Christmas Ships

Another advantage, besides swings, to living so close to Matthews Beach Park and Lake Washington is that we can walk to see the Christmas ships. For the past three years we've had family over to walk down to see the ships and and listen to the carolers. Then we all head back for yummy food and drink - this year 1) roasted bell pepper, oregano and pork shoulder chili and 2) beef barley and mushroom soup. It is also fun because all five of my cousins get together.

Almost there!

The gang!

What's up cuz? O que pasa primos?

I am excited for the Solemnity of the Nativity (Dad, can't we just call it Christmas like everyone else?) I've been looking at these pretty blue boxes long enough. I don't really care what is inside, I just want to play with the cardboard.

Corks

Thanks to Daddy there is no shortage of wine corks around the house and while I've got 20 years before I can truly drink it, I've master the art of the sniff. This particular cork, if you can't tell from the symbol on it, came from a lovely bottle of Folie a Deux Zinfandel that we cracked open for cousin Nicholas' 21st Birthday dinner. It had a lovely tannin with hints of plum and cherry.

A December Night on the Town

This week the family decided to head downtown for an evening after work.

The night started at Tom Douglas' Serious Pie restaurant for some of Seattle's most renowned pizza.

We then headed to Pacific Place for the 6 o'clock snow show. After the snow we checked out many nutcrackers and shops. My favorite store was Top Ten Toys; I could have stayed in there for hours. Dad told mommy I was acting like a kid in a toy store (mommy groaned too).

Anyhow, here are some pictures of the night's highlights.

Spicy pepper bomb and venison sausage - Yum.

Let it snow - Seattle style - every night in December 6pm at Pacific Place.

Whoa daddy, that dude has a huge head.

Hhmmm? I wonder why dad made me try this Sounders FC jersey on in three sizes and then asked for a gift box?

Advent Season Activities

It has been a busy first two weeks of Advent. It took four days to get the Christmas decorations up . . . thanks to me! I had a fun Saturday night on the vigil of St. Nicholas with the Feeneys, Hanzelis, and Laurinos - the best part about that of course was that Dominic and Daniel were here; and I guess daddy cooked a nice French meal. We took a trip to Leavenworth; daddy sampled 32 wines and I loved the spicy paprika salami. We've done family nights out to Laurelhurst Park and Green Lake for Christmas lights and carols and Christmas music is usually on in the house or car.

What you don't see photographed was after mommy set me down, the major league fit I threw! I wanted to continue playing with the lights and shiny balls. I haven't been back on the table since!

Here I am inspecting daddy's progress putting up the Christmas lights.

The Hunt for O Tannenbaum

On the first Sunday of Advent (note the appropriately themed purple outfit) we set out to find the perfect Christmas tree. For some reason mom and dad decided we needed a shorter tree this year because they want to elevate the tree on a table. With my potato rosemary bread in hand, off we went to the local tree stand in Wedgwood to find a cute noble fir. Mommy made sugar cookies, we drank hot cocoa and played Christmas tunes.

I was confused that I couldn't play with all the shiny balls (a.k.a. ornaments). One casualty was the Virgin Mary's wooden head of the Nativity Scene that I dropped, (thankfully reattached with a little super glue), the other casualty was the folks nerves as I got into EVERYTHING! Here are some of the things I overheard mom and dad say:

"Where's the super glue?"
"Do we need all these decorations?"
"Does the tree need lights?"
"No."
"Does Audrey need to take a nap?"
"Oh no!"
"Give that to mommy."
"Don't put that in your mouth."
"Aye!"
"Do you think she can reach that?"
"I think we will need a new centerpiece."
"No No No!"
"I love you Audrey Bernadette."

Is this the one?

O.k. let's go home

The Zoo Part Deux

During the busy Thanksgiving weekend mom, dad, grandma and me took a couple of hours to go to the Woodland Park Zoo. It was my fourth time there, but two of the other times were just for ZooTune concerts. We had a grand time, there was almost no one there yet the animals where out in force.

Walking the Walk

I've been dabbling in this walking thing for about a month or more now, and I think crawling may still be a faster mode to get around, but according to mom and dad November 25 was probably the first day I actually walked more than I crawled.

P.S. - just in time to help with eating Thanksgiving dinner, I am cutting my first molar.