Page of Our Lives

I just finished my last art assignment for my Summer art class.

This weekend, Sophie and I drove to Portland to visit Linda, Kelly, Dan and Charlie. I “thought” Sophie might take a nap in the car, or when we arrived in Portland, but she didn’t sleep a wink. She was too busy trying on her hats, reading books, and looking at the cars on the road. When we arrived on Friday, we visited with Linda and had dinner at Red Robin. Sophie loved her hamburger and french fries! I put her to sleep at 8pm. She was wiped out from such a busy day. On Saturday, we had breakfast at Heidi’s. Charlie shared his bacon with Sophie. We headed to “brown” park for some playtime for the cousins. Charlie calls it “brown” park because it has a huge brown play structure, like a castle. It’s a really great park. As we drove up to it, Sophie said “park”. We had a fun time running around and playing in the castle. As we were leaving, she said “Bye-Bye, Dan.”

We drove back home on Saturday afternoon. We were missing Tim/Daddy. It was so nice to get home and relax and get Sophie back on schedule. Sunday, we decided to go to 611 Supreme for breakfast. We haven’t been there since Sophie was about 8 months old. Our favorite server Angie (aka Katie) was there and hooked us up with some awesome Le Jardin crepes. Sophie had a fruit filled crepe, big surprise.

I have been a fan of the Blue Angels for as long as I can remember. My Mom and Dad would take us to the Tucson air-shows and watch the Thunderbirds and the Blue Angels. We started moving around a lot, so we weren’t able to go to the air-shows as often. There were years were I didn’t see them. When I moved to Seattle I was so excited to find out the Blue Angels perform every year during SeaFair.

Yesterday, we celebrated SeaFair with friends and family. On Saturday, Tim, Sophie and I went to the Scheff’s for a barbecue and to see the Blue Angels perform. We had a great time. Sophie played with Ruby and a new friend, Gavin. After the party, we headed to Lisa’s house where we met up with her, Kelly, Dan, Linda and Charlie. We drove up to Whale Tail park in West Seattle and picked up some fish & chips for dinner. After dinner, Tim stayed home with Sophie, while the rest of us went to the outdoor movie “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”. Before the movie started, Charlie was doing an interpretive dance at the front of the crowd. He had everyone laughing and clapping. We left before the movie ended, because it was really cold and we were all beat from a busy day.

Today, we had breakfast at Charleston Cafe, stopped off at Ercolini Park and then we were off to the Museum of Flight (at Boeing Field) to watch the Blue Angels take off. We bought a few souvenirs and were able to see a bit of the program. They usually fly over Lake Washington, so we could see them in the distance. After the show, we met back at our house and had lunch and played before the Haskins/Adamson crew headed back to Portland.

See you next year, Angels!

We had such a fun filled weekend! On Friday, Sophie and I met Tim, Steve and Kay at the Bellevue Art Festival. We saw some wonderful art, sculptures and photographs. Steve bought us a beautiful drawing of a child that looks a lot like Sophie. Thanks, Steve! I was very impressed with all of the artists that took part in the festival. Good job, guys!

Saturday, we drove up to North Bend to check out the Microsoft Company Picnic. WOW. MS really puts on a production. They had Pony rides, bouncy rides, pool tables, put-put, music, magic, massages, airbrush tattoos, petting zoo, air-robots (where you put on an inflatable robot costume and bounce around and try to push the other robot down), a toddler area with tons of playhouses and trikes. We spent most of our time in the toddler area with Sophie. We also visited the animals in the petting zoo, but she was a little distracted. We worked up an appetite and headed over to one of the 25 different food booths. They had something for everyone. I had a pork sandwich, Sophie had a hamburger, and Tim had an asian chicken sandwich. For dessert…strawberry shortcake, of course. They also had a radio flyer wagon the size of a small car, filled with ice and soda. After a few hours, we were all ready to go home. Sophie fell asleep about 5 minutes after we drove off.

On Sunday, we hosted a little bbq for a few friends and family. Lisa came by with some olives (and kisses for Sophie), Steve and Kay brought a yummy eggplant dip, a potato strata and a new little adirondack chair for Sophie; Ali, Ed and Ruby (18 months old) made some awesome caramelized onion dip and chips; I made lamb and chicken kebabs and for dessert, s’mores bars. We enjoyed ourselves on the deck, while Ruby and Sophie ran around taking laps around the house and the deck. They stopped on occasion for a little snack or a lite book reading to relax. Those girls sure were fun to watch! At the end of the night, as the girls were starting to crash, they gave each other a sweet little kiss on the lips. Sophie was asleep moments after the guests left. Good times were had by all.

On Sunday, we went for a hike with Steve and Kay (aka Poppa and Nana). We strapped Sophie in a backpack and took a walk along the Snoqualmie River at Olallie State Park and found a nice place for a picnic lunch. After lunch, Nana found some wild huckleberries and wild blueberries for Sophie. It was a beautiful day!

On Saturday, after trying to get Sophie down for a morning nap without success, we decided to check out the Hi-Yu parade. It was about one mile from our house, on California Ave. The first part of the parade was for the kids. We strapped a balloon to her stroller and joined the kids in the parade. We saw lots of great “floats” (wagons dressed as pirate ships or fishtanks). Many of the kids were dressed as cartoon characters or princesses. Sophie enjoyed walking with them and chasing balloons and bubbles. After the kiddie parade was finished, we waited for the Grand Parade to begin. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to keep Sophie awake. We gathered up our things and got her home for her nap. It was a fun morning!

Also, I’d like to wish my Mom a Happy Birthday!!!

Each month I will be compiling a list of my favorite things about Sophie, and things she loves. Here’s the list for July.

- Her bright smile and giggle

- Rocking her to sleep in my arms

- Watching her dance and spin in a circle

- Seeing her face light up when Tim or I walk into a room

- The sound of her sweet voice

- Her wrinkled nose when she’s being silly

- The way she bobs her head around if you ask her “who’s silly Sophie?”

- How she listens when you ask her to do something “Bring the drum to Mommy” “Put the ball into the toybox”

- How she gives sweet kisses. To us, or to the photo of a crying baby, or the puppy or kitty.

Sophie’s favorite list:

- Animals, but especially kitty cats and puppy dogs

- Boti (her washcloths) - any terry cloth fabric

- Mashups: frozen peas with spaghetti; frozen peas and cottage cheese; if it doesn’t work alone, put something else on it!

- Words: mommom, daddad, ball, baby, puppy, no, go, bye-bye, dee-dee, baba (boti)

- Signs: Finished, eat, hat, more, cat, dog, horse, thank-you, bird, read/book

- Music: 80’s genre (David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Bangles, Duran Duran and Madonna), jazz, classical, big beats

- Animal sounds: bird/crow (caw-caw), dog (bow-bow), bear (rawr), fish (smacks her lips), sheep/goats (ba-ba), lion/tiger/panther/large cats in-general… (soft little rawr)

- Body parts she can find: ears, head, mouth, nose, eyes, hands, feet, tummy, belly button and teeth

- Songs: “Baa Baa Black Sheep;” “Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes;” “Pat-a-cake;” “Open Shut Them”

- Books: I Like Cats; Hop, Hop, Hop; First Words; The Wheels on the Bus

- Nap/Bedtime books: Tumble Bumble; Bed, Bed, Bed; Goodnight Moon

- Food: Berries (especially strawberries and blueberries), Cherrios, spaghetti (from the Thriftway deli), dehydrated apples/berries, watermelon and pizza.

- Drink: Water, orange juice, and yogurt smoothies

Lisa came by last night for dinner (grilled steak, corn with mayo & fox point seasoning, and creamed leeks). She watched Sophie while Tim and I went to see The Dark Knight. It was a great movie, filled with lots of action and special effects. Heath was an awesome joker! We give it a thumbs up!

Tonight, I went to Ama Ama, by the request of some moms I know. I rarely go out. So, I thought…’what the heck! Sophie’s asleep, Tim’s got some work to do, I’ll head out and have a few drinks and make some new friends’. I arrive and no one is there. Am I being Punk’d? Nope. Just all by myself. While taking advantage of my ‘alone’ time, I decide to have a cider and the Chili Morita Lamb Sliders (grilled ground lamb, Muenster cheese, stone ground mustard and a chili morita sauce on a brioche bun) and panko breaded onion rings. Mega-good. Maybe next time I’ll enjoy a night out with some friendly companions.

I had a craving today for a Skillet Street burger (grilled kobe “style” beef, cambazola, bacon jam, arugula, brioche) and poutine (herby gravy, white cheddar, herbs). But, our yummy lunch came to a grinding halt as soon as we pulled up. There was about 30 people standing in line. Instead, we headed to Thriftway for Turkey and Havarti sandwiches.