Seattle

We knew that it would be very rude to take John Harrison to the dining room for dinner every night and so we had already completly ruled out that nighttime dining option. The idea of white tablecloths, twenty different sets of silverware (ok, I am exaggerating), and five course meals with a baby does not sound like a good combination. So, the only other dinner options were pool grill (burgers, etc.), nighttime buffet (exact same sushi and stir fry), and limited room service menu. However, since we had a suite, we learned that we had the option of having our butler bring us food from the dining room every night. The first night, we ordered off the dining room menu and our butler showed up at our room to prepare the table for dinner. As soon as he put the white tablecloth on the table on our balcony, David and I looked at each other and then told him that the tablecloth was not necessary. He insisted on a formal table and we told him that we really just wanted an informal dinner....he asked if we wanted him to come and serve each course individually. We told him that was not necessary and that he could bring the food like he would normal room service and we were completely fine serving ourselves.
Thankfully, in subsequent nights, we were able to go without the white tablecloth ..... we could tell that our butler thought it was hilarious that we waited to have our dinner delivered until after John Harrison was down for bed each night and that we didn't want formal dinner service.
We just enjoyed having delicious food, a little bit of time to relax, and a chance to do some whale-watching. one of many famous fish markets at Pike's Place market...

family pic atop the space needle

The first port-of-call on the cruise was Seattle. David has been Seattle quite a few times, but I have never been there before so it was fun seeing the sights for a day. The cruise terminal is in downtown Seattle, so we were able to walk to the Space Needle and to famous Pike's Place market (including the first Starbuck's). Against all odds, we actually had sunny weather in Seattle until late afternoon when the inevitable gloomy skies and rain came through.

Stormy Seas

John Harrison enjoying playing on our balcony.

These pictures do not do justice to the storm we encountered at sea two days into the cruise. The ship captain and crew said that the seas were some of the worst they had seen in years. Some of the waves were 50 feet tall and the ship (Celebrity Mercury) rocked quite a bit. The worst winds were 85mph and throughout the day and night, there were 50mph sustained winds. Thankfully, none of us experienced bad motion sickness (or were blown overboard:) and actually, the front that came with the storm brought in great weather for most of the cruise.

Alaskan Cruise

One of John Harrison's many nautical-themed outfits :)

Catherine and John Harrison in the cruise stateroom.

John Harrison enjoying a mini ball pit in the kids' play area.

This picture is looking downward at a small glass dining table in our room. John Harrison in under the table trying to reach up through the glass to get his ball. The ball was actually a tissue paper ball that an Asian women (who did not speak English) gave to John Harrison in the buffet.
The paper ball was actually really fun---it came compressed and you blew a little air into the tiny hole in the middle of the silver area and the ball inflated....the delicate ball actually lasted a few days before John Harrison ripped so many holes in it that it would no longer hold air. The Asian women was one of MANY "friends" that John Harrison made on the ship.

Catherine and John Harrison eating in the buffet.

The port of LA was insane!!! This picture shows just a very small area of containers....many of which had come over from China on freighters. All I could think as I looked out at the endless stacks and rows of containers was how Americans have access to so, so, so much STUFF.

I have cruised the Carribean four times now and next up on my cruise wish list were Alaska, transatlantic, and Panama Canal. The transatlantic cruise wouldn't work with the dates we had in mind and there are not too many Panama Canal cruises to choose from, so we decided to go to Alaska. Also, with wanting to visit my brother and sister-in-law in L.A., we decided to combine the two trips since we found an Alaskan cruise that left out of L.A. David's dad took him on an Alaskan cruise 12 years ago as a graduation trip, but I had never been to Alaska so I was eager to see the beautiful scenery for which Alaska is well-known. Back in our pre-baby days, cruises were incredibly relaxing and our days at sea were spent relaxing and reading around the pool, sleeping in, enjoying leisurely dinners in the dining room, and walking around the ship and drinking coffee after dinner. Cruising with a baby is quite different. Relaxation morphed into keeping John Harrison happy and occupied, trying to work in naps, and trying to find baby-friendly activities both on and off the ship. We had a lot of fun with our little guy and really enjoyed the time together as a family, but had to adjust to the different cruise mentality with having a baby :).

Malibu Baby

John Harrison wanted to make sure that he didn't have any embarassing lint on his PJs at Aunt Caroline and Uncle James' house.

Enjoying a meal with Caroline and James!!

If there was any doubt that we were out West, this sign cleared things up! (who knew that you could use the restroom and be eco-friendly at the same time!!). California mansion hunting.....

Culver City lion statue/fountain area that John Harrison enjoyed looking at.

John Harrison enjoying a "healthy" meal of mac and cheese, jello, and fries at Bubba Gump on the pier in Santa Monica.

Playing in the park in Malibu....John Harrison's Gymboree attire was quite out of place among the other Malibu babies!! I still think he was the cutest baby at the park, though!

I always imagined the Hollywood sign being near studios or some uppity shopping area. Who knew....to get close to the famous Hollywood sign, you drive up a very narrow curvy on the side of a hill/mountain that takes you through a residential area. At the top of the hill close to the sign, the road just ends....practically in someone's driveway.....so, you have to figure out a way to turn around and drive down the hill. Kind of disappointing to me....oh well.

On May 12th, we headed out to "So Cal" (Southern California to those of us not native to California). The day was a long and fairly stressful one as out first flight was canceled after we sat on the plane for around two hours. Thankfully, David was familiar with passengers' rights regarding flight cancellations and was able to get our airline to book us on an equivalent ticket on another airline instead of having to wait till late that afternoon or the next day to leave. We were ever so thankful when our plane landed in L.A. that evening!!! We stayed with my brother and sister-in-law for four nights. While in the L.A. area, we visited the Santa Monica pier, walked around Culver City, drove to Malibu, explored Beverly Hills and Hollywood, sat in a lot of traffic, walked along the beach walk (can't recall which beach), visited with James and Caroline, and went to church with James and Caroline. John Harrison woke up very early every morning so several mornings we got up and walked to Starbucks. We really enjoyed seeing James and Caroline since we had not seen them in four months! On Monday, May 17th, we boarded a cruise ship and left on a 13 night Alaskan cruise. Upcoming posts will recap our cruise!

Goodbye, April---Hello, May!

Dad "getting" John Harrison in the morning--John Harrison often walks around and says "dada getcha" wanting David to play with him and "get him"
John Harrison used the steering wheel toy from Uncle Jon as a stepping stool to try and climb up onto the couch.
Easter 2010
Always in motion.....
What a figure!!
Kissing my own shadow
Enjoying a stroll around the neighborhood
Touching and looking outside the windows---one of John Harrison's favorite pasttimes
Playing with a wooden tractor that was Mom's when she was a little girl
Don't let that cute smile deceive you.....he wasn't the least bit interested in eating his oatmeal
David holding our sweet, sleeping John Harrison
Our angel must have taken his halo off.....JUST KIDDING....he is playing with the ring that goes around the top of a baby dinner plate.
Why play with toys when you can play with a lid???
"Little Peanut" outfit :)
enjoying the bright sunny day
With his tongue stuck out, John Harrison must be thinking about something important...
"Don't I look cute in my googly eye lobster shirt??"
Jonathan, Catherine, and David last weekend before a friend's wedding
Great Grammy taking John Harrison for a stroll

Rainy Saturday

Looking for just the right toy

John Harrison will be 14 months old in just a few days!! Right now, he is staring out the window and looks like he is thinking, "I want to go outside and play." Unfortunately, it is storming today, so there will probably not be much or any outside playing time :(. John Harrison seems to have a different outlook on life when he is outside---for example earlier this week we were playing outside and he fell down and scraped up his lip and his legs. He didn't even fuss and got right back up and started running around again. If we had been inside, there would definitely have been some fussing. I'm sure we'll come up with fun things to do inside today. How can anything compare, though, to the joy of trying to eat gumballs or bermuda grass??