The good, the bad, and the ugly

I waited all day to have seafood at Ivar's, a famous restaurant next to the ferry docks in Seattle. The excitement was dampened a bit when we left the science center and discovered that our truck had been broken into, but we went ahead and ate there anyway. I think it was worth the $63 that we paid for our dinner, to say that we've been there, but next time I'll go to Red Lobster and save a few bucks.

Our new 2 screen DVD player that we'd only owned for a week was stolen, as well as my old purse, that I hadn't finished transferring to my new purse. Inside I had three store credit cards, which I cancelled immediately. Since then I've been racking my brain trying to remember if there was anything else important in it. They also stole our cell phone charger, our "Cars" DVD, and the cord to our battery charger (which charges the batteries to our camera).

While we waited for our food, I was making phone calls because of the break-in, but when our food arrived, I tried to stop worrying, and enjoy it. We were sitting right next to the water which the kids loved. We could see the seagulls, and we were right next to a fire boat. Caleb was very excited to get shrimp in his kids meal (which he ate all of), and Brayden and Dillon had tuna sanwiches. Todd, our non-seafood eater, was a little distressed to see that EVERYTHING on the menu was seafood, but he had clam chowder (which he does like) and it was excellent. I had yummy salmon over German dumplings (spaetzle?) and some sour cabbage stuff. It was all very "tasty" (as Dillon would say).

Pacific Science Center

Seriously, folks, this is only a slice of what we did at the Science Center. We were there from 11:00-5:00 having all kinds of fun. Here's some of what we did:

Brayden looking at his chart, trying to identify different butterflies. I loved seeing all the tropical flowers.

Todd is in "harmony" with nature :o)

We were playing giant checkers when the place was closing and we had to leave.

...So we went on a few carnival rides.


These were the walls of the women's restroom. Click to enlarge and read what it says--I thought it was hilarious.These were hilarious, too. They are stuffed "germs". There's e-coli, mad cow disease, the common cold, head lice, salmonella, etc.
Todd threw this wiffle ball at 38 mph, and beat my lowly 21 mph.
Here is Todd, addicted to learning about addictive behavior.
Dillon's favorite was this giant three-tiered water table with water toys.
Caleb studying the butterflies
Brayden played tic-tac-toe with a giant robot. The robot won.
Caleb Loved this "backhoe" that he could work himself.
Todd's "grip strength" lit up the lights all the way to the top. I made it about half way up...
Shooting water guns at the targets
Todd in the hamster wheel
Playing virtual soccer!
If you look close, that's Brayden and Caleb on the screen
Caleb took this picture of Todd and I playing virtual soccer.
Todd forecasting the weather.
Giant table and chairs.
Riding the ferry into Seattle
Standing under the Space Needle. It would've cost our family $50 to ride to the top, and then you have to pay for food in the restaraunt in addition...we like our ground shots just fine :o)
Digging for dinosaur bones.
I made Todd get his picture taken next to the Therapod eggs. It just sounds like a "therapy nerd".
We watched a live boa constrictor demonstration.
We also saw an awesome 3-D IMAX movie, touched live sea anenomes, learned how toilets flush, and played around on a million other exhibits. As you can see, we had a great time.

A Perfect Day

On Monday we went to Fay Bainbridge Park on Bainbridge Island. We had a great time just "playing" by the water. The kids threw rocks in the ocean, collected seashells, played on the playground, and then we had a picnic lunch. It was a perfect day--wind and all.

It's so fun to have all the grandkids together. Larry and Wendi have 6 boys (2 are foster kids), We have three boys, Aaron and Cherish have 3 girls, and Michael and Becky are having their 3rd girl in February.

Back row: Dillon, Caleb, Brayden, Grandma, Koby, Devon, Amber
Front row: Brandon, Emily, Makenzie, Brayden W., Zachary, Joshua, Cayleen, and Sydney Jo

Back row left to right: Larry, Michael, Todd, Aaron
Front row left to right: Elizabeth, Linda

Back row: Wendi, Becky, Felicia
Front row: Cherish, Linda, Elizabeth

I just LOVE my niece Amber's curly red hair, so I take pictures of her whenever possible :o)

We miss you Grandpa!

All of Todd's siblings (including ourselves) got together last Sunday (the 21st) to be together on the anniversary of his dad's passing. It was the first time we were able to see the headstone. It was nice to be with family and observe that even though we miss him greatly, we are all doing well and moving forward, which is what he would have wanted.

The flamingo was a "joke" that Dave and Linda and some good friends would leave in each other's yard (and other places) just for fun. I guarantee that Dave is smiling in heaven.

After church we went to the cemetery. We had a family prayer, and then each of the grandkids got a balloon to release for Grandpa. They had the option of writing a message on it, and then Grandma cut the strings one at a time and we watched them until they disappeared.

We sure miss you Grandpa!

Fishing for carp...or crap?

Oh, how I wish I had a picture to go along with this post, but my camera batteries were dead--again.

Yesterday I caught Dillon fishing with his
Scooby-Doo fishing pole...
IN THE TOILET!

I considered re-creating the scene so I could take a picture,
but I'm afraid I'd just be asking for trouble...

Lucky number "7"

Thanks Aunt Char for this cute picture!

Grandma Graves and I picked out the same wrapping paper,
and since Grandma Salisbury had me wrap all her stuff,
EVERY gift was in the same paper!

So the "Grandma's" can see what he got (left to right; top to bottom):
Coin collecting kit (state quarters), Crayola cutter, foam puzzle of the United States, Spider Man 12 pocket expandable file, "Fly Guy" books, sticker kit, pop-up card kit, pumpkin tatoo's, Transformer's Journal, make your own puzzles kit, sweatshirt, Power Rangers, and shirt and pants. Optimus Prime will be arriving from ToysRus.com shortly (hopefully tomorrow).

Brayden's big surprise from Mom and Dad was his own "Art area" in the basement.
It's full of paper, scissors, tape, glue, string, pipecleaner, pom poms, jewels, beads, popsicle sticks, wiggly eyes, stickers, stencils, crayons, markers, colored pencils, watercolor pencils, fun foam, paint and paint supplies, and different punches and "wacky" scissors.

He's an artist, you know.

We'll have to post some of his work soon.

Other activities for the day included a pancake breakfast made by Todd. He put the batter in an old ketchup container and spelled out Happy Birthday.

Dillon and I went to school to have lunch with Brayden, and now we're going to Richfield to run a few errands and have his birthday dinner at Winger's.

Happy Birthday Brayden!

Brayden opening a Crayola Cutter from Grandma (Linda) Graves

Dillon got this Curious George Kaleidoscope from Grandma and Grandpa Salisbury. It was wrapped in Elmo paper and he knew the minute he saw it that it was for HIM!

Brayden wanted a pinata, so we invited the neighbor kids,
who were curiously watching across the street, to join us.

The pinata was all $6 worth of fun.