Our Latest Adventures

Wednesday, May 25th

We took Ella to her first professional soccer game, Seattle Sounders vs FC Dallas. We had hoped to make it to the Seattle Aquarium before we went to the game, but Ella's nap went later than we planned, and traffic was terrible as usual in downtown, so we hopped on over to Pike Place Market for some early dinner.

Strolling through the market.

We hit up one of our favorite places. Beecher's has the best mac 'n cheese!

Ella was excited to go to the game. =)

The Seattle Sounders' official band: Sound Wave

Opening ceremony.

Last time we went to a Sounders vs FC Dallas game, I rooted for the Sounders, and they won. I figured since I was going to be a Texan again in the not so distant future, I thought I would root for Dallas this time, and they ended up winning 1-0. Yay! Unfortunately, I missed the winning goal because I was getting some cotton candy for Ella. lol Oh well. She had a good time, and that's all that mattered.

Sunday, May 29th

Since we weren't able to take Ella to the Seattle Aquarium on Wednesday like we promised, we took her after church on Sunday. I was just as excited as she was because I've always loved going to aquariums and seeing creatures of the ocean.

She was captivated right away with all the fishes in the big water tanks.

Look! Our very own Ella octopus. =)

We saw some really neat stuff, and I think Ella thoroughly enjoyed herself. We had to kind of rush through most of it though because we wanted to let her get her nap in before we met friends for dinner that evening. I hope to go back again, so we can look at things at our leisure next time. I didn't want to take up the blog with just pictures, so you can go to my Picasa web album to see more of our adventure at the aquarium.

Monday, May 30th

On Memorial Day we thought we would go on a real adventure and do something fun and exciting. We decided to grab some lunch in downtown Seattle before we hopped the Bremerton Ferry to Gig Harbor.

Ella loves riding on the ferry boat.

Gig Harbor was a really neat and quaint little town.

We rented a canoe for an hour and just paddled our way around the lake. It was my first time!

Safety first! =)

Fun times.

We ate dinner here, and the food was really GREAT!

Baguettes with salmon spread. So yummy!

This was the view from our restaurant. Pretty sweet!

I'm thankful that we've had the opportunity to do some fun things together lately. I feel like we've grown really close as a family just within the last couple of weeks. I'm glad that Ella gets to experience new and fun things, and I hope she'll be able to retain these memories from living in Seattle since we'll be moving soon. I'm looking forward to our next adventure!

Family Time

Today has been another gorgeous day! I was going to take Ella on a walk yesterday, but I decided that I would get chores done around the house instead. Laundry was way overdue. I'm thankful that we were are able to enjoy another sunny day, and that Josh has a day off, so he could go on a walk with us. Ella and I enjoyed showing him some of our favorite spots. It was actually really warm today, and I was wishing that I had dressed more like Josh by the time we headed back home.

We had a good time as a family strolling on the path. We stopped and blew some bubbles for Ella's pleasure at one point, and Josh couldn't resist finding a few rocks to skip on the river. It was pleasant to do whatever we felt like when we felt like doing it with no feelings of being rushed to go anywhere or do anything else. I look forward to many more days like this.

Father/daughter time. =)

Ella inspecting the forsythia bush.

They had a sitting area where we stopped for a spell.

Ella decided she wanted to push the stroller for a while. She gave it up pretty quickly. lol

I love this picture!

I love how everything is turning green again.

Heading back home.

Beautiful Day for a Walk

Tuesday was a glorious day! I looked out of our window to see blue skies dotted with puffy white clouds and a sun shining bright. There was no way we were going to stay inside all day. We headed out for the Sammamish Trail pretty much right after lunch. After filling up a water bottle and packing a few snacks and necessities, we were on our way.

The air was cool and crisp, and the sun was warm on my skin. My weather app on my phone told me it was 56 degrees. There's nothing like spring and summer in Seattle. I'm thankful to be living here for the time being. I knew of other friends who were complaining about the high temperatures elsewhere. =)

Last time we went for a walk, I pushed Ella in the stroller pretty much the whole time. She got out once while we were on a bridge, so I could take a few pictures, but that was it. I wanted to get a good workout, and I knew that if she were to walk, I would have to stop every second to wait for her to pick up a dandelion, a rock, or something else.

Pictures on the bridge on our first walk.

Trying to find a spider that was hiding.

Looking out over the river.

This time I decided that I would take it easy, and I knew that if she was allowed to walk, she would tire herself out, so that when we got back home, she would be ready for her nap. And if I was lucky, she would fall asleep on the way home. Well, I was right about Ella wanting to pick up stuff. She just had to blow each and every dandelion she saw. I was fine with it at first, but there were times when I had to chastise her for lagging too far behind. We weren't going to get far at all if I left her to her own ways.

It didn't take her long to find some dandelions to blow.

She found the mother of all dandelions later on.

We had a very pleasant walk all in all. The city of Redmond made sure there were no shortages of places to rest along the way. We found a very pleasant place not too long after we started our walk. There was a great big tree that provided shade over a bench that sat looking out over the water. There were even water fountains for the thirsty, which I used to re-fill my water bottle on the way back home.

Enjoying the bench.

Hanging out on the fence.

There were a few neat discoveries while on our walk. At one point, there was a garden just off the path, and they even had benches where you could rest awhile and enjoy the flowers and foliage. I had never seen anything like it. They sure do take pride in their landscaping around here. Ella and I decided to stop and take a closer look.

How inviting does this look?

These were so pretty! I wish my phone camera could have done them justice.

By the time we discovered a path that led down to the river's edge, Ella already had a collection of flowers and rocks. She saw the river as an opportunity to throw the rocks into the water, which she did right away. She then decided to release the buttercup and dandelion into the water, so that they could float gently down the river. It was actually quite sweet to watch her do so. She only kept one buttercup which she used to adorn her hair.

There were lots of other people out enjoying the sunshine as well. I had to constantly make sure that Ella was to the far right of our lane, so that cyclists wouldn't run into her. Unfortunately, someone almost did run over her at one point. I think she gave them quite a scare. Needless to say, she was confined to the stroller after that. That was towards the end of our walk anyway, so it was not that big a deal. I gave her a snack, and she was happy to eat it, and I was happy to be making our way back home. And just like I hoped, she fell asleep.

I'm so glad that we found a place to take walks that is so near to where we live. I'm looking forward to getting out more. Here are a few more pictures of some things we saw on our walk.

We passed some cool looking train tracks.

These cherry blossom trees were so beautiful!

It's kind of hard to see, but there's a bench that sits underneath this awesome willow tree. I would love to be able to sit there for hours and just write in my journal.

A New Chapter

Whether we desire it or not, change is usually inevitable. At first glance, certain changes may seem undesirable, but given time, they may be exactly what you needed. I've learned from experience that not all change is good, but most of the time, I'm challenged in a way that brings about significant growth.

That's what I'm hoping for our family in the coming months. My wonderful in-laws have officially moved back to Texas. It's felt kind of strange without them here. That's the only way I can describe it so far. They just left on Saturday, so I suppose we won't really feel their absence until a full week or two has gone by. We definitely miss them.

In the meantime, life goes on. Josh has been working a whole lot, which is nothing new, but he actually had to work yesterday for Edible Arrangements because Mother's Day is one of their busiest holidays. I admit that I felt somewhat awkward sitting alone in church without my in-laws or Josh, but I'm glad I was able to go hear Amani Mustafa speak. If you haven't heard of her, you should check out her website The Muslim Woman. She has a powerful testimony and ministry! I was blessed by her story, and it was still nice to fellowship with other believers. I even got two tulips out of it. =)

Ella and I spent a quiet Mother's Day eating macaroni and cheese for lunch and watching movies...mostly hers. After she napped, Josh came home, and after Ella got up from her nap, we ate some leftover KFC that we had with Josh's parents on Friday night before they moved. We ended our evening by getting some ice cream from Dairy Queen per my request. We didn't do anything fancy, but I still enjoyed the day, and I feel blessed to have a wonderful husband and beautiful daughter to share this life with.

I'm looking forward to seeing what the Lord does in our little family throughout the rest of this year. We will have to adjust to a new routine, but I know that all the challenges and struggles will help us grow closer as a family.