The Boy and the Bulldog: The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow

Well, if I didn't scare everyone away (that is, if you actually read that entire last post), I wanted to report that there was light at the end of that very dark, damp, cherry stained tunnel. My Blackberry survived, Ian survived... and probably most importantly, I survived. Probably the only thing I still haven't gotten over is the exchange with the State Farm lady. I still want to claw her eyes out. But moving on....

The week really did get better daily and ultimately, we had the best weekend. Anticipating beautiful weather, we planned to head out to Alki Beach. It's a very popular sandy beach area of Seattle that has a gorgeous view of the city, but also the Olympic Mountains and the Peninsula (for those out of state, think Forks, WA...aka Twilight).

It was Ian's first real trip to "the ocean" and he loved it... that is, until he got water and sand in his shoes. It took a little coaxing to convince him that he should keep his shoes on and no, he didn't need to change his clothes. Next, he announced that he needed to go potty. Well, the bathrooms were very far away and Shawn didn't want him whipping it out there in front of everyone. We told him it was OK to use his pull up, but he was not happy at all. What a great thing. Tells me he's really ready to be trained, but just needs a little time before he's really good at it.

After playing in the sand for a while and checking out shells, drift wood, and answering lots of "what's that?" questions, we wandered across the street to get lunch. Ian ate his first fish & chips (likes the chips, but not so much the fish...at least the breading part). We had so much fun people watching from the restaurant and imagining that we lived right there on the water. I'd give anything to live right on the water so Ian could spend his days building sand castles and playing in the sun... a little like Shawn lived at that age in Pensacola, Florida. Alas, it can't be that way, so for now we'll settle for a 30 minute drive to the water (not bad considering we practically live in the mountains) and trips like September's 2 weeks in Maui!

After lunch, we played in the sand for a while longer before heading back to the truck. The idea was to get some pics of the city skyline before heading home, but the vantage point was too crowded, so we headed back home and stopped on the way for ice cream cones.

While there, we ran into a childhood friend of my brother, only 20+ years since I've seen him last... He had his daughter with him who is almost as old as I was the last time I saw him. How time flies!

We got home in time for nap, well before the grumpy side of Ian surfaced, and once he was down, I headed out to have some quiet time. I did some window shopping and sat outside at Bellevue Park reading with a frappacino. So relaxing. So so so relaxing. Tuesday seemed a million years ago.

Sunday was simply a day of going for walks to different neighborhood parks and then a trip to the grocery store in the afternoon. We ate BBQ pizza and hung out in the backyard. Another perfect day.

The weather has turned, but it's supposed to be another nice weekend coming up...just in time for a 3 day weekend (or 4 for me... I'm taking Tuesday off). Also this week: Ian has his second dentist appointment on Wednesday and then Thursday is Shawn's 39th birthday. Friday is Grandma Trish's day, and then Saturday, we head south to spend the night at their house and go out for Shawn's birthday dinner. For the first time ever, someone other than Trish will be babysitting Ian! His cousin Ashleigh will be watching him while we go out to dinner. I have complete faith in her. Ian loves to spend time with her and I know they'll do just fine.

Below are some pics from Alki. I have several great pics from a walk Friday with Grandma Trish, but I'll reserve those for another post. No reason to write another novel.

I just had to start out with this picture. Amidst the chaos, Polli finds a moment of pure bliss in the sun.

My little man getting his "beach" on. We're thinking about growing his hair out into a shaggy mess like this for Hawaii. Why fight nature?

Hanging with Daddy on a big piece of driftwood

Me and my shadow

Learning about the ocean

He had something important to say

I had to include these scenery shots. My camera's not that great on super zooms, but I forget sometimes that not everyone who reads this is from here. We take it for granted since this is pretty much a daily sight from any given vantage point.

Our little family (minus Polli... no dogs allowed on this beach).

Taking it all in

It looks much smaller than it really was, but there's a small spec in the sky, which is a C-141 aircraft flying maneuvers... We were telling him all about how Grandpa Tom and Uncle Matt fly those big airplanes.