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...

Little Helper

Ben has become a little helper over the past week or two and just LOVES helping out with any task you assign him - cleaning, organizing, helping with Barney - you name it, he does it! He has become excellent at following directions and just toddles around acting so important and busy when he is in the middle of one of his tasks.

Today we organized the spice cabinet since it was in dire need of sorting and Ben likes anything with lots of pieces so I knew that he would love helping out. Before I knew it, I was ousted from the scene and Ben took over the task!

Here, Mr. Busy is lining everything back up in the cabinet.

Hmmm...so what next? I guess it depends on what I can reach!

Ah-ha, I know the perfect place for this Karo syrup!

So are you just going to stand there and take pictures all day, Mom, or are you going to help me out?

CHL Systems Company Picnic

Today we had Andrew's company's annual picnic and what a beautiful day it was - sunny, high 70s, no humidity. They hold the event every year at family-owned Hemlock Springs Farm, towards the Poconos and about 75 minutes away from us. It's a drive but it is always worth it since they do a really nice job planning a fun day. There is always great food and activities and the kids all love running around the 300 acre farm and swimming in the lake.

They had a moonbounce for the kids to go on and Ben was enthralled with it...until we tried to put him inside of it! Lately, he thinks he is about 6 or 7 years old and is always following the "big kids" around, trying to be included in their games. We've had people in the church nursery tell us that he likes to hang with the older kids and I have noticed it on the playground. Yesterday at the playground he decided to just join himself into a game of tag that a group of 5-8 year olds were playing. Nobody excluded him and I honestly think Ben thought he was part of the action! The same thing happened at the moonbounce today. He was laughing and running around the outside as the big kids jumped in and out of it. But he chickened out when we tried to put him inside (even with only one other baby in there!). Next year...

Watching the kids playing through the opening.


Checking out the slide.

Ben had the greatest time running around with the other kids playing with colored toy balls.


Here he is watching Andrew enter the frisbee throwing contest. Andrew ended up winning some cash for being the best frisbee thrower of the day!


This year they had hot air balloon rides for anyone who was daring enough to take one. We didn't end up going on because (1) the line was long by the time we got there, (2) it seemed a very rough landing and I concluded that this activity might be on the list of no-no's for pregnant women and (3) Ben was terrified of it (as most of the babies were). It was neat to watch, though.

What the HECK is that loud noise?!?! (as the balloon is fired up...it is louder than you'd think!)

Get me outta here before that thing gets me!!
Alright, it's not so bad when the daddy is there to protect you...

Coming Soon!

Yes, we will have another March baby next year and Ben could have a brother or sister for a birthday present since I am due on March 24th. Very exciting! We saw the doctor for the first time this morning and everything looks great. We saw the heartbeat and things are progressing as they should be. Ben was a little perplexed at the strange "show" we were watching, being the pensive child that he is. He was very seriously staring at the ultrasound machine wondering what it was...


As far as my health, I am feeling pretty under-the-weather right now but nothing that isn't manageable. I am pretty nauseous all day long but as long as I eat something every hour and a half or so, I can deal with it. Just the usual early pregnancy symptoms - fatigue, nausea, food aversions. I am also showing much faster this time - as expected - and started wearing maternity pants this week so that I am more comfortable. If I can avoid it, I'll stay out of photos for the next 7 months :) (sorry, everyone, pregnancy photos are my nemesis).

And now for the important question - will we be finding out what we are having? The answer is...OF COURSE! This will probably be the end of October/beginning of November. We will tell everyone once we know but may decide to keep everyone is suspense with the name we choose again :).

Table Manners

We have diligently been working on table manners with our little barricuda for the past few months and just recently has Ben started to really want to use his utensils most of the time when eating. He sometimes has to be reminded to "use his fork or spoon" but he seems to enjoy the praise he gets when he does. Of course this is a big step in Ben's table manners but it also means we have reverted to messier and slower mealtimes again until he really gets the hang of it!

Yum, yogurt!

Big Trucks

This morning at the park, Ben was in for a special surprise - a crew with a dump truck and a backhoe were doing work right near the picnic area where we stopped for our snack so we had front row seats for the action. He was so intent on watching the big trucks that he barely wanted his animal crackers (unusual for Ben!).

Michele's Wedding

On July 22nd I was in my friend Michele's wedding in NJ. She and I have been friends since 1994 so it was so nice to be able to be part of her special day. She and Gary were married at St. Elizabeth's Church in Wyckoff, NJ and had the reception at Nanina's on the Park in Belleville, NJ. The whole day was beautiful! Of course we forgot our camera for the wedding (oops...) so I only was able to get the photos that the other bridesmaids took.

Here are the girls in the limo on the way to the church.


Here are Michele and Gary outside of the church after the ceremony.

And here they are at the reception:
One photo of Andrew and me at the reception.

Finally, the parents of the bride - Bob and Gilda - getting down to the band!