A Trip to OMSI

The best part of OMSI according to Jadon.

Happy Easter

Laughter

Guaranteed Pick Me Up!

Happy Birthday to Jadon!

Jadon got to spend his birthday party at his favorite play area!
The park!
Doesn't matter if it rains or shines
fun is still the same.
Cold hands and all.
Mud puddles are to be sought out and jumped in till there is no more puddle.
Swings to be swung
Jungle gyms to climb
Slides to slide

Parents huddled under the covered picnic area with all their warm attire.
Dad's chasing Finn and Jadon down, out and around.

Finn and Jadon worked together to open presents.
And that is where the team work ended.
After that it was each boy for himself
There was plenty of new toys to go around and distract

Jadon is really not into blowing out candles yet.
He knows that fires burns
His eating of cake this year is a bit more civilized -
only handfuls versus the whole piece at once!

The sun was pleased at our fun and shined on us all towards the end of the day!

On day #2 in Seattle, we followed a recommendation from a friend of mine and took a Ferry Ride to Bainbridge Island. It was a nice 30 minute ride both ways and Jadon loved it! Ian slept through it both ways so it must of been ok for him too.

We were able to see Mt Olympus and the Seattle Skyline which was nice. Once on the Island, we walked to downtown to catch a bite to eat. We took a tip from a local and ate at Doc's Marina Grill. Our meal consisted of consoling Ian, running with Jadon outside on the patio and swapping eating privileges. I wonder if Narumi is going to want children of her own after this trip. The downtown shops reminded Will and I of Carmel, high end artsy stuff. Nice artsy stuff.



On the way back to our hotel, we ended up at Pike Place again and picked up some cheese cakes for deserts. We were meeting one of my girlfriends who lives in the area and her husband. It was really good to sit and visit with them.

After that visit, Narumi and I headed out for some authentic sushi!

It was a very full day, and I apologize for going straight to sleep after that and not blogging. But trying to catch up now.

Narumi has definitely been the trooper. She is extremely patient waiting for the family to get themselves together and is genuinely enjoying her time. Together we figured out how to access the Japanese internet so she can have access to her email and local sites that she enjoys. And to help us communicate we use the aid of Google Translator. But, I am surprised on how easily my Japanese is coming back to me - and it's been 11 years since I've used it. We are getting by relatively well using a mix of Japanese and English. I have also educated her on American hospitality as in Japan it is very different.

We packed up the car and headed back to Portland on President's Day. The sky's were actually clear enough that we were able to see Mt. Ranier. Jadon continued to be excited about the BUS! TRAIN! MOTORCYLCE! We were hoping to be able to stop and show Narumi Mt. St. Helens, but the visitors centers were closed because of the holiday, so we will leave that trip for another day.

Check back in at this post, as I will add pictures later!

Happy Valentines Day

Wow!
What a day!
A good full and busy day!
Lots of work, but I would not trade the joy and delight of enjoying my family for a relaxing day on my couch.

Here we are at the start of our day. We had a busy morning getting ready, eating breakfast and finally going. It's never ceases to amaze me how I think I am all set to go, but.... wait! There's a diaper to change, a nose to wipe, and then.... Oh! Ian's hungry again. Such fun! Eventually there is nothing left to do except move.

We are standing underneath the Monorail line that goes from downtown Seattle to the Space Needle. Jadon's either looking at a

BUS! TRAIN! DOG! MOTORCYCLE!

Every where he turned there was something to get immensely excited about.

Pike Place Market.
A definite must see.
Lots of exciting fares inside and good, good food to savor.
Anything from market fare, to soaps, crafts, and clothes.

Here are the two Bower Men watching the fish throwing. Grown men throwing fish when a customer comes and buys something. The men up front throw it to the men in back who cut it and prepare it. They were even throwing live crabs! Can we say workers comp? Or who else reading this has also seen the Veggie Tales Jonah Movie? Those fish slappers!
I tried to get a picture of the fish being thrown, but this is what I got - one being caught.
If you look in the bottom right corner of this picture below, you will see a monk fish hanging over the side. Its tail is attached by a string so the workers behind the counter can pull on it. Will went down to show Jadon the fish, and wouldn't you know one of the guys had to jiggle the string! Bet they were not expecting the response they got from Jadon. Poor guy scared him, he was "all done!"
A trip to Seattle, wouldn't be a trip to Seattle if you didn't go see where it all began. The original Starbucks! (Nihon-go) No place for sitting and chatting with friends or using wifi. Just standing in line and ordering a cup of coffee. I didn't get a Starbucks here because the line was out the door. I went to another Starbucks downtown and all I can say is that I order my espresso drinks at 200 degrees because I like it HOT! And it wasn't 200 degrees. It probably was that particular Barista. I should of gotten a picture at that street corner. It's the intersection of 5th & Pine street. The place to be if you had a message to say. There were protests about the seize of the gaza strip. Doomsdayers with microphones hollering "Repent or Die!" Firemen in full gear stairclimbing up 69 flights of stairs to raise money for Leukemia/Lymphoma. A lot of activity with a greater purpose.

Here are my smiling men after filling their tunnies with some Japanese fare (Nihon shoku). There is a lack of good Japanese food in Portland so we are checking out the scene in Seattle and so far so good, as you can see.

On to our next venture of the day.
The Space Needle.
We took the Monorail there, to Jadon's delight.
Once off, he wanted "more", at that time he wasn't interested in going up.

Seattle skyline

Enjoying the sunset at the top

or just being goofy in the gift shop

It's times like these that make all the hard work worth it.

Good night (Oyasumi nasai)