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Growing up in a world of adventure.

Seattle Area Adventure: Seafair’s Blue Angels

Bergen attended his first official Blue Angels performance this past weekend, and he was kind of the star of the show.

We were lucky enough to get to enjoy the show from our friend’s deck in the Madrona neighborhood of Seattle.  Viewing from a deck above all the action on Lake Washington makes for some spectacular glimpses of the planes.

These shows give you a lot to take in.   Hear the roars of the jets.  Feel the vibrating impact as the jet zooms past, and seems just a few feet away.  Try as you might to follow their path, but sometimes you end up only witnessing what’s left behind.

Seafair in Seattle has been happening since the 1950’s beginning as away to attract attention to our city.  The Blue Angels performance, with their first show in 1972, is just one of the ways Seattle celebrates.  Their show was the culminating event of the fair that was kicked off with pirates invading Alki beach in West Seattle.  In between, just to name a few, there are parades, athletic competitions (full & half marathons, 5K, triathlon), hydroplane races, and festivals making for quite a busy summer!

Just like during the fireworks explosions that occurred while he slept on the night of the 4th of July, Bergen did not seem phased by the loud fly-bys of the jets.  He was determined to catch them though as he tried to reach out and grab the planes that came close to the house.

Useful Sites:

Seafair, particularly the Blue Angels, is another one of our summer traditions.  Share yours!

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Friday Dreaming: Lake Atitlán, Guatemala

Without a big trip planned until November when we travel to Kauai for a week, we’ve been doing a lot of dreaming lately.  Dreaming about trips we could take, and dreaming of trips past.

At dinner tonight, it was decided that if we could be anywhere in the world {where we had already been} at that moment without worrying about how long it would take, we would without a doubt travel to Lake Atitlán, Guatemala.

A pristine lake with 3 volcanoes layered in the distance.  Most of the tiny villages and towns are only accessible by boat, unless of course you want to hike.

It was here where I got one of my first glimpses of traditional baby wearing.  When I have Bergen on my back in the ergo, which is often these days, I sometimes catch myself thinking of these two little ones.

Your turn.  Where in the world do you dream of being at this moment?  Why?

Need some inspiration? There’s a lot more dreaming happening over at RWeThereYetMom?

It’s also Photo Friday at Delicious Baby!

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An Olympic Lesson

Do you have Olympic fever? I’m impressed and motivated by the athletes every time the games come around again.  Definitely makes me want to hit the pool and start doing flips.

Also, I can’t help but be reminded of our Olympic experience in Vancouver 2 1/2 years ago.  First, we are lucky enough to love very close to where the winter Olympics were held: Vancouver, B.C.  On top of that, we were lucky enough to get tickets to attend 6 events, and even a medal ceremony.  On our 2nd day in the Vancouver area, we were up at the crack of dawn to board the bus to Whistler for men’s downhill skiing.

When we arrived at the parking lot {in the pouring rain}, officials reported that all of the downhill skiing events were postponed for the day.  Too much snow.  Too much snow? Heartbroken, we talked about what to do.  We decided our best bet would be to go to Whistler anyway, and at least enjoy the day.  Having to think on our feet, we raced to another bus location (since our original bus wasn’t going up to the mountains at all), and hoped we could talk our way on for a ride.  It worked!

Once in Whistler, we took in the surroundings for a bit, saw the cauldron, and made our way to ticketing.  Maybe we could trade our tickets for another event?  Due to our limited time, we wouldn’t be able to attend the rescheduled downhill event.  A scalper milling about offered us a trade.  He had 2 tickets to the biathlon competition.  Biathlon?
Embarrassingly, I had never heard of the event that combines cross country skiing and target rifle shooting.  We decided to go for it.

It turned out to be the highlight of our winter Olympic games experience.  From our day in Whistler, B.C. at the biathlon competition, I give you an important travel lesson:

GO WITH THE FLOW, BE FLEXIBLE,

AND BE OPEN TO NEW EXPERIENCES

That’s really what travel is all about, right? You never know when a seemingly negative or “bad” experience just might turn into not only a positive experience, but your most memorable one.

For more travel photo fun, head over to Budget Travelers Sandbox!

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Travel Tips: Inside Bergen’s {Carry-on} Toy Bag

Flying with Babies: What to Pack in the Carry-on Toy Bag | WildTalesof.com

When packing for an upcoming flight with a baby, many things come into play.  To prepare, you’ll include everything needed, within reason, to keep your baby fed, dry, comfortable, and well-rested.  After all that, there isn’t much room for anything else, but there is still one more necessity! You need to keep your baby entertained.  How do you do that? With a cleverly packed toy bag.

3 Tips for Baby’s Carry-on Toy Bag:

1. Choose toys that are easy to pack.  Toys that are small, thin, and/or breakdown easily are best.

2. Choose toys that have multiple uses.  You don’t want the toy to be a one-trick pony.  Be creative and think of all the things you could do with that toy before it gets the privilege of  traveling with you and your baby.

3. Try to stay away from toys that are too noisy.  You want your fellow passengers to like you.  True, they’ll like you worse if you have a fussy baby, but annoying squeaks and repetitive jingles, aren’t going to get you any bonus points either.

6 Bergen-Approved Items

1. An entertaining book.  Bergen’s choice is The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (board book edition).  You can read the book.  You can look at the pictures.  You can have fun counting all the the fruits and vegetables the caterpillar consumes. You can play with the fun flaps as the items grow in number.  Other entertaining books include “lift-the-flap” books, and “Indestructibles“.

2. Nesting cups. Bergen loves his “Munchkin Bath Cups”.  They nest inside each other, can be stacked on top of each other to make a tower, and you can snap them together to make a caterpillar!  And, since they all fit so nicely together, they don’t take up a lot of space.

3. A Mirror.  Oh the fun you can have with a mirror! This particular mirror came from Bergen’s play mat, but we’ve repurposed it to be included in the travel toy bag.  Make funny faces, play around with light, have baby admire himself…and best of all? It’s super-thin, making it easy to stuff anywhere.

4. Rings.  Rings are a toy in themselves, but they can also be hooked on to other items, made into necklaces, bracelets,  leashes for lovies, and on and on.

5. The Whoozit.    With so many features, the “whoozit”, or similar baby toy, is bound to keep baby engaged (for at least minute or so).  In fact, on Bergen’s first flight to Atlanta, he laughed for the first time thanks to his whoozit!

6. Flash Cards.  Bergen likes the “Wee Gallery Art Cards for Baby“.  The black and white images are easy for him to see, and each card is two-sided giving him 2 perspectives of each masterpiece.  You can talk about each animal featured, make up stories, practice animal sounds, and then when you are all finished, baby can have at it, and “eat” them!

What’s in your Carry-On Toy Bag? Please share!

This post is part of Travel Tips Tuesday on WalkingOn Travels and Suitcases and Sippy Cups.  For tons more travel tips, check out their sites!

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Seattle Area Adventure: Blueberry Picking at Larsen Lake

Remember how I mentioned the other day that summer was back in Seattle? Well, the gray skies and 60 degree temperatures returned on Friday, but guess what I found out? 60 degrees and gray skies is perfect weather for blueberry picking.  My summer bucket list just received another check mark.

Bergen and I met Nina and her two kids (ages 1 & nearly 5) at Larsen Lake in Bellevue, Washington,  a suburb of Seattle, to see just how many blueberries we could gather in our buckets.  We both strapped the babies into their ergos on our backs, and with Maya in the lead we started down the main path.  Hundreds of blueberry bushes line this greenbelt area in the middle of suburbia allowing us to have our choice of spots to start from.

As we started picking away, Maya and I took Nina’s advice:

  • Pay attention to the color of the berry.  The darker the better.  If the blueberry isn’t blue, it’s not ready to be picked!
  • If the berry just seems to fall right off the stem, it’s probably a good choice!
  • Look for a bush with lots of berries.  That way, you’ll maximize your time at that particular spot.
  • Seek out more fruitful bushes by moving in from the trail, and front of the patch.

After a 1/2 hour or so, we took a break so that babies could have a walk, Maya could have a run, and Nina and I could explore the beautiful surroundings.  As we wandered the trail, we ran into fisherman, nice ladies with dogs, joggers, and of course other families enjoying the day just as we were.  Maya noticed the tall weeping willows, the “river” (stream), and the cute foot bridge we traveled across.  The area also features hemlocks and cedars, and is a great spot for birders.  Had we continued on the trail via the Lake Hills greenbelt, we would have eventually ended up at the slightly larger, Phantom Lake.

Recharged from our walk, we got back to the task of filling our buckets.

Maya was an excellent helper gathering many of the low-lying berries.

Bergen, on the other hand, had other ideas.

An hour more of picking, and everyone was tired and hungry (for more than just berries) so we made our way back to the stand to settle up.  I ended up with a little less than 3 pounds of blueberries.  Want to guess my total price? $3.35! Nina is apparently a super-picker (and she had a helper), and picked a little over $5 in berries.

Happily dreaming of all the things I could do with my blueberry stash…

Info to Know:

  • Larsen Lake Blueberry Farm is located in Bellevue, Washington.  From I-90, take take the exit for 148th Avenue SE (11 B), and head North.  Turn right into the parking lot just past SE 8th Street.
    • Open Tuesday-Sunday from 10 am-6pm, June 20th through the 1st week of October (as of July 2012)
    • 700 148th Avenue SE Bellevue, WA
      425-260-2266
    • The stand accepts cash and check only so be prepared!
    • There are pre-picked fruits (blueberries, of course) and veggies for sale.
    • The stand will provide you with one of their buckets for easy gathering.
  • More blueberry farm recommendations in the Seattle area from Red Tricycle

Feel free to share your favorite blueberry-friendly recipes by leaving a comment!

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Seattle Area Adventure: Play & Eat in Seward Park

Summer is back in Seattle! At least it was on this particular day.  Wanting to take advantage of the sunny, warm weather, and not wanting to heat up our non-air conditioned house anymore by turning on the oven, we recently headed over to our neighborhood to the southeast, Seward Park.

The first order of business was dinner.  Always after a good deal, we decided to check out a {new-to-us} burger joint that I discovered in our entertainment book: Bent Burgers.  After driving and walking by dozens of times, I was curious about the place.  Also, the coupon was “buy one burger, get one free”.  I was obviously sold.

With plenty of room on the back patio, we scoped out a spot, and headed to the counter to order.  There are plenty of choices, but it’s not overwhelming.  I went with the old standby: the cheeseburger, and Slaed ordered his go-to: the mushroom swiss.  We rounded out the meal with 2 beers, and an order to yam fries.

Bergen brought his own goodies, and chowed down while we waited for our burgers to arrive.

Bent Burger is family-friendly.  They had a highchair for Bergen, plenty of parking space for strollers, and even a special kids menu. The patio is a perfect place to enjoy the sun, but provided us with plenty of shade at the same time. We are still Seattlites after all, right?  We saw many happy kids coming in and out with their parents, and what I really loved was that they didn’t arrive in their cars.  Truly a neighborhood hangout.

Wondering about those burgers? Bergen was too.

These babies were served to us by friendly staff, were made to order, and came out promptly.  Mine was piled with fixings including perfectly melted cheese, crispy lettuce, juicy tomatoes, and their tangy “bent sauce”.  The burgers are not super fancy, and not super greasy like a typical fast food joint.  They’re just right.

Pleasantly pleased, and full of burger goodness, we ventured down the hill to the park.  This park makes me feel lucky to live in Seattle surrounded by such natural beauty.

What I love about Seward Park:

  • It’s a peninsula bounded by Lake Washington
  • Old Growth Forest
  • Stunning views of Mount Rainier
  • 2.4 mile multi-use trail
  • Plenty of space for swimming & “beach” play
  • Hiking trails
  • Playground complete with smaller scale play structure and zipline

On this particular evening, Bergen had just one thing in mind.  With no line at the baby swings, he hopped aboard, and took in the view of Lake Washington.  Mount Rainier was not making an appearance, unfortunately too hazy, but when we are given clear skies, it’s quite a sight.

After Bergen had had enough swinging, he cruised over to the play area that is just his size, well almost just his size.  This mini play structure is designed for kids ages 2 to 5 years.  The ground here is the new bouncy material.  We love this because there is nothing he can put in his mouth, which is the case with mulch and gravel at many other playgrounds.  We started to notice though that Bergen was crab walking instead of his usual full speed ahead crawling style.  When I got down on his level for a closer look, I realize he was avoiding the rough texture on this soft little knees.  Smart guy.

After some climbing and sliding, we gave the knees a break, and wandered over to the big open field, and beach front area.  I loved watching the kids jumping in and out of the water, diving off the platform, and just being happy and free.  Once Slaed let Bergen off of his shoulders, he made a beeline for the water’s edge.  Seriously, if I hadn’t stopped him (by the end of his shirt), he would have crawled right into the water! He was so determined.  We were wishing we had packed swimming gear.

We were hoping to top this beautiful evening off perfectly with an “Obama” cone (chocolate and vanilla twist) from the ice cream truck that frequents the park.  Unfortunately for us, he was no where to be found! Must have had a busy day, and I’m okay with that because I know we’ll be back very soon…

Info to Know:

  • Seward Park (5895 Lake Washington Blvd. South Seattle, 98118) is open from 6 am to 11 pm.
  • Check out the Seward Park Environmental & Audubon Center for programs, hikes, tours, and much more.  I know we will be attending the next Toddler Tales and Trails program.  There are plenty of options for bigger kids and adults too! I’m thinking a birding hike is in our near future too.
  • The park has great picnic shelters that can be reserved for a small fee.  Fun option for birthday parties and family gatherings!
  • More highlights include a clay studio, tennis courts, and 2 active bald eagle nests!

This post is part of “Photo Friday” on Delicious Baby.  Click the link to check out all the other beautiful and inspirational travel photos! After that, travel the world through Sundays in my City!

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