Aunt Chyna is Visiting!

Mommy's 17 year old sister Chyna is visiting for the summer! Auntie Chyna is feeling at home and Harrison loves having her AND mommy around all the time. In the past couple weeks we have kept busy taking her to our favorite spots as well as dragging her along on our humdrum errands.

 

It is so much fun to have the freedom of visiting places all around Seattle without the restrictions of working full time. We recently enjoyed a mid-week late-morning stroll in Pioneer Square, including a visit to Waterfall Park, a little urban oasis tucked into a courtyard at the site where UPS was founded.

In Pioneer Square, a group had apparently "Yarn Bombed" the trees and light posts... someone must have knitted for a really, really long time to make "sleeves" big enough to fit around all the trees!

One adventurous Saturday morning, we visited the University District's farmer's market, had lunch at a vegetarian establishment that I had walked by ten zillion times in college but had never entered (and it was great!) followed by a stroll through the University of Washington's quad and Red Square.

Harrison enjoys playing and says he "loves" his Aunt Chyna, which means a lot as he doesn't always give his heart away so readily! We are having a lot more fun, I just need to upload some more photos.

Vacation: New Mexico

The day after Disneyland we boarded a plane to Albuquerque, New Mexico where we met Auntie Barbara who had arrived 8 hours earlier. Flying in, the pilot called our attention to a huge wildfire burning at the Arizona/New Mexico boarder. The billows of smoke was amazing to see, the smoke filling Albuquerque was even more shocking, you couldn't see more than 70 yards ahead of you and the intense smell of smoke permeated the car and restaurant where we stopped to eat. By the time we arrived in Taos, three plus hours from the airport, it was 11:00pm and the night sky was dark and filled with stars.

When I awoke the next morning I got my first relatively clear look of the area and really loved the beauty of it all. Taos is situated in the high desert, with mountains, mesas, hills and the Rio Grande forging its way through the gorge just four miles from Barbara's vacation house.

View from the driveway

Rio Grande Gorge

View of Taos from Blueberry Hill

Michael and Barbara spent a few days cleaning up and cleaning out the house and storage sheds so Harrison and I explored the neighborhood. We took several walks up the road to a neighbor's property to gaze upon the awesome scrap metal sculptures. It might be difficult to tell from the photo below, but there is a windmill, a bull and a man... if you know your literature it is Don Quixote! Harrison loved these, especially the windmill and now excitedly points out all windmills big and small.

An evening walk

Barbara's neighbor Judy was very sweet to Harrison and had him visit her greenhouse several times to pick the smallest, sweetest strawberries almost everyday. We got to know Judy pretty well since we saw her daily and also made friends with another neighbor up the street, Alberto. Between them we learned a lot about the local history, culture and people and got a great feel what it might be like to be "Taosanian."

One day we took a lovely drive to the Rio Grande to swim and relax in the 85* sun. Harrison had a lot of fun splashing mom and dad with the cold water; only dad was brave enough to actually swim in the water! A little live entertainment was provided by a few daring young men who climbed the nearby bridge and jumped 50 feet into the river, which is evidently deeper than it looks.

Harrison has picked up interest in using the potty again and sometimes when we change his diaper it triggers his urge to go. When we changed him at the river he asked to use a potty and dad decided it was time to teach him to do it standing up in the bushes! I got one photo and managed to keep it tasteful:

After a picnic lunch, we packed up and headed back into town, stopping at a store to shop and check out the tee pees out front.

Barbara took us to meet her close friends, Rick and Jerry, and tour their amazing home. It has been featured in magazines because it is full more artwork than you can imagine and has a beautiful garden filled with sculptures as well as old rusted farm equipment that make an oasis in the desert. Since this "art gallery" is their home, I didn't take many photos but at one point, Harrison was standing at the top of the stairs leading up to the garden, raised his arms to the sky and yelled "Look at me, mommy!!" several times.

Sunday night, Barbara and Judy watched Harrison while Michael and I went out for dinner at Doc Martins. I was feeling especially adventurous that evening and ate rabbit and rattlesnake sausage and an elk burger and would definitely do it again, everything was delicious.

Our last night in Taos, we invited Judy and her friend over for dinner on the patio finished off with a fire and Smores and another lovely Taos sunset.

Our last day in new Mexico, we breakfasted at the Taos Diner then drove to Sante Fe before heading to Albuquerque for our flight. Strolling Sante Fe's streets we saw the cathedral Basilica of St. Francis, checked out the nicest jewelery shop in town (so posh!), bought some silver earrings from a local artisan, perused a photo gallery and ate lunch at Cafe Pasqual's.

Hanging around the park

Lunch at Pasqual's

Thank you Auntie Barbara for a wonder trip. Los Angeles, Taos and Sante Fe were wonderful and we enjoyed spending so much time with you, your family and friends!

Vacation: Disneyland!

Before you get all the great photos of Harrison's first visit to Disneyland, you should know what Disneyland means to us.

Raina grew up in Las Vegas, a mere four hours from the Magic Kingdom. My parents used to put my brother and me in the car at 4am, drive to Anaheim, go-go-go all day long hitting as many rides as we could, watch the fireworks and then drive home again the same night. I probably visited Disneyland 12 times by the time I was 18 and I thought this was the norm for most families. I am still shocked when I chat with friends and find out, growing up in Seattle, they have only been to Disneyland once.

Michael's father's family is primarily in L.A. and his mother's family is primarily in the Bay Area, so a trip to California to visit family was often a trip to Disneyland as well. His mom actually went to Disneyland the first week it was open as a little girl and she has loved visiting ever since. Michael also talked about doing Disneyland "commando style," hitting as many rides as they could, preplanning the route and staying until they were practically the last people leaving the park.

As  you may imagine, we were really excited to take Harrison to Disneyland. I had already decided I wanted a mouse-ears hat with my name embroidered in curlicue letters since I was never allowed one when I was little. We walked through the gates and couldn't help but feel a rush of emotion and the next thing I knew I was actually crying a little, I was so happy to be in a place I loved, with my little boy and my husband who I was sure felt the same way. It was totally cool.

Then we went into commando mode for the first and only time that day. We pushed Harrison past the characters on Main Street USA even though we knew he would love to stop and see them. Michael hooked right into Tomorrowland to get fast passes for the newly updated Star Tours which had reopened only two days earlier while I pushed Harrison past the statue of Mickey and Walt in front of the castle where people were stopping to take the quintessential Disneyland photos. The line to Peter Pan is often the longest so I whipped Harrison out of his seat in the stroller and I accidentally cut the line in my haste (to be fair, the people were way back and I didn't know they were in line!). Dad rejoined us 20 minutes later after waiting 15 minutes just to get a fast pass ticket (!).

From the Peter Pan line, Harrison saw Dumbo and insisted we go over there next and we gladly complied; while dad stood in line mom and son took a ride on King Arthur's carouse. After a midmorning break we jumped into the tea cups and let Harrison spin us around.

Later in the day we started taking time to visit characters for autographs and photos. When I was six or so, I got my own autograph book which I remember taking to Sneezy the Dwarf and he signed his name and drew a little picture of himself. That was the only autograph I got but I managed to hold on to that book for the past 25 years. While I had intended to use the blank pages for scrap paper, I dug it out and brought it with us for Harrison to use. At 2 years and 4 months old, he doesn't get the concept of autographs so I told him that each character wanted to "draw a picture" in his book which really excited him. 

The highlight of Harrison's day was his visit to Mickey and Minnie Mouse. If you ask him about Disneyland he will say "yeah, Mickey, Minnie!" The door man to Mickey's room only lets in about 10 people at once so a lot of anticipation built within all of us. When we were allowed in, we were second in line and I had to hold Harrison back from going straight to the mouse. Once I let him go, he walked straight over to Mickey and gave him the sweetest, longest, most sincere hug you can imagine... people in the room all uttered an "AWE!" at the same time. I really wish I had videoed that moment!

 Since we had to wait 30 minutes to visit Minnie, I gave Harrison some gummy bunnies for a snack. As we neared Minnie, Harrison asked me if he could give Minnie one of his bunnies, which is a pretty big compliment to her because he loves those treats, and sure enough he walks up and immediately hands her the treat. Although dad helped to make it disappear, Minnie pretended to eat it and through hand motions indicated that it was yummy in her tummy and Harrison was just thrilled.

 During nap time in the stroller, dad and I took turns taking a ride on Star Tours (lots of fun). The real fun was just watching Harrison sleep, slightly sun kissed, mouse eared and gently snoring.

We enjoyed the Soundsational Parade and Harrison loved seeing so many characters he recognized. Dad encouraged him to wave and he didn't stop until the parade stopped ten minutes later. Happily Harrison was a trooper and came with us to the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean and he even insisted we take him on the Astro Orbitor rocket ships.

Although he was a little crabby after nap time, we all had lots of fun and didn't leave until around 9pm; we missed the fireworks but Harrison did get a glimpse of them as we drove away from the happiest place on earth.

Vacation: Los Angeles

On June 5th we flew to New Mexico via a two day layover in Los Angeles so that we could enjoy time with Michael's extended family. We stayed at Auntie Barbara's house in Alhambra and she invited everyone over for a casual BBQ in the back yard. Auntie Barbara is Michael's father's (Earl Fein) sister. Barbara's has two daughters (Michael's cousins); Missy has two boys, Spencer and Owen while Ryann has two girls, Paige (PJ) and Charlotte (Charlie)... so if you can follow the genealogy Harrison got to hang out with his second cousins. There were many other relatives too numerous to list here but we had a great time catching up with everyone.

Charlie, PJ, Harrison and Zachery

Missy, Charlie, Ryann, PJ

Charlie & PJ

PJ and Harrison working on blowing bubbles

  

The next day we visited the local Kid's Museum and let Harrison explore, including getting soaking wet after falling into a small pond he was wading in.

Ryann and Brad has us over to their house to enjoy dinner with their sweet girls, as well as Owen and Spencer, their dad Rich and his wife Susan and their son Dash - it was a full house! A+ to Ryann for some killer tacos. We didn't stay too late since it was a Monday night and the rest of the world had to work, however Team Fein wanted to get home to sleep because Tuesday morning we were on our way to Disneyland!

Last Day of Day Care

The last day of Day Care was a non-event for Harrison.  Leading up to this day, I had tried to tell him that he would not go to school anymore but he would get to stay home with mommy instead. He was very enthused by the idea of being with mommy ALL the time; in fact I don't he gave school a second thought. 

His dear old mom is a bit more sentimental than he is so I baked cupcakes (besprinkled by Harrison) and made small gift bags for his teachers. I got little photo stands and and some little pearl-esque stickers and Harrison "decorated" them with my help. Lastly, I took a photo of him and included it in each card:

 

Writing this on 6/21, I can say he hasn't been to school in two and a half weeks and he has never once asked about going to school. I am starting to look at preschools and it makes me wonder how he will feel about going to school again.

Raina's Last Day of Work

June 1st was my last day at WF Bank after 13 years of continuous employment. I was hired in 1998 as a teller at the Campus branch next to the University of Washington which was so convenient since my dorm was two blocks away. The next 4 years were spent as a personal banker and then 3.5 years as a Service Manager. These last 5.5 years I have been an administrative assistant and worked with some amazing people, making my decision to leave that much harder.

Leading up to June 1st, my coworkers were exceedingly kind to me. I was taken out for a lovely lunch, given an annual zoo pass for Harrison and me to enjoy as well as a gift card to a salon to spoil myself. I had lunch dates with friends as well as coffee dates when I couldn't fit in anymore lunch dates. Many lovely phone conversations, cards and hugs. Since I gave 8 weeks notice, all the goodbyes were pretty much taken care of by the end of May so on June 1st, it was actually pretty uneventful. I was super busy trying to tie up loose ends and worked 45 minutes later than I intended and before I knew it I was riding the elevator down 47th floors for the last time and when I watched the city glide by as I rode the bus home I knew it would be awhile before I would be in downtown Seattle again.

I loved working but know that staying home is the right thing for our family. Down the road I am sure I will be working again but for now I am so thankful to have the means to not work and care for Harrison.