Milestones

This was one of our first days home from China in 2007!

I realize that this is our 100th entry. Only took a couple of years. So much has happened since we first began to blog about Sydney. I apologize for not posting as often as I should. My only excuse is laziness. And a three-year-old...

These last few weeks have been heartwrenching. We had to put down our beloved sweet dog, Ellie, after a sudden illness hit her from out of nowhere. Sydney seems to understand and asks us often if we miss Ellie.  She can tell that we do. The last real walk I took Ellie on, Sydney actually walked her for almost a mile. I regret not bringing my camera, because the image of Sydney jogging while holding Ellie's leash and Ellie trotting alongside Sydney is a precious one that I'll hopefully never forget.

Here's Sydney sharing her blanket with Ellie. She covered one of Ellie's front legs...

Look carefully and you can see that her leg is covered.

Our house is a bit quieter and emptier, and we have holes in our hearts and the pits of our stomachs that won't go away just yet. 

After Ellie died, we had to get out of the house. We spent a day in downtown Portland. Then we had to get out of town. So we took a long weekend and headed north to Seattle, Tacoma and Bellingham.  Here are some images of our little adventures. 

The Portlandia statue.

Fountain across from the Portlandia.

Most people in the Portland-Vancouver area know where this is.

Getting tired of walking around Portland, Sydney just stopped and sat.

We were here at Pioneer Square the day after we put Ellie down, and right after taking the picture with the Umbrella Man, we spotted a man with a dog that was the spitting image of our Ellie except for the tail. Very surreal. 

Tourists at Pike Place Market - watch out for flying fish!

Sydney wanted to sit on whatever she could...

Whether it was a pig or an elephant did not matter.

Sydney's favorite Star Wars character, Yoda. 

Headed to Ivar's for clam chowder and fish & chips!

Riding the Seattle monorail, affectionately called the "Mommarail" by Sydney.

On top of the Space Needle.

Top Pot Donuts, a local favorite in Seattle.

The Experience Music Project guitar tower.

We headed up to Bellingham after Seattle, to check out Brian's old stomping grounds while attending Western Wash. University. Included on the tour were all the places he used to live, such as the apartment that Ken Griffey, Jr. used to live in as well. (Same unit, different time.) Unfortunately, the only picture we ended up taking is below: Sydney was fascinated by some students dressed as pirates promoting some school activity in the campus fountain. 

Our final stop was the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, home to Dale Chihuly.

These figures are in a huge display on an overpass bridge from the museum to the town hall.

More glass figures on the overpass. The Tacoma Dome is in the background.

Here's a little conversation we had at the top of the Space Needle. I was trying to get her to say "Space Needle" and of course she didn't want to. She was focused on a carousel nearby that she wanted to ride.