Mariners vs. the Yankees

I was listening to the classical station one day and there was an advertisment for the Mariners/Yankees games at Safeco and so I suggested to David that we go to one of them since he is such a big Yankees fan. At first, he was reluctant thinking that he couldn't get off of work to go, but then he called me 3 days later from work saying that there was someone there who was selling tickets and that he wanted to go. It had been a long time since he had seen the Yankees in person, so it was a fun outing for him! A funny thing that happened was when the seating host took our picture. I said, "Would you take our picture?" and he motioned to David and said, "Well, you are going to have to take off that hat..." and David said, "I can't." And that was the end of that! :)

It was a packed house for the game and there were a lot more Yankee fans there than I had expected. We had planned to eat food at the game knowing full well that they severely overcharge for food and drinks, but oh well. David had a $4 water and I drank my $3.75 Diet Pepsi and for small ice creams we paid $4 each. Yikes! I won't even mention how much the food cost, it was ridiculous. I think it is LAME that you can't bring in your own food when the prices are so high. Maybe it would make some competition for the vendors inside to bring down their prices a bit.


David and I had a nice date though, enjoying the game until the very last out. We came on a night where the Yankees won, so that made for a happy husband as we left! It just so happened that the night before they lost and the night after they lost, so we came on the right night!

My parents stayed at our house to watch the pumpkin head and we didn't get home until real late because we rode the bus back to David's work to where our car was parked. (I had taken the bus into the game to meet him.) We missed one of the busses by a little bit and had to wait over 20 minutes for the next one. I was really tired and should have had something to eat because I was feeling a litle sick and light headed the more we walked and stayed awake. We got to see Seattle "at night" which was a little interesting at times. When we got home, my parents had their tall coffees "to go" as they left to drive back to their place. I told them they could stay over (as it was near midnight when we got home), but they wanted to go sleep in their own bed.

Baby's First Parade

Today we went to the local parade and picnic with some new friends from our church. Josiah was infatuated with all the different floats and big trucks passing by.

Before the parade started, Daddy had him out of the stoller and he tried wandering wherever he could with a Daddy close by letting him explore his surroundings. He went and introduced himself to all the people nearby and a few times tried to cross the road as well, but was soon scooped up and brought back to the stroller where he could be confined. Later, when we went to the park for the rest of the festivities, Josiah fell asleep in the stroller and I put the seat down for him to take a quick cat nap. It wasn't the greatest of naps, but it took the edge off for him apparently because then he was able to stay awake on the ride home. While asleep though, a clown made a lion balloon for him, which was a very popular memento when we got home.

It was fun to visit with our new friends. Their names are Bill & Melissa. They have two kids aged 5 (Hailey) and 4 (Isaac). I have already asked Melissa some advice about Josiah since she has been through this age with her young ones. They also like computer games like us and so that is a fun interest we all share. They told us that they had been praying for more couples with children in their church and that we were an answer to that prayer. I am excited to find some new friends so quickly since we moved. That is an answer to my prayer!

Church Potluck

After church today we went to a potluck at the pastor's house. He and his family have this neat old house that they live in and the property has a barn and another side house for church functions. We also had church outside today because the senior center where we meet was being worked on. It was a nice day in the park and the Pastor's nephew and his band were touring around up from California and they led worship today. It was a really nice service!

After the potluck, the guys all starting getting into a water fight. One of the younger boys really wanted to do it and at first couldn't get the adult "boys" to join in. However, after David and some others got doused with some water, they were soon ready to exact revenge! Ha ha ha! Josiah thought it was all very interesting and just wandered out into the playing field to see what all the fuss was. He got a little wet himself too off and on, but the guys were nice and didn't soak him. He was used as a shield a couple of times too! All the ladies were hiding out in the side house hoping not to get wet. I ventured out though to watch Josiah and since I was new and didn't run away screaming, I didn't get too wet. Though David had to get me in the back once just for good measure! It was an anniversary gift...a wet gift at that!

Josiah had the most fun playing in the bucket of water. I got some nice shots of him doing it too. This is what he likes to do with the dog's water bowl if I would let him. We had to drag him away from the bucket to go home. He only had a short nap before the potluck, so we thought it best to get him home for a nap after all the excitement. We are thankful to have such a neat group of people to fellowship with though. It is nice to have a place to fit in so quickly after our move to the west side!

Carpenter's 3rd Anniversary

David and I recently passed the 3rd year milestone in our marriage on August, 9th. To celebrate our years together, we spent the day exploring around Seattle. My parents graciously offered to watch Josiah at our home for the day while we were gone. We parked over by the Qwest field and then walked and bussed to various locations around Seattle. Now that David works downtown, he is familiar with the bus system as well as some nice places to visit.

First, we hit the McDonalds (as it was the only place open in the morning) to get some breakfast. I had eaten at 5:30am and he hadn't had anything yet, so we figured we would then have a late lunch at a classier place. Then we went to the Westlake Center and found a place that sold Bubble Tea. We used to get Bubble Tea at this place in Olympia when we were engaged and so that brought back some good memories. We also popped into Macy's and found a pretty dress for me that was even on sale! Now I have a fancier dress to wear should I play in a recital or go to a concert or something. Then we went down to Pike Place Market and saw all the sites and wares there. We saw a couple walking by this board (pictured above) and I saw that the gal had a camera in her hand and said, "We will take your picture if you will take ours." She said, "Sure," and it turned out we had the same exact camera. This incidentally was the only picture we took as we were busy spending quality time together! For lunch we went to P.F.Changs (a Chinese place) and had some very fine cuisine for a decent price! We had wanted to try this place when they put one in at the Lynnwood Mall, but it was always really busy.

When we were walking through Pike Place, we saw this little boy (a little older than Josiah I think) that was walking with his Mom pushing his own stoller as she was holding on to it as well trying to restrain him from pushing it into someone. He looked a lot like Josiah and I could totally see him doing that in a couple of years. I am told that I too used to prefer to push my stroller rather than to ride in it.

We also went to visit the new Seattle Public Library. It is truly HUGE and has lots of resources and various features that would impress all book lovers. We found out though that we can't get cards there because we live in Pierce County rather than King. We live right near the border of the two counties. Oh well!

We had a really nice time together and I was glad I made it through (we did a lot of walking) as I had (and still have) a bit of a cold. I love my sweetheart and he loves me too! We are still newlyweds after 3 years!

Camera Shy Doggie

Today, I took Echo to get groomed for the first time. She isn't too keen on riding in the car and so I had my friend Carrie watch Josiah (he was napping) while I took doggie to the groomer.

First, I have to give you a little history about her. We were told that this gal found her and her brothers & sisters (all 9 of them) abandoned someplace as small puppies. Ever since then she grew up on the farm belonging to a couple in my parent's church, where they were taken to live until they were all adopted out to people in the community. She wasn't taken in the car at all except once to get spade. I guess we can all understand her anxiety! Our first trip with her was to take her to the vet to get a rabies shot. It was quite an adventure! I had the 25 pound baby on one side and a 35 pound dog pulling me on the other. I had to ask a nearby gentlemen to get me a cart to put Josiah in (at Petsmart) so that I could give my full attention to Echo. She didn't want to walk across the tile floor (because she slips easily) and I nearly had to drag her across it at first until she decided she could walk afterall. Needless to say, I said I would never run an errand with both dog and baby again.

When I took her to the groomer, she again got pretty anxious in the car (breathing hard and shaking) and then when I brought her in they had tile floors again. Oh boy! She wouldn't walk into the back and the gal there said, "You go ahead and go and then she will trust me and I can get her to walk back here." I thought...well, I don't think that will work, but OK! And sure enough I peeked through the window on my way out and she had to drag Echo across part of the floor at first.

They said she was a bit nervous getting groomed, but that she did OK otherwise. They put little blue earrings in her ears (they wash out with water) and a pretty kerchief around her neck. We have a very pretty girl!!

Fun in Seattle

Now that we live only 40 minutes away from the Walker Grandparents, Josiah gets to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Walker quite often. Every Wednesday, when Grandpa comes in to meet with his clergy group and when Grandma comes in to teach some lessons at her school, they have made it their routine to stop by and get their baby pumpkin fix. If Grandma comes first in her car and Grandpa isn't close behind, Josiah gets concerned. He goes to the door and says, "Da Da?" looking for him. It is very cute. They love to play with him though and I am glad they have the chance to see him at this stage.



Today we went to visit my great Aunt Gen in Seattle. Josiah tried out her piano and he gives his approval that it plays very well and is in tune! He also says that white beaded necklaces are fun to play with. He actually pulled it off her neck at one point, but she said that it comes off that way anyway, so luckily he didn't break it! Josiah had a good old time roaming around her house though. He climbed the stairs (numerous times), inspected all the rooms, laughed at himself in the big mirror upstairs, and attempted to handle all her nice things to which Mommy and Grandma had to swoop in and rescue. He especially liked the smooth rocks situated among some candles she had and those captured his attention for at least 5 minutes or so (eons in baby time!)

Josiah's newest words are "CLAW" for clock, a very clear and pronounced "WOW" (used whenever planes fly overhead or some new things comes across his path that he finds impressive), "CAW" for car along with the noise "Vrrooom" as he moves the car back and forth on the floor. He also calls most everything fun and interesting "DA DA" which tells me that he thinks his Dada is very fun and interesting! He only says "MAMA" when he is whining and wants something...so what does that say about me? No comment. Ha ha ha! He has said some other words, but not as a daily occurrence, so I will wait to record those until he says them more frequently. He understands a lot more than he says though and is able to fetch things for me and follow two part directions such as "pick up the ball and put it down the slide." He is very pleased with himself when he can do what we ask and claps for himself when we say, "good job." We have a very smart and cute pumpkin!

Future Hall of Famer

We (my Mom and I) just took Josiah to get his one-year photos done at Walmart yesterday and this was one of the cute photos we got of him. He was moving the glove at the time of the photo, so the glove and his other hand are a little blurry, but other than that I thought it was really cute. Right after this photo he threw the mitt on the floor. We have a couple of other shots that turned out great too. We are getting the picture packages back at the end of August. I can send some of the shots through email though if you would like to see them, just let me know. We can send them via email, we are just not supposed to print them out is what the lady told us.

Today, I took Josiah to the SuperMall and took him on the Carousel. I strapped him onto a horsey and held on to him as well as we went round and round and up and down. I could tell he was actually scared of the whole experience as he was shaking a bit. He is like that with new things I have found. I am sure that next time we do it though he will be all smiles as the Carousel will then be old hat for him! I also had him ride in one of those kiddie cars that rock back and forth. He liked that a lot and honked the horn many times. The most fun he had though was playing in the play area there at the mall. There were lots of kids there and they have these gigantic replicas of breakfast foods for them to crawl and climb over. There is a big bowl of cereal with blueberries, a banana (both whole and cut up), two eggs sunny side up, and two pieces of bacon. Josiah likes to climb the bacon like the big kids. However, his favorite pastime is to welcome the newcomers to the play area by either inspecting their strollers or trying to steal one of their toys. It is pretty funny really. He tried to steal some balloons, a pair of glasses, & a water bottle today. He also plays this game of running out of the play area where Mommy has to chase him, catch him, and bring him back. They don't have a gate there for some reason, so I think I had to get him around 10 times as we "played" there.

We went to the mall with a new friend of mine named Carrie (from our new church) and she bought him a balloon, which was VERY popular! I tried to pry it out of his hands before we went on the Carousel, but he refused to let me take it from him. He kept his death grip on the balloon for most of the ride until I got tired of it bonking me in the head and took it when he was distracted. Then he grabbed onto the pole of the horse for more support. I had a lot of fun chatting with Carrie at the mall today and am glad to have a new friend!