Saturday, September 11, 2010

Family Visit

Today is the last day of a weeklong visit from Papa, Grandma and Tim. The week went too fast, as always, but we managed to explore some of Seattle and Bainbridge Island. Everything we did was a first for all of us, since Em and I are so new to the area.

I scrolled through the photos from the week and picked out a few for the blog. Here MRD is giving his deer-in-headlights look:
MRD and Uncle Tim share a lunch date:
And here is a great outfit that Grandma and Papa brought from Syracuse. I thought this was a good Charlie Brown face from MRD: "Good grief!"
I love how blue his eyes are when he wears a blue outfit. This one came from his friend/future roommate Carter in Chicago; thanks, Carter!
On the ferry between Bainbridge Island and Seattle:
Here is a picture of Sue in front of Rachel the Pig at the entrance of Pike Place. Rachel is a real piggybank that has collected over $110K for the market since she was installed in 1986.
Grandma and Papa were on a mission this week to find MRD a winter hat. Here is the winner, which should keep his head dry and warm all summer. He will probably be wearing it in many photos we take this coming winter.
Yesterday we took MRD to the pool on the island so he and I could splash around together. Here is his arrival; he looks a bit tentative.
But once in the water he felt right at home, as you'll see in the two videos below. He and Em are starting a mommy-and-me swim class soon, so hopefully we'll soon have more to report from the pool. Here is also a video of some of MRD's recent talk-talk.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Around Seattle

First, let me wish a very happy birthday to my dad and Michael's poppy! I wish we could be in Raleigh today for the ribs that were served!

Also before I show some pictures from a recent day in Seattle, here is a picture of the downstairs of the cottage after we finally moved in all of our furnishings and got organized. This picture is taken from the doorway leading into the main room: on the left you can just see our desk, and in front of you is the futon. The double doors ahead open into a closet that also has the hot water heater. Through the door and on the right is a bathroom, and at the end of the hall is the laundry room where there are numerous boxes waiting to be unpacked. Next week I'll post some pictures of the upstairs.

Our big news this week is the visit of Emily's parents and brother to Seattle. They arrived late on Saturday night and spent that night in a hotel near the airport, since they likely would not have made the last Saturday ferry to Bainbridge Island.

Emily, Michael and I ferried over first thing Sunday morning, picked them up at their hotel and headed to Seattle. Our first stop was Seattle University. Last Thursday, we took a huge load of books to my office; the van was so full that its backend sagged. We even spun out one time at a stoplight where we were stopped on an incline. I was afraid we were going to roll back into the car behind us, but once I got the van into a lower gear we were all right.

That was most of my books and things, but I still had a few more that we dropped off this morning.

Here is the nameplate beside my office door. No idea who Robert Grimm is, but I'll look him up.

Here is the office in its primal state. I'll take another picture once all the books are shelved and I've given it a little TLC. I did get to pick the color of the accent wall; naturally, I chose Carolina Blue. (By the way, what a heartbreaker for the Heels last night! I hope the shady characters in the football program get what they deserve, but there's still plenty of hardworking players who deserve a rewarding season. I would have loved to see them win last night.)

You see Michael made himself right at home in the office.

Right beside Hunthausen Hall, where the School of Theology and Ministry is housed, in the chapel. It is a fascinating building that I'll save for its own blog entry. Until then here is a picture of it.

From campus, we made our way to Pike Place and got some lunch. Even though Emily fed Michael his lunch while we waited for our food, he watched with great interest (envy?) as the grown-ups ate.
After walking all around Pike Place, we hopped back on the ferry and headed home. Here is a picture of Emily's parents, Mike and Sue aka Papa and Grandma, with the skyline receding in the background. (You can just make out the Space Needle on the left.)
And here we are, just before Michael spit up on me. Back inside the ferry, Michael enjoyed sitting with his Uncle Tim.
Mike, Sue and Tim will be here for this whole week, so we'll definitely have lots more adventures to report.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Final Approach

At last we've arrived in Seattle and have time to update the last few days. Last Saturday we made our way through Montana, aka the former stomping grounds of Uncle Nick, who worked with the Bureau of Land Management in Missoula and later at the Big Sky Resort. We stopped by the resort and with some cell phone navigation from Nick, we took a tour of the area, including his aquiline old apartment.
Emily and I were impressed with the size of Big Sky Resort: there were dozens of hotels, condos, etc., and ski runs everywhere. It was an enormous operation.

We continued on to Missoula and visited some friends, Kelli and Andrew Larson, who have two daughters, Averi, 3, and Sophie, 1. Emily and Kelli worked together at Loyola for a few years until she and Andrew moved back to their homestate of Montana two years ago. We had a terrific time with them and their kids. Alas, we didn't take any photos of them, but I did find online this picture of Andrew from when he kicked the game-winning field goal in the 1995 I-AA championship game. Go Griz!
From Missoula we continued to Lewiston, ID, where we visited some of Emily's cousins on her dad's side. We stayed with her cousin Betty, who spoiled us with fresh huckleberries and peaches and wonderful hospitality. We had a wonderful visit with her. When were first arrived, Betty's daughter Nancy was also there with her husband and two kids, Gabe and Joe. We enjoyed catching up with them, and they enjoyed meeting Michael.
After two nights in Lewiston, we were up early for the last leg of our journey to Seattle. We were surprised to find that eastern Washington is not verdant at all. The farmlands on either side of the highway were sun-baked and occasionally sun-burned. It wasn't until we reached the Cascade Mountains that the rain began, and it lasted the entire climb through the mountain range, which meant I had to keep my eyes close on the road without taking in the beautiful evergreens around us. The rain let up as we neared Seattle, and once we got to the ferry station it was a light but steady drizzle. We found our ferry without much problem...
...but we missed the 1:oo ferry by just a few minutes! That gave us an hour before the 2:00 and a chance to stretch our legs and look out over the Puget Sound. Michael was definitely happy to be out of his car seat!
Soon we caught sight of the 2:00 ferry approaching the dock.
The upside of missing the 1:00 ferry is that we were first in line for the 2:00. We pulled forward all the way to the bow. Here is the view of Puget Sound through our windshield. On a clear day Bainbridge Island would be totally visible; todayyou could just make out it contours.
Then finally after thirteen days on the road and over three thousand miles we arrived at 9386 Ferncliff Avenue and found our PODS container waiting for us with everything more or less in place -- and also dry!
Here is the cottage we'll be living in. It's one of five properties on the compound. Once we get things settled, I'll post some photos of the interior, but right now it's total mess.
The owners of the compound and all its properties live in a house that overlooks the Puget Sound and the city of Seattle. Their yard is maybe twenty yards away from our cottage and has a fantastic view of the downtown. Emily and I walked out there again tonight to see the skyline at night and it was also a wonderful sight.