Coming to a Close...

Our time in Seattle is quickly coming to a close. Here is a run down of some exciting events from the past few days:

• We had the missionaries over for dinner on Friday night.
• On Saturday, we visited the Museum of Flight. Kristen (upstairs) gave us some free passes that she had. (So nice of her!) Parker liked seeing all of the planes, but was disappointed when he couldn't touch most of them. We got to tour an old Air Force One.Paul AKA Jack BauerBlack Mail
• Father's Day was Sunday and we had a big breakfast for Dad. Later. we had dinner upstairs with the Jenson's and Parker and I made a Razzleberry Pie (pre-made/frozen, just to clarify) for Paul. Paul really is such a great Dad! On Mother's Day he refuses to let me change any diapers because it is my 'special day' and on Father's Day he says the Father gets to be in charge and insists on changing the diapers. He always makes time to play with each of the little ones and always makes sure I get time for myself too. Happy Father's Day Paul!
• Monday was 'Bring your kids to work Day' at the F.TC. Parker had been looking forward to this for at least a week leading up to it. He got to ride the bus to work with Dad and spend all morning there doing lots of fun activities with all of the other kids. Everyone there got a kick out of the fact that he would not let anyone call him Parker, only Randall (see previous post for explanation)! I picked him up at lunch time and he was wiped out. Here are Parker and Dad ready for work:
• Tuesday night, we went to the Seattle Mariners baseball game with Paul's coworkers. It was great to meet all of the people he has told me about. Parker loved the game and even got a free baseball they were giving out. Autumn held up surprisingly well, of course she was more interested in looking at the people all around us than the game. She did start joining in a couple of times with all of the fans clapping. (The Mariners were playing the Padres and lost, although they rallied at the end to make it exciting. Also, we got to see Griffey hit a home run!) It really was a lot of fun!Parker was dancing to the music.

2 3/4 and 3/4

Parker and Autumn are so much fun. It is great to watch them interact. Parker thinks it is fun to see Autumn do new things and Autumn thinks it is fun to see Parker do anything!

Parker seems more grown up every day. He pulls words and phrases out of no where. For instance, today when I told him I was going to get him a little bit of ice cream, he said, 'No, I want quite a bit.' How did he even learn that phrase? I don't know. He is attached to his bear, Fuzzy (who is currently being called Oso) and wants him to go everywhere with him.

Right now, Parker is hooked on being in character. Let me explain... If he has been watching or reading Tigger and Pooh, then all of the sudden he is Roo, I am Kanga, Paul is Tigger and Autumn is Buster. If he is in to Barney, then he is BJ, I am Baby Bop, Paul is Barney and Autumn is 'Friend.' But his favorite is Monsters, Inc, He is Randall, Paul is Sully, I am Mike and Autumn is Boo. When we are in Monsters, Inc phase, he will only call me Mike. If I say 'please bless Autumn' in a prayer, he quickly chimes in 'please bless Boo.' When we were at the beach and he was getting to close to the water, I was calling to him, "Parker, Parker, come back here please." I finally got a little closer to make sure he heard me and he said, "No, I'm Randall!" So I called him Randall and he did exactly what I was asking him to do and with a big smile on his face. It is really funny because he does it with everyone. I do wonder what people at the grocery store are thinking when he calls me Mike and I respond as if there is nothing strange about that.

Autumn crawls on all fours now, but still drops down to the army crawl when she wants to move fast. She pulls herself up to her feet on the couch and other small tables and chairs. She has figured out that whatever anyone else is doing, is a lot more fun than exploring on her own. So she wants to play with whatever toy Parker is playing with or play with that fun toy that Mom is always typing away on. As soon as you drop whatever it is you had that she wants, she is no longer interested in it. She loves to repeat sounds that she hears; she squeals, laughs, roars like a dinosaur, smacks her lips, etc after she hears you do it. She has reached the 'I only want my Mommy' stage. It was so sad a week or so ago when she was sick, she would actually start crying when I gave her to Paul. She is not quite that bad when she is feeling well. She claps really well now and you can tell she is so proud of herself. She loves to clap and bounce to music. We love our little Parker and Baby Autumn!

Parker sleeping right by Autumn's bed

This was the face she was making most of the time while she was clapping. She was really trying to concentrate.
Parker was scared to death because he looked down and realized he was on a little ledge.

Parker and 'Baby Fuzzy.' He was walking him around the room to get him to stop 'crying.'

Seattle Center and Waterfront

Our upstairs neighbor, Kristen, made us a list of things to see while we are in Seattle(see picture above). We realized that there would not necessarily be enough time (or money) to do everything, but we were glad to have a list of things to give us an idea of where to start. With careful planning and lots of bag lunches/dinners, we were able to do everything that was most important to us and then some.

While planning to see some of the sites, we ran across the CityPass. I guess they have them for many places (including Houston and So Cal). The CityPass is ticket book to do a number of things in one city, in our case, Seattle (The Zoo, Argosy Cruise, Experience Music Project (or Museum of Flight), Space Needle, Pacific Science Center, Seattle Aquarium) for half the price. We were planning on doing at least half of those things anyway, so essentially, we got to do the rest for free. You have to use your CityPass in 9 days and we started a week ago Saturday with the Zoo. Just a little shout out for the CityPass and to prepare you for all of the pictures from our CityPass adventures.

• On Wednesday, we picked up Paul from work and headed over to Pier 55 for the Argosy Harbor Cruise. It was pretty cool to see the Seattle Skyline from the water and hear a little bit about it's history. Parker liked being on the boat and wanted to be at the front where the boat was hitting the choppy water and bumping up and down. Paul, on the other hand, was not enjoying the bumping up and down. He was feeling sick and stayed inside the cabin most of the time with Autumn.(The last picture below shows the building Paul works in: left center, tallish, tannish, dark roof...Do you see it?)
• On Friday, after Paul's work, we headed over to the Seattle Center to visit the Experience Music Project / Science Fiction Museum. We spent most of our time at the EMP, but also visited the Jim Henson Exhibit at the SFM. It was a fun experience, but we wouldn't have done it if it wasn't on our CityPass. We just aren't musically talented, so we couldn't appreciate all that it had to offer.
• Later Friday evening, we rode up one really fast elevator to the top of the Space Needle. It was pretty awesome to look over the city and the water. We took some pictures, but our camera isn't that great.
• Saturday morning, we headed back to the Seattle Center to go to the Pacific Science Center. This was actually pretty cool. It is mostly set up for kids, but there is so much to see and learn for adults too. I kind of wish I could go again with out the kids! We saw an IMAX movie called 'Animalopolis.' We explored all of their exhibits, including the Butterfly room, the Dinosaurs, Grossology, and many more.
• Saturday Afternoon, we went back to the Waterfront to see the Seattle Aquarium. It was fun, but we were pretty worn out. But who doesn't love to see jellyfish and an octopus?!
• As if that weren't enough for one day, we stopped in at Pike Place Market to buy something I had my eye on last time we visited. Our Seattle souvenier... The fish market painting below (don't worry, those aren't the prices we paid).
• We finished off our busy weekend with Sunday Dinner with Dave and Melissa Conlee and their kids at Melissa's parents' house, the Carlson's. The 3 men got to talk lawyer stuff, Parker got to play with his friends, and we had a great meal. We even had a bonfire afterwards and roasted marshmallows and ate smores. It was so nice of them to have us over and it was a lot of fun!