Occidental Market

On Saturdays there is a market in Occidental Square so we biked over with our paints and a few toys and set up camp.  I had a delicious bowl of posole from Gran Central.  The girls are painting letters.  In the background there is a hoola hoop performer, a rock band on the stage and a unicycle rider.

Simone and Naomi play chess with David.  

A treasure hunt team stops by.  Seafair has a citywide treasure hunt today.  I had a great time talking with these two about their adventure through the city.  What a rush.  Definitely want to do this next year!

Simone wants to have a stand here next week. We'll have to figure out what she could sell.  Lemonade and cookies just would not work as the Parfait and Dessert food vans already have those covered!  Simone decides that she could sell plants or colorful kids t-shirt prayer flags. 

The girls had enough change to get a marshmallow covered with dark chocolate on a stick.  

Then to the wooden boat museum.

Looking out at the dock from upstairs in the little museum.

Simone wants to take this bicycle boat out. 

Fun.

The beautiful hull forms, the little wood structures, the old coal stacks on the fishing vessels...and buzzing about on the wharf with Simone...made for a fun afternoon stop.  Now I need to get into sneakers for the Seafair 8K run.  I can't wait! 

Ballard Commons

No boarders were in the skate park so Simone used it as a slide and had a great time.  Climbing out is not easy. She had to take a running jump to catch the lip of the bowl and then she had to pull her body out. 

whoo hooo!  Naomi is having a blast exploring what she can do with her bike.  

Mama Mia

Just in from David Stephenson: A snap from the Mama Mia Broadway Bound camp that Simone (pink flowers), Claire (blue flowers), Sophie and Evelyn were in this week.  

It was a TON of fun.  "Here I go again...My My...How can I forget you."

Circumnavigating 100 feet from home court

Pausing to enjoy the adventure of life in the Pioneer Square neighborhood. Simone and Naomi love the rush of "urbanity and motormania" that hits you as you step out the giant doors of our building.

Returning from a spin around Occidental Square.

Simone has her bull and treasure chest in the basket as she circles around the Chinese Room deck.  She is looking at the Muckleshoot fishing vessels that are pouring into the harbor for the opening of salmon season.  The space needle is behind her. 

Simone has a play-date with her good friends Lucy (cowhide) and Josie (closest to us).  They had a great time climbing the firemen memorial in Occidental Square.  I wish our neighborhood had a kids park with a jungle gym and swings.  One day it surely will.  Simone is hugging Misty (Meseret) who works in the Chinese Room of the Smith Tower.  The girls often visit Misty when she is working to share the adventures of their day and show her their latest gymnastic tricks.

Simone and Naomi are making sure they have all their supplies before setting off.

We were so excited to find out that the Recess Monkeys were playing downstairs.  Simone and Naomi love to dance to the Monkey's tunes.  The musicians, Jack, Daron and Andrew are wonderful teachers.  Jack and Andrew are at UCDS and Daron is at Spruce Street.  There new album is about  s p a c e.

In the background is our dear friend Avery and her mama, Lauren with baby Pasha in the bjorn, just a few weeks old. 

We talked the band and our friends into coming upstairs for lunch.

Resurfacing our street with a fresh batch of concrete.  "Some of our company's flyash, blast furnace slag or aggregate could be in that batch." - Petra    "What's 'a green ghost'?" - Simone  "Aggregate usually means to gather things together to make a whole of something, but in this case I was talking about another kind of aggregate and that one means little rocks that can be added into the concrete." -Petra  "I can find you some little rocks for you." - Simone

Checking out the big equipment in front of our building.

Urban expeditions start here.

David takes the girls on many cycling trips.  He has a sidecar and a basket on his bike.

Naomi is coming home from a birthday party in the neighborhood.

Alex helps Naomi get her backpack on.  Alex is the security guard in the evenings and the girls love to hang out with him in the lobby doing cartwheels and playing hide and seek.  If he happens to catch us on the security monitor heading toward the building, he comes outside to welcome us in and the girls run ahead the minute they see him.  "Alex, Alex, We went... We saw...Would you believe...." - Simone and Naomi.

Limb to Limb

Was your first house a tree?

Simone and Naomi found a nook they could play in.

Simone making her way up.

Naomi found a great look out and nestled in.

Tree cave

The surface of the water

Simone had Moss Bay sailing and kayaking camp this week. 

   Here she is coming back from Ivar's Salmon house.

At the end of the day everyone jumps into Lake Union...including Naomi and me!

It must have been quite a work-out. Five minutes after getting into the car, Simone was asleep.  

We sat in the parking lot for a couple hours.  

Naomi also fully spent after jumps into Lake Union.

The first day of camp focuses on Being Smooth, the second is about Being Balanced, the third is about Rhythm, the fourth is about Being Powerful and the last day is on Being Harmonious.  Moss Bay was a great camp.  

Peeking through the kayaks.

The mornings were overcast and chilly but the afternoon were clear as a bell, sunny and hot.

On Thursday We Were A Circus

Today our itinerary at the Pacific Science Museum begins at the circus exhibit and then moves on to "BiPed Game Show" about our human ancestor, Lucy and what her remains can teach us about BiPedalism.  There is a tightrope in this circus that you can walk (harnessed in) and a trampoline with a hip strap so that you can do front and back spins in the air.

  

Evergreen peers, Nicole, Janelle, Sophie and Annabel meet at the Circus exhibit.  Above is Janelle walking the tight-rope fabulously. There is no matt and you feel the thin wire could not possibly be all you have to stand on.  Turns out this wire is 3x the size of the one used by circus professionals. 

In the dark top part of this overview of the exhibit, you can see a boy in the air.
He is above a trampoline, doing dozens of aerial somersaults.

Nicole up in the sky on the tightrope.

Funny posters.

Naomi and Simone play in one of the boxes used by contortionists.

Annabel and Naomi can play together for hours. "Watchout!" Naomi says, "We already lit the fuse and any second we're going to blast out of this canon!"

Some of the wild antics you can do on the trampoline.

Simone center front eagerly hoping to be cast as one of the contestants for the science game show on BiPedialism. She wasn't picked this time but has been in the past.  She loves the questions about our homo sapien ancestor, Lucy and when it is time for the audience to help the participants, she and Sophie shout out the answers.  The game show tells the story of Lucy who lived in Ethiopia more than 3 million years ago.  She is from the genus Australopithecus Afarensis and is a Biped...which is ascertained by the neck hinge and the inward leaning knees.  The museum game shows are packed.

After the presentation Sophie and Simone help put things away.

Outside of the science museum is the whale waterfall. The inscription describes how whales used to swim from the Pacific Ocean through Lake Union and into Lake Washington.  Hard to believe.  Imagine jumping off the dock in Madison Park and swimming with an Orca pod.

Found a sunny spot.  The girls have a blast at Seattle Center.
Above is Annabel, Sophie, Simone and Naomi playing "Mommy, Daddy and Babies" among the rocks.

Carrying the world on your shoulders?

I love this image.

Zombie Apocalypse in Fremont or The sum was far greater than its parts

Fremont put an urgent call out for Zombies to gather for the annual "Red, White and Dead" parade. Fremont gathered 3,894 last year but lost the Guinness world record to England by a wee 132 undead brain eating participants. 

McKinley, Kaya and Simone prepped to help win back the title.

By the looks of the blood spurting, lurching, hungry Zombies that showed up...they might well have reclaimed the title for the most Zombies in one place at one time.   

  

It was just another fun outing for (from left) McKinley, Jeannie, Simone, Kaya, Andy, Russ and David. 

Russ prepping for the creepy parade. 

 I get uncomfortable when Naomi picks up a stick and calls it a shooter.  I do realize she is playing a bad guy for the fun of exploring that character and those feelings but am a bit uncomfortable seeing her even pretending to be violent.  When we came upon this scene and other "shoot them up" zombies, I was tentative and didn't know how to interact.  The girls had no problem. They embraced the zany street theatre and pretend fights and jumped right in.  The young "masters of improvisation" took over this Emergency Vehicle for a while.  They loved being ghouls for the afternoon.

"

"Brains, brains, ugh, I need brains!" -McKinley  "Ummm delicious green brains." -Kaya  

"I don't know.  I'll go first but those brains look downright runny." -Simone

"We'll seal the back. No one escapes the Zombie's Emergency crash mobile." - McKinley

"The sum was far greater than its parts." - Russ. 

Zombies of all ages and...

...from all walks of life.

 

The head-less man was our favorite costume. 

 

McKinley and Russ stayed in character much of the time...even as we headed home.   Simone had the best view from her perch on David's shoulders.  Naomi sat on Kaya's lap on the stroller. It was a bit much for her but she hung in there and told me later that it's okay to be scary.