Weekend Away at the Alderbrook

For my 30th birthday, I asked that we pack up the whole family for a weekend get-a-way and my wish was granted with a stay at the Alderbrook Resort on the shores of the Hood Canal (the only fjord in North America!) which is on the Washington state peninsula. We packed up baby and dog and boarded a ferry in downtown Seattle and 90 minutes later we felt a million miles away. I was treated to a 90 minute hot stone massage (so relaxing that I don't remember half of it!) which was needed more than I had realized.

Saturday night we sat down for a nice meal in the restaurant however Harrison refused to take his normal nap and got so worked up and beyond tired that he literally couldn't fall asleep. Our half eaten meals and dessert had to be sent up to our room so we could finish and Michael ended up putting him in the stroller and walking up and down the hallways and around the grounds for 30 minutes to get him to fall asleep. Ah, the joys of being a parent!

The blog is giving me trouble arranging the pictures so they are not in the best story telling order:

Daddy & Harrison playing on the bed. The room had 20 foot ceilings, a small deck, a window bench and a lovely view of the Hood Canal and the mountains.

The shwanky resort allows pets; Winston was very at home and enjoyed barking on the deck at a cat on the lawn below.

Chillin'

A sunset walk on the beach (it sounds like a cliche, but truly a lovely evening!)

Dog and dog's best friend

Family photo opp on the beach

"Discovery." At low tide the beach was littered with oyster shells. I found a particularly big one, covered in barnacle like shells; Winston was very intrigued.

Michael skipping stones; Winston running into the canal to try to fetch them

These boulders are on top of a small waterfall in the courtyard below our room

View of Seattle from the ferry

On the deck of the ferry; I believe Bremerton is in the background

Tongue Wagging

Many of you may remember this picture of Harrison with his tongue kind of sticking out. Recently he has been sticking his tongue out at us more than ever and if we do it back he seems to understand that we want to mimic the action and keep it going. We got a couple tries on camera... it's super cute!

Tulips!

I have lived in the Seattle area for 12 years and until last week had only visited the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival once. That said, we got there way too early in the season and there were only 10 rows of tulips blooming leaving the other many acres a sea of green stems -- very disappointing after a 75 minute drive. Thanks to maternity leave, I saw on the midday news report that the fields were in full bloom so I figured what better time than now to get out there!

Brennan, Beckett, Harrison and I made the drive to Mount Vernon last Tuesday to see these flower fields first had and it was totally worth the trip! In this case the pictures are certainly worth a thousand words:

Baby's First Sporting Events

April 14th was Opening Day for the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field. Lucky for us, Brennan had an extra ticket so we packed our boys in the car to enjoy the sunshine and the return of Ken Griffey Jr. to the M's (too bad Ichiro was on DL that day). Evidently we should have bought a Lottery ticket becuase we managed to score free parking just 2 blocks away (the pay lots asked for as much as $50) AND the boys made it through the 8th inning before getting cranky (we watched the end of the game from the team store where mommy bought Harrison a hat)!

Bleacher Bums

Saturday, April 25th was the annual Spring "Purple & Gold" Husky Football practice game. The team splits up and plays a game and gives the Husky Nation something to get excited about (hopefully!). We met Rudy & Brennan and their friends for a tailgate in Montlake before heading inside the stadium to enjoy the game.

Harrison with Harry the Husky (he wasn't as scared as he looks)

Harrison still needs some official Husky gear...

Dad hopes for many more father-son Husky games in the future

"I'm so excited I'm speechless!" - Harrison Jay Fein

Happy Baby

Our baby has many reasons to be happy...

Playing around with Daddy

Wearing "gDiapers" for the first time; comfy and better for the environment than disposables!

Hanging around with Winston

Saturday Morning with Daddy

Raina Turns 30; World Does Not Come To An End

Well, I finally turned 30 last week (April 21)... I don't have a problem turning 30 but I remember being young and being excited to turn 8... only from that perspective do I feel old. I have everything I want and need and so feel good about this landmark birthday. We spent that auspicious Tuesday night at The Ram with a ton of my friends, eating, drinking and texting messages to the TV screens! Thank you to grandma and zaidy for babysitting and allowing momma to have a night out with no worries :)

Raina finally manages to transfer pictures from her camera phone

Like the post title suggests, here's what I got (BTW I am impressed at the overall quality of my little camera phone):

Harrison within the first 2 hours of birth...

Michael holding the baby WHILE playing ping pong against me... he would like me to add that yes, he can whoop me one handed while holding our son. This was at the Kinsey's House for Jeff's 29th birthday bash... note: no babies were harmed during the making of this photograph

Chyna's Visit to Seattle: Archie McPhee, a local store with lots of crazy novelty items. Chyna bought an egg plant key chain to proclaim her love of vegetables to the world. I bought my friend Brennan an action figure of the "Patron Saint of Real Estate" for her birthday... she followed the instructions and buried it under her For Sale sign and the very next day she received two offers! Bren, do I get any commission for that?

Chyna's Visit to Seattle: Woodland Park Zoo

We were the only people at this particular window at the orangutan pen. This dude walked up to us with a sheet pulled over his head as if he was shading himself from the sun or rain although there was neither to bother him. In his hand is a plastic bottle filled with some type of treat that he was working to free. His leathery hands manipulated the bottle easily and made him seem so human; it was the best 5 minutes of the day.

Harrison's first Major League Baseball Game, Opening Day for the Mariners... Brennan and Beckett (1 year old) spent the sunny afternoon with us on this beautiful spring day. Harrison was content in the Bjorn carrier most of the time and we were impressed our boys lasted through the 8th inning (we watched the end of the game on the tv monitors in the team store where I purchased Harrison's first baseball hat).

Ashley's Bachelorette Party was last Saturday and we went to Snoqualmie Casino. Melissa and I are two of her seven bridesmaids and this picture was taken in the night club at about 1am... can you see how tired I am?!

Happy Easter!

It has been busy around the Fein household the past few weeks so I have some catching up to do. I'll start at the most recent and work my way back:

I took the picture below of Harrison a few days before Easter... I LOVED him in his Easter outfit and just had to ensure it was documented and decided to go overboard and stage it like a professional studio. The funny part is what you can't see... the only room with adequate lighting was the new bathroom so I draped a bed sheet over the shower stall and stacked large storage bins against the shower door and draped another bed sheet over that. I placed the basket on top and stuffed it with my smallest throw pillow to give him something firm to sit on and then covered it with the grass. The background is actually the pad to his changing table which was firm enough to support him as he leaned up against it. Aunt Chyna sat him in the basket and is stationed just outside the range of the lens - her hands would spring in and prop him back into a sitting position whenever he would start to slump over every 20 seconds or so! Also my flash was too bright and the bathroom lights too dim so i had hunted around the house until I cold find a suitable piece of opaque plastic to put in front of my flash to try to diffuse the light. WHEW! In the end, this is what we got and I think it was definitely worth the effort!

Happy Easter!

Another shot from the same morning

Team Fein spent the Easter holiday with Michael's family at mass at Sacred Heart Church (of which Harrison spent half the service in the foyer - no surprise there) followed by an evening at Uncle John and Aunt Shivonne's (aka Auntie Bon Bon) house. Michael contributed his signature holiday dish of scalloped potatoes, chalk full of cheese and cream and deliciousness... oh the deliciousness! Next year the whole family is looking forward to resuming egg hunts again.

In an effort to instill a love of reading early, I have been reading books to Harrison for a few weeks now, although I am sure he doesn't even realize I am holding a book in front of him. On Saturday morning, Michael picked up a book and read to him for the first time and genuinely grabbed his attention - totally cute (the baby, not so much dad in the morning)!

Reading "Baby Beluga"

Aunt Chyna left the warm weather of Las Vegas and spent her Spring Break with us in Seattle; while it snowed on April 1st, by April 5th it was sunny and warm and we were able to go out and enjoy several activities, including a picnic at Medina Beach, the Seattle Aquarium (Chyna's favorite!) and a visit to the Pacific Science Center and their Butterfly House, one of my most favorite places to visit.

Baby and Mommy in the Butterfly House

Aunt Chyna Researching Species

Medina Beach - Harrison is 9 weeks old

Aunt Chyna changed her first diaper this week!

Monday morning while waiting for Aunt Chyna to wake up (at almost 15, she can sleep like 12 hours at night... in my dreams!), Harrison spent some time in the gym and caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and seemed quite entertained with his handsome self.

Last week, we put Harrison down for a nap and when I came in to check on him to my surprise I found him sucking his thumb in his sleep. However he wasn't just recreationally sucking on it, he was going at it like his little life depended on it and I am convinced he would have swallowed his entire hand if those little fingers didn't get in the way! He usually uses a pacifier so this was a first and he hasn't done it since, probably because we swaddle him and lock in his arms... this day his "Houdini Hands" had made their way out.

Look at his cheeks, sucking away!

Daddy likes to play around when he gets home for work and mom makes dinner. What a great way for both of them to relax!

goofballs