Vroom Vroom

Me: Do you want to go for a walk?

Pen: No

Me: Do you want to play vroom vroom?

Pen: Yeah

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a wonderful time. We were able to share it with Pen's Uncle Jon, Aunt Kristina, Jake and Lisa. Jon (wearing the apron) had been cooking for two days for our Thanksgiving dinner (despite appearances to the contrary).

Harry Potter

Harry Potter Frenzy!

Penn Tennis Ball

Pen's second Halloween was a blast! Last year Penelope was a Penny. This Year she was a Penn tennis ball. She had a blast collecting candy. We made two stops this year. We went to Market St. in Ballard and to our friend's neighborhood for good ol' fashion door to door trick or treating.

That's Natalie trying to pick up another ball.

A Fist Full of Sand

Aloha! We just returned from our trip to Hawaii, where we celebrated the marriage of Chieu and Lisa and enjoyed, what most people call, paradise. With the help of Garfield DVDs and iPod apps, Penelope slightly tolerated the long plane rides. As most people know, I am not a big fan of heat and sand, but seeing how much fun Derek and Pen were having, their glee rubbed off on me. It also helped that Pen didn't like to hang out at the beach long enough for me to go crazy. Some highlights of the trip include: toddler's wading pool, Ko Olina Lagoons, Moana Surfrider's really strong Mai Tai's, Leonard's Malasadas, Chieu and Lisa's BBQ and Wedding, Diamond Head Crater, Pearl Harbor, Shark's Cove, Matsumoto's Shaved Ice, H-3 (a beautiful freeway), Maunawili Falls Hike, Poke, Pali Lookout, Plate Lunches, and Penelope sleeping in till 6:30am!

Natalie

Pen's friend Natalie

Poh Poh

Penelope's Poh Poh came up for a visit this past weekend. There was lots of shopping and playing done by these two ladies.

No Walnuts Please

She's allergic to walnuts. The bakery section of Whole Foods was sampling Baklava. Ingredients for this yummy pastry are walnuts, filo dough, honey, olive oil, lemon juice, and cinnamon. Penelope seemed to like it and ate the whole sample. Couple seconds later, she spit it up, cried, and tried to wipe her tongue with the back of her hand. Redness and bumps started to appear around her mouth. The area looked like it is swelling. Even the back of her hand she used to wipe her tongue turned red and bumpy. Poor baby. With a little time, it all went away.

Bubbles

Junior Fire Chief

We were at the Factoria Mall Saturday and the Bellevue Fire Dept was there - they gave Pen a cool new hat and she's become somewhat attached to it.

Camping

September 18 we took a four hour drive to go camping in the rain. We wanted to test camping out with Penelope. It was great! Penelope was great. Here's a little video of our camping trip at Olympic National Park, Kalaloch Campground.

Between the Legs

Weekend Without Daddy

Derek took a trip out to New Mexico to see his family for the long weekend. To distract from missing him, we kept ourselves busy. Right after we dropped him off at the airport, we met up with Lyla, Amy, Jeff, Steve, and Cindy to the Evergreen State Fair. Pen loved petting chickens, riding on tractors, and sitting on Lyla's lap.


On Sunday, after Church, we tried to get the most awesomest almond croissant at Cafe Besalu, but it was closed for labor day weekend. So we settled for the best honey whole wheat roll I've ever had next door. Oh, and Pen had to settle for a cinnamon roll. I typed in google, "what to do with a toddler in Seattle". One of the things listed was a scratch patch. Never heard of it, but it was worth giving it a try. It was like playing with sand, but with pretty rocks! As you can see, she loved it.


We needed a break. We went to our neighborhood ice cream truck and got ourselves butter toffee crunch in a cone.


Monday, we started at the locks and took a run. Well, I took a run and Pen went to sleep. She woke up to a fresh cinnamon and sugar toast at Nellies. Seattle recently opened their light rail transit. It really just runs from downtown to Sea Tac airport with some stops along the way. Still, it would be Pen's first rail ride! Our destination? We went from Westlake Center to Beacon Hill Station. There's art work at every stop, but Beacon Hill was the most interesting. Penelope loved watching the trains go by. She kept saying "more". I want more lines!

Big Feet, Big Hands

Pool

Pen and Lyla cool off in the pool.

Theatre

Lyla's Pop Pop treated us to an outing to the Children's Theatre today. It was fantastic! This was Lyla and Pen's first live play. Pen was captivated. Those sheep are so stinking cute. Tomorrow we are off to buy the book!

Orange

Scout Mint anyone?
I see the space needle!
Go Padres!

Visitors

We've had some visitors this summer. Penelope's grandparents were in town. Our friend Azadeh introduced Penelope to lots of girly stuff.

Here are some additional pics of Penelope at the zoo.

Catching Up

Here are some pictures to make up for the lack of posting. This summer Penelope has been playing in the pool on our patio, hiking to Talapus Lake, playing with flour, and hanging out at the wading pool.

Climb

Since we returned from our trip, Penelope has refused to nap in her crib. Today was the same; she screamed and cried when I put her down in her crib. I was IMing with Derek telling him how much she was screaming when I heard something weird. It sounded like someone was breaking into our place. I ran to the front door, it was closed, Pen was still crying. I opened her door and there she was standing on the FLOOR trying to climb onto her futon. She climbed out of her crib!

Southern California 2010

We spent 8 days and 7 nights in Southern California to see family and friends. Still, it wasn't enough time to see everyone! For those we couldn't see, sorry we missed you, we'll catch you another time.

Slide

Legos

Penelope just got her first set of Legos. She doesn't build yet but she loves to dump them out and put them away.

Can't Stand Still

Here are some pictures that make us laugh.

The girl has teeth.

Balloon fun!

Those glasses are so sweet!

Pen and Lyla

Aunt Kristina's Graduation

We flew to Albuquerque, NM for family and Penelope's aunt Kristina's graduation. She was great on the plane trips. She napped both ways! It was awesome. Actually, amazing! It was a wonderful trip. Penelope attended a party, went to the zoo, took nice morning walks, and played around with her elders.

Balloon

The very nice people at Trader Joes gave Penelope a balloon. She was entertained the rest of the day.

For Derek's birthday we went out for lunch. For dessert, we had these little fried pillows of dough; much like a doughnut without the hole. It came with marscapone cheese and rhubarb compote. Penelope ATE.. IT.. UP!

I Live Here

Seattle, Washingtion

Sea Air

She still doesn't like beach sand, but she's willing to walk on it with shoes on.

She just woke up from her nap.

Viewing the boats at the Locks.