Labor Day Trip to Seattle

We just got home from a long weekend visit to Seattle, WA to see our sister- and brother-in-law, Michelle and Kurt, and their new baby Madelyn. What a fun time we had! I must say that Ben was exceptional on the plane and was so well-behaved. On another note, Philadelphia Airport continues to rank at the bottom of our list, due to it's "stellar" on-time performance. Yes, our flight on Thursday night was delayed for 2 hours - and did I mention that we sat on the runway for this time? There were 30, yes THIRTY, planes ahead of us in the taxi line for departure. Oh, and US Airways shut our route down someplace between Philly and Seattle. So, our flight quickly became 6-1/2 hours long and Ben still did great. Then, when we got to Seattle, it took us another 2 hours to get our rental car....so, we ended up getting to Kurt and Michelle by 1AM their time, 4AM east coast time. Of course we expected Ben to be a bear by this point, after traveling for over 12 hours, but the minute he met their Yorkshire Terrier, Griffie, he was completely revived as toddler and dog chased each other around the living room with no promise of going to bed anytime soon!! Of course we made him go to sleep, though, and he quickly fell into the Land of Nod...

It had been two years since we were in Seattle so it was nice to visit everyone again, to see Kurt and Michelle's new place and most importantly to meet Maddie. What a cutie and such a beautiful little niece! She's nine weeks old now and is such a little peanut, just over 10 pounds. She has the healthy head of hair, big lips and huge eyes that Ben also has so Michelle and I agree that you can tell the kids are cousins...

Here Ben is looking VERY big next to tiny Maddie. He is making his usual funny faces for the camera and Madelyn is watching him!


Aunt Chel holding Maddie while Ben offers her one of her stuffed animals. It was so nice to see what a good helper Ben was with Maddie and that for the most part, he seemed either indifferent to her and continued to play on his own or he seemed concerned when she was crying or upset. Hopefully it will be the same behavior when there is a new baby of our own in our house next spring!

Here are a few random Madelyn shots that we could not resist taking since she looks so cute all the time! She's a little sleepyhead and loves to catch her zzz's but she also loves her bathtime.

Our first full day in Seattle we went shopping around town and then made dinner at home that night. Here, we are at the indoor playground at the shopping center. It started to rain while we were shopping and since it is a mainly outdoor shopping center, we thought Ben would like to spend some time playing while we waited for the rain to let up.

His latest obsession is the slide. He loves it but will usually go down the "wrong" way, on his tummy. I think it's easier for him to position himself that way once he climbs to the top instead of having to maneuver his way onto his behind. Whatever keeps him happy! Here, though, his daddy had positioned him on the slide the proper way this time.



The next day we went downtown to the pier and walked around Seattle for the afternoon. We ate some clam chowder, visited Pike Place Market and just strolled around town enjoying the beautiful weather. Afterwards, we went to a nearby park to relax and so that Ben could play on the equipment. He loved it!

On our way out for the afternoon in our PT Cruiser convertible. Ben loved riding with the wind and would point to the roof of the car and motion for us to put the top down whenever we got into the car! Of course we couldn't resist putting him in his tropical print button down and khaki shorts one day since he looked so cool in our sports car. He pointed at everything up above and saw all of the airplanes leaving the airport as we drove through town.


We had lunch on the pier and Ben loved the clam chowder in a bread bowl at famous Ivar's. Yum!



Front row view at the famous Pike Place Market, where the employees literally throw enormous fish from person to person as they package them. It's always amusing! Of course Ben seemed to like the large dead fish on ice the best and kept making his fish sounds as he watched them. I wonder if he knew they were dead!!??


We passed by this fountain downtown near the Seattle Aquarium and Ben was highly amused! He loved leaning over and splashing in the water and had the time of his life throwing coins into the fountain (over and over again since Daddy and Uncle Kurt kept retrieving them for him!).


Making a wish on his penny!



This is one of my and Michelle's favorite photos from the weekend: the two dads with the kiddies. Maddie had a great nap while being pushed around the city and Ben loved sitting on his dad's shoulders. He was singing, pointing to everything and making siren sounds whenever we passed a vehicle that made any sort of beep, whir, siren, etc. So funny!

Here are some photos from the park we went to that is nearby to Kurt and Michelle's house. It has a brand new playground that was fun for Ben....and everyone, apparently!

Ben and his daddy on the swings.

Ben having a grand time for himself on the equipment. He kept running from piece to piece, not knowing which to hit next. The slide seemed to be the biggest hit again!

Going down the slide on his tummy!

Even the "big boys" had a fun time at the park seeing who could climb the highest or spin the fastest on the equipment.

Maddie is nice and content in the sunshine!

She loves her mommy!

On Sunday we went to church in the morning and then after the kids napped we went downtown again to the Seattle Center and out to dinner.

Here Maddie poses with her daddy in her first ever Sunday church dress! She looked beautiful and even has long, flowing tresses to put barrettes in already. What girl wouldn't be jealous of her?

So pretty... she looks just like her mom's baby pictures!

Here's Ben also sporting his Sunday finest as we head off to church. What a handsome guy! Since we were on the west coast, we let him wear his sandals with his khaki pants to sport a more casual look :).

Later in the afternoon at the Seattle Center. Ben is taking his very first carousel ride and he is a bit unsure about it. I'll have to take him to the mall near our house for some practice...

What a good time Ben is having after warming up a bit...but not as good a time as Daddy and Uncle Kurt!

We also all took Maddie and Ben on their first ferris wheel ride. Maddie slept through hers and Ben didn't seem too excited about it...but the adults had fun. I don't think I have been on a ferris wheel since the town carnival in high school!

Our last night in Seattle :(. I couldn't resist buying the kids matching outfits - girl and boy version - so here they are posing together. We're lucky we got a few of them where at least one child is not fussing since it was very late and they both were very tired.

Ben learned that Maddie likes her pacifier when she starts to cry so here he is giving it to her. He really was a very good big cousin while we were there.

Settling down for bed with their moms...

We left this morning for home and had very smooth travels. Thank God for that after Thursday's fiasco! The flight left on time from Seattle, Ben was great on the plane - napped, stayed occupied for the most part, ate well. We couldn't have asked for a better trip home, actually.

Here Andrew and Ben watch the planes and all of the airport action in the terminal. The pilots in the nearest plane were all waving at Ben since he was obviously VERY excited to be seeing so much action and kept waving, pointing and knocking on the windows! Such firsthand action for a little guy...