Back in Seattle

Last year was the first time we took a trip to Seattle after our usual trip to Portland. We loved it so much last year, we had to go back and extend the trip by a day. This year we stayed closer to the water on First Ave with a view of Elliot Bay. We fell in love with the city all over again.

We arrived in the early evening and saw this from our hotel room. We then headed out to the Central Bar, which is apparently the oldest bar in Seattle. The bartender told us stories of Nirvana and Pearl Jam playing there which was backed up by the photos on the wall.The Bainbridge Ferry on Elliott Bay, a regular site throughout the day.A view of the city from Pike Place.

We hit the Seattle Aquarium. Here I am in front of this huge fish tank. Can you imagine what would happen if the glass broke? Eeeeeeeeeessssh.Outside of the Aquarium overlooking Elliott Bay.

On our last night, we went back to the hotel early and got room service for dinner as we had to get up around 3am to catch our flight back home. While Ryan watched a movie, I took a wonderfully relaxing bath that filled from the faucet in the ceiling....As you can see, there is also just a piece of glass separating the bedroom from the bathroom. There was an automatic privacy shade you could put down, uber trendy!

We had a great time in Seattle and cannot wait to go back again!

Trip to the PNW, cont..

My posts have been chronologically out of order lately as our laptop contracted a nasty virus which wiped it out. Luckily, I had most of the photos/songs, etc. backed up but it took me awhile to get everything back in order. So, here we go back to early March and our trip to the pacific northwest...specifically Oregon and Washington.

After Todd's big birthday bash, we had a nice weekend with the family. Our first trip was to the Japanese Gardens in Portland. We were told we actually picked the best weekend as the weeping cherry had just bloomed. Very cool.

The brothers Ryan, Mark and Todd (and Grant in the carrier).The beautiful weeping cherry.

Ryan and Todd in their matching jackets.

Uncle Ry with Owen and Grant.Dinner on our last night - steak and Dungeness crab.Even Gracie got some crab! She loved it!

We had another fantastic visit in Portland. On Monday, we took the 3.5 hour train ride up to Seattle to finish up our vacation...

Happy Birthday (again) Ryan!

Ryan's birthday gift came this past Friday evening with a trip to the Red Sox vs. Orioles at Fenway Park. We both took a half day of work and headed to Boston to check into our hotel and mosey on down to Yawkey Way. We have been to Sox games before but this year was special as we were in the .... FRONT ROW....and right next to the dugout. I think Terry Francona is very cool as he is so level headed and seemingly laid back under high pressure situations.....so seeing him in action was pretty exciting for me. More importantly, the birthday boy was in his element, talking to Big Papi and making friends with everyone around us by predicting the next plays.

Big Papi was looking a little down after warm-ups. Not to worry friends, we kept telling him how much we loved him. I am sure it helped him at his first at bat for the night.....a HOME RUN!I fondly refer to this photo as "The Starting Lineup". But, really....$7.25 for a Heineken? You are looking at $50.75 worth of beer.... what a racket. Just to mention, these are not our beers. Ours were on the other side of the camera! Actually, I had wine. In a plastic cup. Nice and classy.

Tito.... He was right there the whole game and I was unable to get a really good shot.YOUKKKKKK!!!!!You can see Buchholz in the center here. He was so nice and kept tossing balls back to the kids behind the dugout.

Ryan, very boldly, predicted to those around us that Big Papi was going to hit a home run on his first at bat. This was his first game back after several not playing. I took this photo seconds before he hit that predicted home run and Ryan became a fan favorite to those around us.Jon Lester tossing the ball to a kid in the stands.Lester in motion.Wally in action.

Okajima on the left and Bard on the right headed to the bullpen.
The icing on the cake was our hotel room at the Nine Zero Hotel on Tremont Street. As we checked in, the front desk clerk advised us that he was upgrading us to the 18th floor with an amazing view of Boston. He was right! Overall, another amazing trip to Boston and even better trip to Fenway.

A little bit of inspiration...

Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass... it's about learning how to dance in the rain.

Ryan and I took a trip to one of our favorite country stores today. They had a pile of signs with the requisite quotes that have become standard decorations like "Live, Love, Laugh", etc... As I searched through them, one caught my eye. The quote above I had not seen before and I thought spoke volumes. I don't know about you, but I get very tired of people using quotes or sending quotes in emails (especially at work) to send a message... unless it is truly thoughtful and I felt this one was.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Todd's Big Day

We arrived in Portland on Thursday night but weren't surprising Ryan's big brother Todd until Friday evening. While we were in our hotel and otherwise enjoying Portland, Todd had some other surprises.

Surprise #1: Thursday evening, he went to the airport to pick up a friend..turns out it was his mom, Donna!

Surprise #2: Middle brother Mark rings the doorbell mid-afternoon Friday. Mark had also flown in from New Hampshire. Right now, Todd is probably thinking..."OK, guys. Who is next?"

So, Ryan calls Todd (from downtown Portland) to say Happy Birthday. He also adds that he knows Mom and Mark made the trip but he just wasn't able to right now with the work schedule but lets him know we will be out in May/June.

Now Ryan and I are so ready for Surprise #3 to meet Todd at Jake's Restaurant (also located in the Governor Hotel, where we stayed). We left a card with the maitre d' and described what Todd and Mark looked like. He agreed to give him the card before they entered. The card was from us and stated we were sad we could not be there but we arranged for a round of drinks on us...then when you flipped the card over, it said "... or you could join us at our table!". Good ideas don't always come to fruition as Ryan and I watch Mark and Todd waltz in and the maitre d' run after them with the card! Oh well, the minor detail wasn't important... Ryan ran up and gave his big brother a hug.Here are the three brothers at the Governor after the surprise: Mark, Todd and Ryan.

And, we are not done yet... Surprise #4: Cathy and Donna were back at the house arranging the food and gathering the friends for a surprise party! As we head back to the house, I was texting Cathy with our whereabouts so they would all be prepared. So, we all walk in to a relatively dark and quiet house and see Cathy and Donna greeting us with some yummy hors d'oeuvres and wine. Todd walks in.... and hidden in his office you hear...."Surprise!!!!" ...about 25 friends jump out and gather around.

Here is Todd with his friends after the surprise.

We had such a great time at his party! Kudos to Cathy for pulling all of this off - including arranging for us all to surprise Todd by flying in from across the country, arranging the food, friends, etc... A truly great time had by all! Happy 40th, Todd!