Tulip Festival

By
Admiring the fields of tulips outside Mount Vernon, WA
 Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
"Tulips in the garden; tulips in the park; but the tulips I love best are the two lips in the dark." A clever poem I overheard by Grandpa Pastorius.
Mommy and Daddy took me on another road trip. This time we went to smell the roses... I mean tulips...around Mount Vernon and Anacortes. It was only an hour north of Seattle but then we drove around for another hour to admire the various daffodil and tulip fields in the area, which were in bloom during the annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. We brought along Mommy's friend, Alfred, who is and OB/GYN doctor and was a Fogarty Scholar from Kenya in 2009-10 and is in Seattle getting his Masters in Public Health at the UW.
After we had enough of walking in around the fields through the mud (Daddy carried me but next year he said I get to puddle jump), we headed to Deception Pass State Park for a few hours. I really liked watching the waves roll in over the rocky shore. We also saw a common loon, bald eagle and a seal. Then we were back in the car (again) and besides a quick stop for ice cream in Oak Harbor, we didn't stop until we made it to the Whidbey Island ferry. I finally got to get out of my car seat for the ferry ride back to Seattle (and even thought I could drive if only I could reach the pedals - see photo below). It was a fun trip but I'm officially sick of my car seat.

Nine-month Development Update
I had my nine month well-child check and I weigh a hefty 23 lbs 11oz (92 percentile) and am 30.25 inches (97 percentile) long. I got my second tooth this week and I am one step closer to crawling as I get up on all fours and rock back and forth. I can stand in the crib by myself and I can walk pretty well while holding Mommy's hands. I can even kick a ball (Messi watch out!) Elliot and I will have a new nanny starting on Monday and her name is Algena. I can't wait!

Yellow and red tulip fields
Pink and red fields

Family portrait

Outlier

Purple and red fields

Two colored tulip


Alfred, Mommy, Daddy and I (squiggling out of Daddy's arms)


Daffodil field and a little sunshine


Deception Pass
Deception Pass is a strait between Whidbey Island and Fidalgo Island that connects Skagit Bay, part of Puget Sound, with the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It is a beautiful area and the state park sees over 2 million visitors per year. The rocky shoreline actually is great for an easy hike to watch the waves and sea life, such as seals, ducks, loons and eagles. The nearby islands and Olympic mountains provide a beautiful backdrop to the turquoise crystal clear water.

Overlooking the Puget Sound at Deception Pass State Park

On the Deception Pass bridge in the pouring rain

Checking out the waves at Deception Pass State Park

Sightseeing is exhausing

When do I turn 16?

On the Whidbey Island Ferry back to Seattle

On the Whidbey Island Ferry with Alfred

More photos around home

Look at me Mommy. I'm standing!

and I can feed myself!

Get these things off of me!



I love the swings at the park!
Springtime hail shower?! At least we don't have snow!

Comments

  1. JoAnnApril 18, 2013 at 7:46 AM

    I absolutely love your entries in your blog. The subjects are very cute too. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Downtown, downtown!

By
Image
Benziger Family in Chi-town 2019 Downtown What you see is what you get girl Don't ever forget girl Ain't seen nothing yet until you're Downtown Have you heard the song,  "Downtown, downtown" by Macklemore? Our one trip this summer was a long weekend going downtown - to Chi-town. A quick 1 hour direct flight from Duluth makes it an easy get-a-way with lots of great restaurants and cultural opportunities for the big and little kids. Luck for me, our Thursday night flight was delayed two-hours so that I finished reading all my echocardiograms and cleaned out my Epic in basket with just enough time to spare to get home, change clothes, finish packing and leave our house exactly 1 hour prior to flight departure and still drive to the airport, park, check a bag, get through security, and buy some candy before the plane started boarding! Gotta love the DLH international airport! "Long" security lines at the airport < 1 hour prior to flight...
Read more

Welcome to the world baby Theo!

By
Image
   Our little baby, Theodore James, was born at Swedish Hospital in Seattle last week. He was born early because mom developed some preeclampsia which necessitated his sooner-than-expected delivery. Boy was he a peanut - weighing in at 5 lbs. 9 oz.! He had to spend a few days in the Infant Special Care Unit because he had low blood sugar and needed IV fluids and frequent blood sugar monitoring. He was such a champ and tolerated the heel sticks without a peep and didn't mind the continuous heart rate and oxygen saturation monitoring either. We were lucky that he had a full time nurse watching him so we could get some sleep those first nights but then we quickly became accustomed to his rigorous schedule of feeding every three hours - 3, 6, 9, and 12 around the clock to maintain his blood sugars above a certain level. After four long days in the hospital, we were discharged home. Since coming home, I'd say this was the longest week of my life as it was full of new ...
Read more

THEO is 12!

By
Image
Theo in the Grand Tetons at sunset Theo pointing to Lake Haiyaha in Rocky Mountain National Park where he had hiked the day before Give me a T-T,  Give me an H-H,  Give me an E-E-,  Give me an O-O,  What's that spell? THEO! Our baby boy is 12. From 5 lbs, 9 oz and 18 inches to over 90 lbs. and 5' 4", he's not such a little peanut anymore. He enjoys playing lots of sports - soccer, basketball, volleyball, disc golf, mountain biking, and gaga ball in gym. He loves swimming, tubing and knee boarding at the cabin. In the winter he loves sledding at Holy Rosary and skiing at Spirit Mountain. He's in his 6th year of piano with Ms. Roberta and wants to do the drums in middle school next year. His dream day is to play Fortnite all day and night with his friends. He's kind, competitive, and funny. He's a good friend and does very well in school.  Theo winning the golden boot at his last tournament game for Gitchi Gummi Theo's birthday interview What's your n...
Read more