails, one of which led to a river with a dock.


Birthday fun!


Finally, here's a brief clip of Theo assembling a cake out of the sticky foam. He was surprisingly diligent about it.

Crystal Mountain and Elsa's Pool Party

On Sunday we combined two far-away activities: riding the gondola at Crystal Mountain and Theo's coop classmate Elsa's pool party in Enumclaw. Theo very much enjoyed the gondola ride, but someone (me) had to hold his arm/hand/leg/anything the entire time. On the way down, both parents had to hold him; if either one took their hand off for a even a moment, a prolonged "HEEEEELLLLLPPPPP" was immediately announced, for the entire duration of the absence of safety.







Despite arriving 2 hours late for the pool party, we still got to experience the full joy. The water was frigid but the day was hot, so in the end it sort of balanced and the numbness faded soon after getting out. We put the kids in life jackets because the pool was an even 4' deep everywhere. It worked... okay. I don't think anyone was really thrilled although Vivian managed to float around awkwardly in a pool ring:



Theo was happiest clinging to the wall.



After food and cake and ice cream, Theo and Vivian broke in Elsa's new tricycle, mostly by Vivian pulling Theo around on it. I was surprised at how well she managed (which wasn't actually all that well) because when they switched, Theo couldn't budge it at all with Vivian on the back.

Oregon Coast Vacation

Sarah's cousin Alyssa came to visit for a week, and we spent a long weekend at Netarts, Oregon. We broke up the drive by stopping at Mt. St. Helens, which is about halfway:



We rented a house through AirBnb, which had a game room in the basement. Darts, pool, board games, and of course, shuffle board:



We visited the Blue Heron Cheese Company which had gorgeous landscaping, a fun petty farm, but only so-so cheese:



Next we paid a visit to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Terribly crowded and not particularly interesting for the kids, except for the cheese and ice cream samples.





Of course no trip to the coast would be complete without a visit to the beach, and some appropriate waterworks.





On our last day we stopped by the Tillamook Air Museum, where we got to go inside the Mini Guppy:



The museum is inside an absolutely cavernous World War II blimp hangar. Look closely -- you know those three people.



We also went inside the Cape Meares Lighthouse:



Then on our way back to Seattle we stopped in Portland where we rode the arial tram, the street car, and finally ended up at a splash fountain.



That wasn't enough so we rented a Surrey bike, stuck the kids in the front basket, sat the dog between them, and went for a two mile ride along the waterfront.

A Day at Hort

Jefferson Park is home to Seattle Parks' Horticulture division. Each year they have an open house. We've never managed to go until this year. It was impressively awesome. A large part was the lack of crowds, but the fact they had a digger, a fire truck, a bouncy house and dump trucks for the kids to climb into was fantastic. Theo and Vivian also liked the free food and free candy at each table.



See all the photos.

Victoria

Last week we took Sarah's parents to Victoria. Ultimately we wanted her mom to see Butchart Gardens and she's never gone on past visits because she gets seasick easily and there's not really a great way to get to Victoria except by ferry (or small, vaguely unstable seaplane which starts off life as a boat no less!). Typically travel to Victoria from Seattle involves either to passenger-only Victoria Clipper ferry from downtown, a three hour affair, or the Washington State Ferries route from Anacortes to Sydney, also a three hour trip. We went a somewhat unorthodox route, opting to take the 35 minute WSF ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island starting at 9:30am, drive 1.5 hours to Port Angeles, and from there take the 90 minute Black Ball ferry to Victoria arriving around 2:30pm. On the return trip we planned to take the 90 minute Schwartz Bay - Tsawwassen ferry from BC ferries and cross the border on I-5. The idea was to get on a ferry before crossing the international border each time, because we wanted to not have to worry about missing a scheduled ferry if a border crossing took longer than expected. The logistics were surprisingly complex to plan but worked out great except Vivian got seasick on the Coho (the Black Ball ferry's actual name) and threw up.


Theo sits with his grandparents on the Black Ball ferry.

We stayed at the Royal Scot in a two-bedroom suite. Sarah and I had stayed here as part of a package deal on the past trip and loved the central location and the spacious rooms, and it did not disappoint on this trip. As soon as we arrived around 3pm (just slightly past naptime), Theo unpacked and made a bed for himself:



The hotel room was at the end of a long corridor which the kids loved running down:


Vivian went down for a real nap while I took Theo out to a nearby playground:


After nap, the kids stayed in for pizza with the grandparents while Sarah and I went out to dinner and Bellinis (yum! yum!) at Milestone's. The next day, Tuesday, we started with Butchart Gardens.



They had free strollers for use, so we took one in addition to ours. It was a huge hit, and often the only way we could settle who would ride in it would be by letting Theo push Vivian in it:










No garden is complete without a carousel, and of course we had to ride it:






We also took a photo in the rose garden:


...in the same spot we took one in 2005:


Many photos were taken:


The Japanese garden was a particular favorite thanks to the myriad of streams, bridges...


...and stepping stones:


Near the end we sat on some statues while others took potty breaks:


And of course the mandatory gift shop:




After the gardens it was time again to return to the hotel for Vivian's midday nap. Theo is usually still napping once a day but he's able to skip naps so of course he didn't nap and instead we took a ride on a harbour ferry:




We went out to Fisherman's Wharf where the harbor seals are fed so much, they're reluctant to take even salmon filets:


Finally we returned to the hotel's restaurant for dinner.


After dinner, we took a 15 minute horse-drawn carriage ride. The kids were adamant about the horse they picked out:










After the kids were in bed, Sarah and I walked around town some.


The next morning we went to the Beacon Hill Petting Zoo. We arrived before it opened since we were trying to catch the opening "goat stampede" so we had some time to kill. We went across the street and saw a peacock up close:



We also fed the ducks:





We also discovered a nearby playground, complete with a little car everyone could get into!



Finally it was time for the goat stampede:







We also saw pigs:





Afterwards we went back to the hotel and dressed up in our finest finery to prepare for High Tea at the Empress Hotel:





A statue outside the Empress:



Finally, high tea itself:





















Finally it was time to take the Tsawwassen ferry back to the mainland. It's an amazing ferry: there's a playground in the waiting area, and then two separate playrooms onboard!













We finished the trip with a final stop at the Milestones near the border crossing.