Benjamin's Story

We stopped for a walking break in Nevada. We pretty much stopped every hour and a half, which made for long days, but it was just enough to give been some wiggling around time. Between restaurants, playgrounds, and the occasional parking lot, we did OK.

On the Long Ride across country, from Denver to San Rafael, Benjamin did great. He passed through Utah, but we didn't take any photos to comemorate it. Between Ben, the kitties, and the doggy, it could have been worse, but they all did very well.

There's a big break in the photo taking because Ben was massively sick with the flu for a week and we ended up in the hospital. If I find it, I can post a photo of the poor guy with an IV in his forehead, but that's not too fun.

After he recovered, Amy, Lisa, and Steve came down for a visit. It was nice to see them and we'll miss having them nearby.

Here's Jeanette with her friend Jiyhe and Karai. Ben was at a restaurant, so fun was guaranteed for him.

We went to a childhood favorite location of Jeanettes (I can't remember the name...) where Ben got to play on the playground and see some animals. As usual, he had a lot of fun.

We spent part of the day at the Chateau Ste. Michelle winery. It's tough to do these things with a baby, but Ben wasn't too bad. If you taste a little formula in your Ethos, blame us... we had to feed the kid in the fermentation area.

Outside, we bought a bottle of wine and sat for a bit to have some sips. It was very tasty.

We took Benjamin and a daughter of Jeanette's friend, Lily, to the Seattle Aquarium. As you can see, Benjamin was a blur of activity around the fish tanks, especially the touching tanks, where he was plunging his hands into COLD water.

Here are Jeanette and Ben, freezing for a quick photo op on the deck of the ferry headed back to Seattle.

Near Dungeoness Spit, we stopped for a bite at the 3 Crabs Restaurant in Sequim. Naturally, we had a bit of Dungeoness and a whole bunch of other seafood in a very good dish that I believe was called the "Taste of Dungeoness". Benjamin chowed on the fish and bread right along with the two of us.

The photo shows us on the beach outside the restaurant. British Columbia is obscured by haze in the distance.

Here's a cute photo of Jeanette and Ben on the steps at one of the fancy new Indian Reservation sites on the Olympic Penninsula. He was taking a break from the hard work of descending the steps!

Jeanette and Ben accompanied me on a business trip to Seattle. We had a great couple of days until Ben got SICK. This was during some sightseeing on the first morning.

Unfortunately, we found the children's museum too late! I think we were having the house inspected on this day for the sale and we finally decided to check it out. Jeanette didn't realize how much the museum's were built for kids and I hadn't even heard of it. Benjamin had a blast and got to watch and interact with a bunch of other kids.

After checking out a couple of other museums, Jeanette thinks this is the best she's seen.

Here's Benjamin on his first big boy playground. He tromped up the steps, across the bridge, and was a champ about taking the slide with mom and dad's help. He even wanted to do it again! It was also fun to see him watching the other kids intently.

Here's Benjamin, trying his feet at some steps outside the house. At this point, he was only walking with major assistance, but he was starting to get the hang of it.