Adventures with Honey and Poppy

Sadly, this morning Honey and Poppy took off from Seattle after a week of fun. As always, the visit flew by and we could hardly believe that their departure date was at hand. Overall, the weather was a mixed bag, as is common for October, so we've been told. We had a few days that were rainy, cold and raw (thank goodness Honey brought her brand new zebra-pattern rain boots), but at least two days that were beautiful fall days. Wednesday especially afforded us some wonderful views of Mount Rainier to the south and even Mount Baker to our north. Some of the highlights of the visits (or at least the occasions on which we took pictures) follow.

Of course, no trip would be complete without a trip to the pool for Michael to show off his new swimming skills.

Here's one of the floating mats they make available for babies. The little puddles that form on top of the mats are perfect for trying to get them to blow bubbles.

Later that day we went to Mercer Island where we had lunch with our friends Annie and Rob Sanford, whom Susu introduced us to. Their house looks out on Lake Washington and since it was the sunny Wednesday, it was a perfect afternoon for looking out over the lake.

Here is shot of Michael and Poppy enjoying some playtime on Thursday.

On sunny Friday we went to the Space Needle. Here are Honey, Poppy and Michael at the fountain in front. Alas, only one of these three was brave enough to ascend the Needle with yours truly.

It was Poppy of course. And once we were up top we had this terrific photo made. You may be wondering if this picture was taken at the Space Needle, how did the Needle itself wind up in the background. Let me just say that there was a little camera trickery involved that I'm not at liberty to discuss. Fortunately, the end result is a terrific and very realistic picture! Thanks, Space Needle!
Our last stop on Friday was to a pumpkin patch on Bainbridge Island. As a little background, given Michael's rather large noggin (body weight = 50th percentile; head circumference = 75th percentile!), Em and I often affectionately call Michael, "Pumpkin," "Punky," or "Mikey Mike and the Punky Bunch." So it was only appropriate to get some shots of him among the pumpkins. Luckily, he had just the outfit for the outing courtesy of Honey and Poppy.

He really liked the straw. Too much. He was so intrigued that it was impossible to get him to look up at the camera.
So naturally we picked him up before he was able to shove a handful of straw into his mouth. (As for me, same shirt as Wednesday? Most definitely. For the record, I've had this shirt since my senior year in high school, and I think it looks as good as it did in '96, or last Wednesday for that matter.)
Our last stop was to the pumpkin wagon where Michael felt right at home.

Last but not least, certain parties have requested that I mention some of the scores from the nightly games of bridge that pitted the boys against the girls. After some success on Monday night, Poppy and I ran out of luck on Tuesday. The night began auspiciously when on the opening hand I succeeded in a bold five-diamond bid for game. (Thank you, but please hold your applause until I finish the full report.) After that hand, it was all Honey and Emily, who strung together enough two-club and two-diamond bids to beat us the rest of the nights. At least, that's my version of our bridge tourney. Maybe Em will add her perspective below...

Note from Emily: No need to cheapen our victory with excess verbage. The simple fact is this: we beat our worthy opponents fair and square, and we look forward to doing so in December as well!