Video Updates and More

Here's Anna Belle's first ride in Brady's Jeep. They were both rather tickled with the idea of riding around together. I love how Anna Belle has her hand on Brady's shoulder in the second picture. After I took Anna Belle out, Brady put the towel in his lap like an old lady. He makes me giggle every day.

Brett and Allison came over this afternoon. We watched the Texans game, ate junk food and carved pumpkins. Brady used the drill to poke holes in his pumpkin. Every time Taylor uses the drill / powered screw driver, Brady wants to use it too. This was a great opportunity for him to play with Daddy's toys.

A little competitive carving between siblings. I think they BOTH did a great job : )

As usual, I'm slow to upload videos. This video is from Brady's first "Glow Bath". We bought a bunch of glow sticks and let him take a bath with them in the dark. It entertained him for quite awhile: mission accomplished. Photos and videos in the dark are kind of tough.

Here's a random video of Brady making Anna Belle laugh. We were trying to watch The Little Mermaid VHS in his room. I'm trying to introduce him to more Disney movies prior to our trip to Disney World. Obviously, I had a hard time holding his attention.

Anna Belle is moving around more and more. This little girl was born with a lot of vigor and determination.

Here's a video of Korey acting silly with Addison and Brady (the two who played so sweetly at the beach).

Too much Doc and Marty?

Daddy: It's nigh-night time.

Brady: I gotta go back to 1985.

Late October

This morning we decorated pumpkins. I think we're going to do the next 2 this afternoon.

Anna Belle's wearing her owl jammies in the background.

On Saturday we went to Galveston to visit our Aggie friends, who rented a beach house.

My initial plan was to get pictures of Brady and Anna Belle on the beach at sunset. Anna Belle really wasn't keen on the idea and Brady just wanted to play, so I ended up with these photos.

Johnson Space Center

Grandma gave Brady this cool new astronaut jacket, which he loves! He's proud to show off the patches, and it makes him want to watch endless space shuttle videos on YouTube.

The space center had a really elaborate play gym.

Sightseeing around Vancouver

Our group toured the North Shore today. We snapped these pictures from the edge of Stanley Park, looking back at downtown and our hotel.

After Stanley Park, we drove about 10 minutes further to see the Capilano Suspension Bridge. We saw a lot of totem poles in Stanley Park and around the bridge.

This bridge hangs 230 feet from the river rapids below; it's really quite spectacular (and a little scary).

Three of us on the bridge. Having Brady with us would have been quite scary.

After the bridge, we drove a little further up the Grouse mountain. These gondolas took us from 3000 feet up to the top of the mountain where we had a lovely buffet lunch.

Anna Belle has turned into quite the jet setter. She's been all smiles and giggles, which has been such a blessing! Taylor has meetings all day tomorrow, Wednesday is slow and Thursday we take the long trip home. I'm counting down the days 'til I see my favorite little boy.

Vancouver or Bust

The Chateau Ste. Michelle winery is just 20 minutes north of Seattle. Since we were driving to Vancouver anyways, this turned into a great little stop. The Chateau and the grounds were really beautiful.

After the tour, tasting and gift shop, we sat outside and had our little bread, fruit, cheese and wine picnic with the Dennis family.

We also got a few good family pictures.

More Anna Belle...

Taylor hates when I take sad face pictures, but I couldn't help but snap a shot before we picked her up.

The Fairmont Pacific Rim ranks as the nicest hotel that Taylor and I have ever stayed at.

The Hotel Arts in Barcelona rivals this hotel. They were both built for the Olympics, had great technology and great access to the sea wall. In both hotels we also had good views of the water and the city from our room. This room is a little newer and has a TV in the bathroom mirror, which really takes the cake.

After dinner last night, Anna Belle was REALLY tired. I giggle out loud at her all the time; she's so sweet!

Seattle: Day 2

We ate dinner in the Seattle Space Needle last night; we were delighted to get reservations on such short notice. Taylor's really good at taking interesting architectural pictures.

I don't know if this is common knowledge, but I learned that the restaurant level of the needle rotates. Here was one of our views at dinner. Seeing downtown at night was also beautiful.

We generally wake up early, but with the 2 hour time difference, we woke up really early. It gave us a chance to shower and walk a block over to the market again. I know... we have probably overdone the sign pictures. We loved watching all the merchants setting up shop.

We ate breakfast at Lowell's this morning. I had bagels and lox, and Taylor had a traditional breakfast. It had a historic feel with black leather and chrome stools and old wood tables, overlooking Puget Sound.

Yesterday we ate the world's best mac-n-cheese at Beecher's.

They make all of their cheese right here in the market. We watched the dairy truck pumping in the fresh milk this morning and then picked up a few of their signature cheeses for our trip to the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery this afternoon. It's just a 20 minute drive from downtown Seattle.

This pig is a popular place to take photos.

The fish market, photographed yesterday, is behind us.

The seafood displays are really beautiful,

but not as beautiful as the flower displays. They had huge bouquets for $5 - $10.

Maroon carrots genetically engineered at Texas A&M University, and sold here in Seattle. Gig 'em Aggies!