Trip to Bainbridge Island

As many people who have/have had a toddler can understand, it can be challenging to go outside the house for more than a few hours. As my sisters can attest on their recent visit, Sam naps for 3 hours smack in the middle of the day. So unless I head out the door first thing in the morning, it's hard to get any adventures of significant duration. Add to that, the weather in Seattle and well, let's just say that our family has not made any outings since we moved here last July.

Enter Bainbridge Island, an idyllic, artsy, well-to-do community of about 20,000 people.

We decided to go, no matter what. Despite Sam's mid-day nap, despite the awful weather, we were going. And you know what? I think in the end, we felt all the more "Seattle" for it.

We drove our car onto the ferry and enjoyed the scenery. 

No, of course it didn't actually look like the above picture. That would be what it looks during the summer. My picture looked more like this:

                            

We headed first to the most amazing playground we've ever been to. Again, it looked nothing like this picture today. The silver lining, though, was that we had it all to ourselves on a rainy Saturday morning at 10am. The big key was bringing two sets of clothes for Sam, including waterproof shell pants. I forgot Sam's rain boots, so we lined his shoes in extra sandwich bags that were in his diaper bag. Resourcefulness!

After the park, we went to a kids museum. Sam tired himself out pushing a kids 

grocery cart around and pretending to drive this smart car:

Once Sam was napping in his stroller, Kyle and I enjoyed browsing the main drag. We had a great lunch and the walked along the waterfront nature trail.

While I don't exactly love the weather of the Pacific Northwest, I do appreciate how green everything is, even in the winter months. I think the keys to living here are being prepared for the bad weather (extra clothes, and rain shield for the stroller were key) and just getting out there no matter what. 

Sister Visit in Seattle

Sam loved the Olympic Sculpture Garden:

Diana, Laura, Sara, Sam

 Mommy and Sam watching the train from a hilltop

Sam and Mommy

Sam and Calder:

 Strolling along the waterfront:

 Diana, Mark, and Calder:

 Laura and Remo:

Laura and Remo on the Ducktour!

Seattle as seen from Lake Union on our Duck Tour:

Video Updates

Kyle got a Strider bike for Sam. Here he's getting used to his new helmet. The video cuts off just before he points to the bike, still in the box, shouting, "Bike! Bike"

Sam loves the website Birdjam.com. It has all sorts of bird-sounds to learn. You'll notice Sam say "Please" as he rubs his chest with his hand. That was the sign they taught him in Daycare for please. He still uses it even though he can now say the word.

Getting ready to go to the park:

Playing on the bed with the kitties:

Fooling around at home:

Vocabulary in Bloom!

It is almost spring time... meaning, it will continue to rain more than it already has here in Seattle...

Actually, it's not THAT bad. No, strike that. The weather really stinks here. Clearly, I've reset my expectations (lowered them, it's the Gravelin way!) because a few weekends ago, we had a sunny 50-something degree day and I wanted to take my sweater off and bask in the sun. Anywhere else, it would have been an average day. If I had just been visiting, I would have said, "What is so special about today? Everyone should put their shirts back on." But instead I felt that it was a beacon of light (literally) amidst a cloud-filled season.

But despite the dreariness, our dafodills are popping up and the crocuses have already bloomed. Day-light savings has made our evenings so much brighter, that I can *almost* imagine what it was like last summer when the trees were green and we had copious raspberries in our yard.

All that said, I've been adapting and coping (i.e. drinking more coffee, generally moping around the house, and supplementing with Vitamin D) and trying to be aware of other things that are blossoming in this gloomy time such as:

Sam's vocabulary!

Kyle and I made a list for fun the other day and we tallied over 150 words that Sam can correctly use in context.

Among them:
Helmet ("elmut")
Apple sauce
Guitar ("tar")
Tractor
Triangle

Now, he may not say them right, but we generally know what he means. Additionally, we have noticed an onslought of compound words and phrases. It started last weekend when I was working late. I'd left my coffee mug in his room and he pointed to it, turned to Kyle and said, "Mama, home." (Yes, my heart broke a little when I heard this while I was still at work...)

He's also using more verbs and describing his needs:
"Pick"- for Mommy pick-up this thing that I just flung onto the floor
"Want" -self-explanatory and said in the general direction of so many things
"Out!"- This is my new alarm clock. Out! Out! Still haven't found the snooze button...
"Poop."- He's been trying to alert us after he goes #2, but let me tell you, there are still many false alarms.
"Wash"- When he wants to wash his hands in the sink in addition to grabbing and causing mahem with anything in the vicinity of the sink area.

And he's been playing games:
-"Nigh-nigh" said as he collapses into his crib and "hello!" said as he pops back up are his own version of peek-a-boo
- In response to "rain, rain" he'll say "go way" (I'm sure Seattle kids know this one before they can walk.)

Anyway, this word explosion has been so awesome. Everyday Kyle and I are smiling or laughing along with whatever word-concoction Sam creates. It's such a joy during a dreary time!

Snow Days::Part 2

So, I've been lucky enough to be able take the last couple of days off - good thing too, as the roads around here are more than a little dangerous. It's 4pm on Thursday now and it's actually still snowing outside meaning tomorrow may end up being another snow day for me.

You know what I find strange about Seattle? In every place I've lived or traveled to people have said "oh you know what they say about (location we are now) - 'if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes'" It's as if there is something unique about highly variable weather. On the other hand, Seattle is the only place I've been where it's exactly the opposite. It's a place of weather inertia - it gets sunny and stays sunny for weeks, it gets cloudy and stays cloudy for several days, or it rains and rains and rains (it mostly rains). This is a place for people with really great weather attention spans.

Now it's snowy, and it feels like it has never not been snowy and will never not be snowy. Which is great - I love the snow. Because I got so little snow as a kid, snow is like the most highly prized weather possible. It's white gold. So, Sam and I got to take a couple walks today outside and did a bit of sledding. Here's the photo log of our afternoon journey in the snow:


We departed from the backdoor. Here's some of our patio furniture for a sense of the snowfall accumulation of the last couple of days:
We then made our way to the front yard to get the sled from our sled stable (the front porch). Here's Sam surveying the snow damage in the front yard. Keen eyes this kid has:
We made our way to the park across the street which was packed with kids, parents, and doggies. Sam attempts dog sledding - but has forgotten a crucial piece: the dogs.

So to continue our journey, Sam has to content himself to "Dad Sledding," since that's all that's available to him. Dad's rules are only sitting on the sled:
Sam continues his survey of the snow damage at the parks. He declares it a "once in a lifetime winter event." He's starting to get recruiting letters from The Weather Channel for his hyperbolic weather related observations.

Dad says: "slide forward, son. We're sledding this hill together." Sam looks up and says, "You can't be serious old man."
Here's the view from the top of the hill near the park. We're heading down the street, hanging a left and riding it down to the creek:
Success! The ride was about 3 short blocks and we made it together. The sled proved very maneuverable at the speeds we were at. Here's the creek in winter wonderland form:



And beginning of the return journey home...back to dadsledding
We made it back to the top. Here's the picture of our VW. Sara scrapped off the snow this morning so this is new accumulation of the last 9 hours. Not a lot, but enough for Seattle to be continue to be shut down:

So, realizing that we may be nearing the breaking point, Dad decides we should do another co-sled down the hill. We take a different path this time and run out of gas midway down on a flatter spot which prompts Sam to react with finger (or rather mitten) pointing. I was a bit embarrassed about what the snowman would think about our public arguing.
The gloves literally came off at this point and I couldn't put them back on so we headed home for a snack.

SNOW DAY!

Don't Carpe Diem

I just had to repost this because it is so well-written and so well captures the beauty of not only parenting but of doing anything that is challenging and exhausting but so deeply meaningful:

Don't Carpe Diem