Sharing our life - all our adventures and bumpy rides. Family of four with two young boys - moved back home to allow them the similar experiences and opportunities we had living in North Carolina. Come explore with us!
The Eason House was filled with guests this Easter weekend for an extra-special occasion! Brock was getting baptized on Easter Sunday! My mother and Mia flew in on Wednesday morning and Brian and Nancy flew in very late Wednesday evening. My dad followed on Friday morning. Even our cousin, Evan, came in Friday afternoon and stayed with us that evening for a short visit before his first Ultimate Frisbee game in Vancouver, Canada!
Brian and Nancy toured the Pike Place Market on Thursday, complete with a stop for mini-donuts and the original Starbucks coffee shop. Nancy took advantage of all the fresh hand-picked flower stands and brought a bouquet home for us to enjoy for Easter! Evan took them to Fremont on Friday to have Thai and explore the area while my Mother, Father, Brock and I traversed Ballard for the perfect challah bread.
After a quick baptism rehearsal at the church on Saturday, the entire family squeezed into the Highlander to head to Alki Beach for dinner. Even though it was windy and rainy, we managed to get in the amazing views of the ocean and tall Seattle buildings from across Puget Sound.
The view from dinner was amazing. We ate at Salty's on Alki Beach and the seafood was so fresh. The service was top-notch - Brock was highly impressed as the first thing he received in his high chair was a fabulous green balloon!
Brock looked adorable in his Easter outfit - blue gingham shortalls with a smocked top of cute yellow ducks complete with white knee socks! In the morning he wore a nice white sweater handmade by his Great-Grandmother Lillian Rosenfeld.
Brock was such a good boy for the service. He usually goes to the childcare room for church, so we were not sure how he was going to act - especially sitting right in the front row! At the rehearsal, all he wanted to do was climb up on the altar!
The baptism was really something as we all filed out of the sanctuary
singing "Wade in the Water" to the vestibule area where the baptism font
sits. And Brock was a good sport having water poured on his head!
Everyone laughed when the Reverend took Brock from Brent's arms - all 28 pounds of him!
Brent right before hoisting Brock up "Lion King style" as the Reverends put it.
Brock also received his first Communion that day! Either he really liked it or he was rather hungry to eat a communion wafer. :)
It really was a wonderful morning and a beautiful service. We missed having Katherin Alexandra Topar-Michon there as his Godmother, but we know she was thinking about us all day, as we were thinking of her. Katherin is living in Burundi, Africa and had planned a family vacation of her own to Cape Town months before I asked if she would be Brock's Godmother. We all completely understand that Katherin couldn't be there and that is why when we are able to visit with her and her family, it makes it that much more special. :) Nancy did a great job as a stand-in for Katherin, a true test of her Auntly duties now that she is officially becoming part of our family in 2015.
And then there was cake! And lots of it! I ordered a 10" round, four-layer white cake with strawberry filling and white butter-cream frosting for the big day. I know how much my mother loves cake, so I did not want to disappoint!
I don't think you understand how massive this cake was for the seven of us! We are on day five of officially eating it and it is STILL here!
Don't mind the messy hair
Brent and I want to thank my Mother, Father, Brian and Nancy for flying all the way from the East Coast to be here for Brock's baptism. It was a wonderful weekend with all of you.
I do not believe the Eason Family can live in a house longer than 2 years (we better stay longer in the next house!!). We have just completely outgrown our house (probably on Day 1 of moving here) and with all of Brock's stuff, we are bursting at the seams! Thankfully the housing market in Seattle is awesome, so we were able to make a little money on this house, affording us the ability to move once again and buy a little bigger. I am so excited as the new house will actually have a playroom for Brock and an office for Brent! Two areas that were elbowing in to my kitchen space!
Moving day is set for April 25th! So exciting! I will be sending out new address information via email and posting pictures once the house is officially ours. So happy that Spring is here too so we have two things to look forward to - Brock exploring the outside world!
We had one last "perk" remaining from Brent's days at ESPN - two tickets to any Disney park - and since they were set to expire June 2014, we decided to take a break from the rain of Seattle and head down to Southern California this past weekend. I think everyone was excited to have a long weekend vacation someplace warm!
We flew in late afternoon on Friday, in time to drive from LAX to our hotel and walk over to Downtown Disney for dinner. We learned a lot from last time so we stayed at the Fairfield Inn by Marriott - right across the street from the entrance of the park. You have to walk through the entrance to the two parks (Disneyland and California) to get to Downtown Disney. ESPN Zone is the furthest restaurant at Downtown Disney, but from our hotel to the restaurant was only 0.7 miles - really easily walkable! We played around a bit at the Lego store, but then it was time to head in - we had a long day ahead of us!
We decided to start at California Adventures first. After a quick breakfast, we headed to the back of the park to go on the Toy Story ride.... no such luck, it was down for maintenance. So on to the Ferris Wheel. I think Brock enjoyed the swinging! And we could see the ducks in the water below!
We headed over to Cars Land and Brock was able to see Lightin' McQueen drive down the street - he kept pointing at it like he recognized it from his toy. There were a few rides that required kids to be 32". He had just measured 31.75" at his 12 month checkup and we knew that he was good to go from Brent's "Measurement Mondays", but when it came time to stand up at the measuring stick, Brock kept scrunching up his neck wondering what this thing was above his head.... so the mean lady wouldn't let him on the rides. Ridiculous.
"I found a stick and I'm keeping it!"
Unfortunately a lot of the rides required that height, so after one little ride in A Bug's World.... we decided we'd head to Disneyland early.
Playing with the water ball in Tomorrowland
We grabbed a table in Tomorrowland in front of the Star Wars stage and had lunch. Brock was adorable swaying to the music while eating his lunch. Then it was time for naptime - we knew it was a necessity for him to stay out so late, so we headed back to the hotel for some R&R.
We were back at the park by 4 o'clock and headed straight to Fantasyland. So many of these rides are so dark! It really is a wonder how these kids aren't so scared. Brock seemed to be okay with Pinocchio and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride - he sat between us on the rides and cozied right up into Brent's side for the louder parts. I wanted to take him on Dumbo - but that was a 40 minute wait! And there are NO fastpass rides in Fantasyland at Disneyland - very different than Disney World.
Posing in a teacup!
The only ride Brock probably didn't like was the Haunted Mansion. In the beginning part of the ride, the crowd is corralled into a room in which the ceiling slowly starts to rise. As the narrator talks about how "you'll never get out of here alive...", the lights go out, loud thunder..... and Brock wailed. Of course Brent was holding him at the time and EVERYONE turned to look at him and said "awww". Yes, bad parents award. He really was fine after that.
I had made dinner reservations about a month ago for Big Thunder Ranch Barbeque and I am so very glad I did - the food was amazing! It's a sit-down restaurant (so $$$$) with a stage for live music in the back. This restaurant offers all you-care-to-enjoy barbecue chicken, ribs, smoked sausage, corn on the cob, coleslaw, ranch beans and corn bread! Everything was so tasty! Halfway through our meal, Brock and I got on stage for a little rendition of "This Land is Your Land"!
What better place to have a light-up toy than at Disneyland at night? Brock was thrilled!
And the last ride of the night was Buzz Lightyear.
Bad picture, but the only pic we got of the castle was while waiting in line for Buzz!
Sunday was spent walking around Downtown Disney and exploring the Grand California Hotel before we left for the airport.
They all look so yummy!
"Hey! What is that green stuff I'm stepping on??!?"
My handsome men
Right before we left, we stopped at the World of Disney and let Brock hug all the stuffed animals he wanted. I think he was in heaven! He literally fell back in to the display - he loved it.
Seriously, we are NOT going back to any Disney park until Brock is at least four years old.... or we win the lottery. We had a really nice time, but let's wait longer for the next trip so we can all enjoy it a little more (and we can do more!). :)
Part of my Christmas present were tickets to The Lion King this year. I was super excited to go as I had heard awesome things about the show and it did not leave me disappointed! Brent and I started our date night at Il Fornaio and I'm posting it here for our future notice - it is "meh" and we really don't need to go back. When I made reservations, we remembered that we didn't have a great meal, but neither one of us could remember why. We're going to remember this time!
But back to the show - it was amazing! I love going to the Paramount - it is a GORGEOUS theater. I loved the show and I think Brent did too! The opening song was my favorite. As soon as the actors who portrayed giraffes came on to the stage, it really felt like these were animals - they mimicked the way the particular animals moved so well! The costumes were beautiful and the two little kids who, at only 10 years old, played Simba and Nala as children were amazing. Of course I cried when Mufasa died... yeah, I'm a sap! :P
View of the ceiling from our seats - the chandelier and designs on the wall are amazing!
Quick picture before the curtain went up
We had a really good time that evening. And our neighbors behind us were..... interesting.
Yes, that woman behind us brought her doll to the theater
"Mom, this is why stand-by can be awesome - we get the whole row.... let's only fly like this from now on, k?"
Tuesday, March 4th, Brock and I headed back to the East Coast. The flights there were awesome - wide open planes and I did not fret once about not getting to our final destination (flying stand-by). Brock was such a good traveler and was able to get some naps in too!
Our layover was in Chicago and after doing a little research beforehand, found an awesome (to be determined...and we'll get to that later) children's museum/play area in Terminal 1 for Brock. He loved walking/crawling all around, pressing the buttons, but especially watching the big kids.
Finally we were in Raleigh and Brock was free to explore Grandma's house and Papa's condo with his new found skill!
He had some fun with Papa's guitar after Papa sang him a song. Brock was mesmerized by the strumming and the singing. I think he enjoyed it. :)
All he wanted to do was climb and show off his walking!
Up to this point, it was COLD. As in, colder than home in Seattle! Temperatures in the 30's and 40's during the day.... brr....
But then, in typical North Carolina fashion, Saturday it warmed up to 68! (With Sunday and Monday following in the low 70's!) It was so nice, we were able to meet some friends at a park!
Brock and Jude (Shaunis' son - 16 months)
Will, Beck, Brock
My brother Brian and his new fiancee were in town, but typical to me - I didn't get a picture until it was time to say goodbye. Apparently it's a theme for pictures of Brock and Brian.
And then.... and then the ugly happened.... At this point we thought he had a bad case of eczema. Brock had some shrimp for the first time Friday night, along with some other various new exposures. We thought he was having an allergic reaction, which caused the bad eczema. He does get some good eczema patches at home. We loaded him up with creams and lotions and aquaphor and benadryl at night and nothing was really helping.
It was all over Brock's body and face. We still thought it was eczema, so I was excited to see Jessica on Monday for lunch to ask her advice on what next to try. She did give me some very good tips... and we did talk about other things besides Brock's rash. :)
American Tobacco District in Durham - BEAUTIFUL DAY!
But all this while, we are out visiting friends and family with the thought it was still eczema.
You can see the rash and bumps on Brock's face, arms and hands
It's not until we fly home and go to our pediatrician that we find out Brock has hand, foot & mouth disease... a contagious virus that causes a rash in the above mentioned areas - atypical to show up on arms and legs too. Good job Brock, you get a gold star for going above and beyond! Brock really didn't seem "sick" besides the rash, so it didn't seem to affect the visit with Grandma except just being a nuisance.
Brock is not in daycare and we really haven't been out with other children.... so I'm blaming that stupid play area in the Chicago Airport for this! With all of the children flying in and out of that airport, I'm sure that area is a cesspool of diseases! I don't know if we'll be visiting that spot again (of course, I took Brock there on the layover back home.... so I passed on the crap to some other kid.... and the cycle continues). Moral of the story - TODDLERS ARE DIRTY!
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