Space Needle

We arrived in Seattle (Issaquah) on Tuesday afternoon, after an early flight into Portland and a couple of hours drive north on I-5. Everything went well and the kids did another great job traveling.

The next day we met Matt in the morning for coffee...and then headed into downtown after Stacey finished up work. Although touristy, we thought it would be fun to take the kids up to the top of the Space Needle. Stacey and I had been to the top before, but that was over ten years ago. Julia was a little hesitant to go to the top once she saw how high it was in person. She quickly got over it and we all enjoyed the views from the top.

The monorail that runs from the Space Needle to downtown, which was also built for the World's Fair, dropped us off near Pike Place Market.  The kids loved riding the monorail above traffic.  Neither liked the smell of the fish market much, but did enjoy the show.

A Couple of Funny Videos

From the resident court jester:

The Dad Life

It's the Dad Life in pictures...

- Having a cupcake picnic with Rebecca and her daughters...and then the neighborhood kids who flocked our way once the scent of frosting permeated the air. #cupcakefeedingfrenzy
- Jonathan feeling liberated in his favorite pair of Mom's ankle boots.
- Jonathan demonstrating the proper coloring posture and attire.
- At some point, you just have to stop what you're doing and rest...or, pass out like you're at a college frat party.
- Two pictures of Freckles getting ready to eat her dinner (or handouts).
- A great picture of 3/4 the family at Vail.  This one's a keeper.

Vail Oktoberfest

It's too bad I had a cold and the kids were just recovering from one.  Otherwise, we would have had a lot more fun. Thanks to Grandpa and Grandma for allowing us to come up and celebrate Grandpa's birthday.

Miscellaneous Pictures

Jonathan having fun at the carnival, Jonathan's first report card and both kids modeling their new clothes from Papa and Nana.

The Big Leagues

Julia is now in the "big leagues", being a "big first grader" and all.  Someone at work joked about this the other day, but the funny thing is, Julia really is taking school very seriously. We haven't specifically said anything to direct her behavior, other than praise, so we think it's just her personality.

It's fun to see her personality develop.  We already knew she was very smart, and we all knew that she's pretty specific about what she wants, or likes certain things to in order. Looking back at play times where she's created specific scenarios and has told each person what to do and what to say, seems to support how she's approaching school.

A few days ago I was coming downstairs at the same time that Julia had woke up.  She stumbled out of her room, half asleep, rubbed her eyes, and the first words out of her mouth were, "Dad, can you help me with my homework?"  A couple of days later she seemed worked up about something, so we asked her about it before breakfast.  She was having a spelling test that morning and was worried about it.  The thing is, she had already nailed all ten of the words on the test.  She was worried about the EXTRA CREDIT words, not the real test.  So, before we left for school we practiced the extra credit words and she got them all correct.

We're starting to get back her homework and schoolwork and she's basically getting 100% scores on everything, with a few exceptions. In some areas she's close to moving on to the next grade level. I've always said that I'm never going to worry about her as she gets older when it comes to these sorts of things, and this post is an example why.  If anything, we're going to have rein her in and encourage her to stop and smell the dandelions on the playground.

Devil's Head Hike

Julia and I went hiking together on Labor Day. It was her first real hike, about 3 miles round trip to the top of Devil's Head and the fire lookout station.  The lookout is the only one of seven origin front range stations still in service - at almost one hundred years old, it's a unique piece of history and fun experience for people of all ages. It's the only lookout station in Colorado staffed by the National Forest Service and is on the National Register of Historic Places. There's an interesting article about it here.

For Julia and I, the drive and hike took most of the day.  There were tons of people there, and we had to stop an climb on every big rock or play "pine cone golf" with Julia's hiking pole every few feet, or stop and goof around about something. One of her favorite games was for me to stop and wait for her to hike ahead, wait for her thumbs up, then run to catch up with her before she could get away.  Large, Dad assisted jumps off of the steps were also pretty fun.

Julia did great and had a lot of fun.  At the end she was able to get her picture taken with Ranger Bill, a semi-celebrity and veteran of the lookout of over 30 years. If you think your office has a good view, it's probably not better than his 100 mile view in every direction.

School and Run Fun

A couple of school papers...Julia likes Fancy Nancy because reading it with Stacey at night on her bed is "fancy".  Also, her self-portrait.  And here is Julia and Jonathan at grandpa's latest race...running a lap around the park and then cheering him on at the finish.