Washington Summer- Mercer Island

We visited the Walthers on Thursday and Friday. We were lucky in that Nolan had a light schedule those days, so we had a chance to spend some time with him, as well as Telitha and the kiddos. They have a wonderful backyard with plenty of space to run around, dig holes, and collect pinecones. Despite the cold and wet weather, that is pretty much all Matthew, Melissa, and Isaac wanted to do. They were very, very muddy but happy kids. Mark and Isaac got along beautifully and played well together. I think they will be friends when they get older. Melissa and James kept things lively; they are both firecrackers. Matthew helped look after the youngest two. He's a pretty protective brother and cousin.

Matthew and James having fun in the dirt:

Melissa on the teeter-totter with Mark:
Thursday evening we went to dinner at the house of my best friend from high school. It was lovely seeing her again and to finally meet Greg! Also, we were introduced to some fantastic peach gelato. Thanks for dinner, dear, and for putting up with a cranky toddler!

Mercer Island also boasts of one terrific playground with chimes to play, a castle playground, rock wall, and a dragon!

Happy Birthday Nolan!

While visiting Nolan turned the big 3-0!

The kids were busy making pictures and cards.

Happy Birthday!

The Walthers come to visit

Several weeks ago Jonathan's sister, Telitha, brother-in-law, Nolan, and their crew came to visit. Their boys have gotten so big! We were so glad to have them come all the way to Texas.

Here we are on the train at Brackenridge Park.
We made a stop to see the Japanese Tea gardens. It's been on my "to-see" list and we'll definitely go back once it is in bloom. Still, it was pretty even in February.

Melissa, Mark and Aunt Telitha checking out the Koi. Melissa upon seeing the picture: "I miss Aunt Telitha. I wish we were with her all the time. "

Uncle Nolan, James, Melissa, and Jonathan at the falls.

(Cute cousins)

Check it out! Something caught Isaac's attention.

Uncle Nolan with Mark. Melissa and Matthew loved rough housing and playing games with Uncle Nolan. Uncles are great!
A bigger view of the park.
Melissa found a throne.
Matthew was in school during this trip so I didn't get pictures of him with the cousins.

As usual, I wish I'd taken more pictures.

Take me out to the ball game

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Originally uploaded by jbellis

My sister Telitha and her husband Nolan took me to a Spurs game tonight. We congratulated ourselves on getting a ride from one of the parking lot attendants on an electric cart -- since Telitha and Nolan were each carrying one of their boys -- but then found we'd left the tickets back in the car and Nolan had to run back to get them. I told Telitha, "His birthday present just got twice as expensive."

This is the first time I've been to a professional sporting event. There were a lot of people there. Even from the very last row of seats (I kid you not), it struck me how TALL the players were. You miss that on a 2D television, somehow. And it was loud, with lots of flashing lights.

As with college sports, seeing that many people take a game so seriously seemed like a form of collective insanity to me at first. 20,000 people boo-ing at once is kind of a shock. CONFORM, it commands! I don't do conform.

But after a bit I got a little more acclimated to the noise and relaxed. Saw some good plays and hot cheerleaders. We left before they got to the "foul on every possession to stretch out the clock" stage.

Insanity doesn't seem too strong a word for the prices, though. Just one section below us the tickets listed for $100! (Telitha recommends stubhub to save money. Ours were $5.) I'm still boggling, a little. Telitha and Nolan's strategy of "get cheap tickets so you don't mind arriving late and leaving early to avoid the parking lot mess" seems like a winner.

Trip to Washington- Day 4

Monday I had the pleasure of visiting Telitha, her husband Nolan, and my two little nephews whom I haven't seen in over 2 years. They moved to Washington this summer for Nolan's internship, so I'm looking forward to the opportunity to see much more of them!

Nolan managed to get all three car seats into the back of their car. A Herculean task.

The summer was very dry and hadn't really rained in two months. Of course when I come to visit it pours. Welcome back to Seattle! Sure beats the 100+ heat wave of the previous week, so I won't complain. Due to the soggy weather, we opted to go to the mall with a little indoor play area to burn off excess energy. There I had one of the best sandwiches I have ever tasted. It was a beefsteak with melted provolone and jalapenos all on a toasted sour dough bun. Delicious.

Isaac highly approved of the indoor play area. The soft climbing structures were just his size to scale up and down. He was very disappointed to leave and hooted his frustration. Unfortunately we weren't the only ones with the idea of going to the mall to escape the rain, and the area was packed with at least 50 kids.

James playing on top of the boat.

Baby Mark. I can't believe how coordinated he is already!

Tuesday, before the crack of dawn, we flew back. Fortunately the return flight was uneventful, and even the layover in LAX wasn't too long. Unfortunately Isaac only took two micro-naps (maybe 45 minutes total), so I had to entertain him for 5 hours in crowded conditions and 3 hours in airports. We were very happy to see Jonathan, Matthew, and Melissa!