Sunday Chillin'

Yesterday afternoon Jay was being so cooperative so I did an impromptu photo shoot of him in the leather chair. Here are the photos that resulted.

Later that afternoon, all on his own, he stepped on the nursing stool and climbed up and into the rocking recliner. He grabbed a favorite book from the lamp table beside it, opened the book and started to enjoy it. I wouldn't have believed it had I not witnessed it happen. What a big boy he is getting to be already! Here are some pictures and a video to document his new independent self.

The Zoo

Yesterday Matt's sister Shawn, brother-in-law Mike, and our nephews (Jay's first cousins) Alex and Joshua came to visit for the weekend! We had so much fun with them!

While Jay took his morning nap yesterday I packed all of us a picnic lunch. When Jay woke up we all left to go to the zoo. We took our picnic lunch inside the zoo and found a table and promptly had a bite to eat before venturing off to see all the animals.

From Left to Right Counter Clockwise: Jay, Alex, Joshua, Mike, Shawn, and Matt

Then we set off to see....

Penguins

Tiger

Sleeping Grizzly Bear

Bald Eagles

Hippos

Giraffe

and many, many, many more animals

Here are a couple photos I took of the boys.

Jay and Matt

(Jay is teething - popping in a new tooth almost every day, including his one year molars)

Alex and Josh with the lion statue

After the zoo we stopped at Cold Stone Creamery for an ice cream treat followed by dinner at Panera Bread. We were all BEAT at the end of our day, but we had a great time.

We all met up for church this morning and then enjoyed lunch together before they got on the road to go home.

Mike, Shawn, Alex, and Josh - thanks for making the trek up here this weekend! We so enjoy spending time with all of you and we're already looking forward to our next planned get-together!

Trip to North Carolina!

This past weekend we took a trip to North Carolina to see and visit with friends! So fun! Matt was able to meet with a few clients, too - icing on the cake!

Jay loved watching the planes and the airport ground vehicles move about as we waited to board the plane.

We took a non-stop flight to Atlanta, GA and then rented a car and drove 3-1/2 hours to our friends' house just outside Asheville, North Carolina. We left our house at 5:00 a.m. PST and arrived at our friends' home just after 5:00 p.m. PST so suffice it to say it was a long travel day. Jay did really great on the 4-1/2 hour non-stop flight and was a pretty good traveler in the car, too. We were all tired and ready to hit the hay.

Friday morning Jay enjoyed playing with his instant friends, Cole (almost 7) and Harper (4) before we headed out for lunch and Matt's meetings with his clients. Friday evening we enjoyed a yummy spaghetti dinner, put the kids to bed, and we headed to bed shortly after (still catching up on the lack of sleep from the day before).

Saturday was such a FUN DAY! Jay woke up right on schedule (having completely and successfully converted to the 3 hour time difference), took his morning nap, and then we all headed out to see the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. If you ever are in that area it is a MUST SEE!

We arrived and went straight to the stable area to eat lunch in the stable house. The meal was incredible - very good food. The vegetables, fruit, and meat comes mostly from what they raise right there on the 8,000 acre estate. The flavor of the food was wonderful - you could tell it was fresh produce, etc.

August 14-30 they are featuring a flower carpet. Normally it is just a gravel open space, but during these two plus weeks they bring in all these flowers and lay the sod to make this beautiful garden display.





Here is the view from the far side of the flower carpet looking back at the Biltmore House. Harper and Cole are checking out the inside of this fountain.
We took a walk to explore the rose garden, greenhouses, and other gardens. Here is a picture of Matt and Jay taking a break in the shade in a gazebo-like area.
Below is a picture of the three kids together posing for a picture Joanna was taking of them.

The red and white impatience flowers were beautiful along our walk.
Jay needed a diaper change about 30 minutes into our scheduled tour through the house (which took 1-1/2 hours total and we weren't dilly dallying). Matt took him for the change (since he has visited and seen the Biltmore several times) and found it easier to just enjoy the beautiful day outside. Jay especially loved playing in a fountain while waiting for us to finish the house tour. He would reach in and pull out the pennies, dimes, and nickels and hand them to Matt who would then throw them back into the fountain when Jay wasn't looking.

Jay took his afternoon nap on our way home from the Biltmore Estate. We then decided to go to a local pizza parlor for dinner. Dean, another friend and former housemate of Matt's, joined us for dinner. It was great to connect with him, too.

I had to take this picture. Jay was enthralled with this funny print on the wall of the pizza parlor. He faced it at the table where we were seated. He would throw his hand or both hands in the air and point at it making sure we all saw it. He would just stare up at it too, as evidenced in the photo below.

Loving his bites of pizza crust and bread sticks after finishing his main meal items.

After putting the kids to bed Joanna, Mark, Matt, and I stayed up late -- and I mean very late, like almost middle of the morning late -- talking and visiting up a storm. Oh the pleasures of excellent friendship and fellowship! There is nothing much better...makes us all long for heaven all the more!

Sunday morning we attended church at Covenant - the church Matt used to be an active member of when he lived in Asheville. It was great to see so many friends even though the visit was short and sweet.

We joined Mark, Joanna, Cole, and Harper back at their house for a casual lunch. Then we packed the car and headed down the road to Atlanta again.

We stopped at a Cracker Barrel restaurant for dinner. I enjoy taking the opportunity to visit that restaurant chain since we don't have them out here on the West Coast and since there was one almost every 17 miles or so, we had our pick of them. :) The food was terrific (especially the buttermilk biscuits) and it was just what we needed to finish out the hour drive to Atlanta we had left to go. I have posted a video of Jay playing with his buttermilk biscuit after finishing his meal. Watch closely at the beginning of the video - I love his little shaky shaky dance.

We stayed at a hotel Sunday night close to the airport. It made for an easier morning catching the first non-stop flight back to Seattle via AirTran. Again, Jay did really pretty great on the very long flight. Sis Molly picked us up from the airport and we enjoyed a bite of lunch with her and her boyfriend Scott before going home and settling in, unpacking, doing a load of laundry, and generally relaxing the rest of the day away.

Jay is ALMOST completely adjusted back to Pacific Time today...just an hour or so off his normal schedule, so not bad! Hooray! I didn't exactly enjoy the 4:00 a.m. wake-up call this morning but I was able to get him back to sleep after a while and he slept until 6:00. When he woke up then I could tell he was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Mark and Jo - thanks so much for allowing us to crash at your place for the long weekend. We loved every minute spent with all of you. Thank you just doesn't seem to completely and accurately express our appreciation.

Jay's First Seattle Mariners Game!

Above: Jay enjoying licking the saltiness off the peanut shell

Below: Seeing the game with PopPop and Nana

We sat in our seats for the first three innings, then we "toured" the stadium. We visited Guest Services and Jay received a commemorative certificate and a Mariner Moose baseball card (he LOVED the card).

Below are photos I took of Jay as he enjoyed some one-on-one time with PopPop while checking out his Mariners Moose card a little more.

We snacked on roasted salted peanuts and then on our walk around Safeco we enjoyed an order of Grounders Garlic Fries. M-m-m!

And the best part? The Seattle Mariners beat the New York Yankees 10 to 3! Hooray!

These last few photos show the charmer of a boy Jay is. First he is posing for PopPop in his highchair and the last photo is my favorite of Jay charming the ladies that were sitting behind us at the baseball game.

Thank you, PopPop and Nana, for traveling here to spend time with us this weekend. You spoiled us with the tree-ripened peaches from your backyard, dinner out Saturday night, and your unconditional love and care for us. We love you!!

P.S. Thanks, PopPop, for sending me many of these photos. By the way, the peaches were put to excellent use today -- I made a fresh peach pie for dinner tonight! Wow is it ever good! And we still have quite a few for fresh eating this week.

Thrills and a Spill

Late last week Jay got the bright idea to open up the big drawer on the bottom of the stove. He must have seen me open the drawer to get out my oven gloves, cookie sheets, or hot pads. He so enjoyed getting in and standing inside of it. Here are some action shots that Matt took.

He looks pretty proud of himself, don't you think?

Matt recently signed up to play soccer this Fall. The summer soccer team had a game this past Wednesday night so we decided to go and check it out. Matt was able to sub in for a few minutes of play time. Here is a picture of him in action. He is in the white shirt, blue shorts, and white soccer socks.

Jay enjoyed playing on the sidelines during the soccer game. He doesn't know how to kick the soccer ball yet (he isn't quite coordinated enough yet since he just started walking two months ago), but we'll continue working on the that. In the meantime he loves to pick up the ball and throw it/roll it around. I think this is the start of true love for soccer perhaps.

I'm sure you are wondering why I took the following picture. Well, there is a story behind this scenario. Imagine Jay with the watering can in his left hand and his right hand and leg on the toy push car. And notice the toy push car has WHEELS. Yes, you guessed it...the toy car moved on him unexpectantly and Jay hit the deck (literally) face first.

Now Jay has a scratched up and bruised face from his spill. You can't quite make it out in this picture below but he has a small red mark in the middle of his forehead, and you can see the surface scratches on his nose, the large scrape just under his nose, and another scratch burn on his chin. He cried a little, but really not very long for the looks of these injuries. I pressed a cold washcloth on the wounds to clean them up and dabbed a tissue on the nose/lip injury until it stopped bleeding. By the time I was using the tissue on him he had stopped crying. I'm praying for quick healing this week since we are traveling next weekend. People will wonder what kind of parent I am for allowing my cute little guy to get so "beat up". Oh well!

Yesterday afternoon I had a hair appointment and because my sister Molly will be starting up the school year again in the next couple of weeks (she is a high school teacher) and it worked with her schedule, I scheduled a date night with her for Matt and me. Molly came over for dinner and then Matt and I stole away for a wonderful evening. We saw the new Julie & Julia movie. We really enjoyed the movie and the time away from our parental responsibilities.

Meanwhile, Jay had a GREAT time with Aunt Molly. Molly brought her camera along and took these videos of Jay playing with a soft, cushy ball. This is his very favorite activity. He loves throwing balls and chasing after them and doing it all over again. As Mom I especially enjoy the sound of the pitter patter of his feet on the floor. (And who doesn't enjoy the laughter of their child? What a sweet sound!)

Thanks again for babysitting last night Aunt Molly! All three of us really appreciated it.

PopPop and Nana are coming to visit this weekend (hooray!) so I'll have more photos to post on Monday!

The Blue Angels

It is Seafair Weekend which means the hydroplane racers and the (Navy) Blue Angels are in Seattle!

We enjoyed lunch with our good friends, Mark and Rachel, and walked from Rachel's condo to the I-90 bridge deck to watch the Blue Angels perform. It was a terrific air show again this year. In fact, we liked it better this year than last year. It seemed like they flew close to us a little more often.

Jay clung to me when the planes flew over us (he was a bit scared of the jet noise), but I watched him watch the planes fly by us many times after I pointed them out to him. I wouldn't say he was exactly "excited" about the air show, but he did great (no crying and no complaining). He just got a bit warm after being out in the sun for 30+ minutes since we were just standing there or he was sitting in his stroller (highs in the upper 80s today). To help with that we offered him frequent drinks of water. We were all slathered in sunscreen today to combat experiencing sunburns and we were successful!

On the walk home we meandered by a senior living facility that had these beautiful flower baskets and a nice area to sit outside and relax on cushy chairs in the shade. We did just that and had a nice visit and enjoyed the beautiful day today.

I'll end this post with some comparison photos...

The following two photos were taken on Saturday, August 2, 2008 (when Jay was 2 months old)

And here is a family photo from today, Saturday, August 1, 2009

(Jay is 14 months old tomorrow)

We hope everyone is having a terrific summer!!