Guy-yo! GUY-YO!!!!

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning, I had made a vet appointment for Lizzy. It's time for her annual checkup. Evan always asks me to come to the vet when I've been taking Mottel, but that will be too hard, especially during the week. But on the weekend, it's easier as is with Lizzy. So Evan, Lizzy and I piled into the car and drove to the vet. Evan insisted on wearing his Steelers helmet and one Buzz Lightyear glove. He also insisted on wearing it into the office. The people there thought Evan was so cute. They were gushing over him. Also, they love Lizzy there. They ended up spending an hour with us talking with us, and playing with Lizzy and Evan. Oh, and they examined Lizzy. Lizzy was in great health as we knew. The only problem is they found a lump on her side. It was very squishy. They took a sample of it, and it's just fat. I guess it's common with golden retrievers to get a large fatty build up. The problem is that it's 5.5 cm in diameter, so it's quite large. They said that it doesn't hurt the dog but if it keeps getting bigger than it has to be surgically removed. So they want to see her in 3-6 months to see how much bigger it gets. Unfortunately, it's best to do it now because if it takes several years to get bigger, than she'll be too old to have it removed. Man, pets are expensive. We will be accepting donations to the Belkin Pet Foundation.

After the vet, we came home and picked Noah up. Rachel was going to lunch with an old teacher friend. So, Evan, Noah and I went to the library. I had a book on hold and I needed to return two books. We picked out two books and two movies for the boys. Evan and Noah had a good time running around. When we went to check out, I asked for the book I had on hold. Now the books on hold are self-service in the back of the library. I didn't realize that. So I had to go to the back of the library to get my book. I told Evan to follow me, but I guess he didn't. As most of you know, Evan calls me Gallo. Well, I was looking for my book and I started to hear "Guy-yo! GUY-YO!" across the library. So I said "I'm back here". Then more "GUY-YO! WHERE ARE YOU GUY-YO?!" I could hear him moving around the library. I wonder what people thought about me responding to Gallo.

We came home and I got lunch for the boys. Rachel came home a little while later and we put the boys down for a nap.

After naps, Circle C was having the 1st Annual BBQ Cookoff. It was just for Circle C residents. They had games for kids, a train, vendors giving out free stuff. We met a co-worker there and her husband and 8-month old twins. There was this blow-up obstacle course, like the a moon bounce. But you had to push through things, crawl through tunnels, climb over two big blow-up walls. Evan did it twice. He was terrific. To get over the walls, they had to pull themselves up a rope. Man, that kid has some upper body strength.

From there we went to dinner at Cannoli Joes. It's an all-you-can-eat Italian place. Kids 3 and under eat free. Evan and Noah both ate well. At one point, I gave Noah some goldfish we had brought. Noah was swinging his napkin around so I put my hand over his goldfish so he wouldn't knock them on the floor. Noah, fearing that I was taking them, put his napkin down and smacked my hand. Noah is definitely a character. He's got a lot of personality.

We went home after dinner and now the boys are in bed.

As if this post wasn't long enough, Rachel asked me to recap the Seattle trip. I'll try to make it as brief as possible and touch on the highlights.

The plane ride to Seattle was uneventful, other than Noah not sitting still. We got there and met Mike and Jen for dinner.

The next day we went on a ferry to Bainbridge Island. The boys both enjoyed the ferry although Evan didn't like to be in the cold. It was very cloudy out and the wind was really blowing. Evan kept asking to come out of the cold. Noah didn't see to mind. That night, Uncle Billy, Aunt Donna and Leslie joined us for dinner, as did Mike and Jen. We ordered pizza. After pizza we told the boys we were going for ice cream. Noah got so excited and thought we were going to eat at home. He went over and picked up his booster seat, which was on the floor and tried to put it on one of the chairs while yelling "i-eee, i-eee" (that's how he says ice cream). It was really cute.

The next day we went to the Locks and saw boats and a drawbridge and we saw salmon going up the salmon stairs. The boys loved it. At night, we went to seafood place and Evan shared crab with Rachel.

Sunday we went to a beach and had a picnic out there. Jen's brother, Chris, his wife Angie and their 2.5 year old Cooper met us there. Evan and Cooper played well together. The boys loved being on the beach. We then went on an "ice cream cruise". It's a cruise around Lake Union where they serve ice cream. Evan and Cooper sat together eating popsicles at a bar table. They looked like old buddies sitting there together. I went over and they were having some conversation about pigs and if pigs lived in grass or mud. It was hilarious. That night, the boys stayed with Grandma, Papa, Mike and Jen while Rachel and I went out with my college friend Nick and his girlfriend for dinner. Apparently the boys had a great time and Mike and Jen made shrimp for them. Mike sang the "Evan song" while Evan and Noah danced. The "Evan song" is a song that Evan makes Mike sing all the time that Mike makes up on the spot.

Monday we went down to Seattle Center, saw a fountain, put the boys on two rides and then took the monorail down to Pikes Place Market. Noah slept in the stroller the whole time at the market. Evan enjoyed it. For dinner, Rachel's old friend from elementary school and her boyfriend met us at a Thai place. Noah had a massive blowout that required Rachel, Papa and me to clean up.

Tuesday we walked around Green Lake and Nick met us. For dinner we went back to the beach we had a picnic at and got a pit to roast marshmallows. We picked up some Cuban food from a little place by there before we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores. Again the boys loved it on the beach.

Wednesday, we ate a really cook Greek restaurant in Capitol Hill called Vios. they had a playarea for kids. From there we saw the Fremont Troll and then went to Gasworks Park. For dinner, we met Nick at a pizza place.

It was a very enjoyable trip and the boys really enjoyed themselves. They got to see all kinds of things they had never seen.

Until next time...