A while ago I took my money I’d saved up and I bought my first Lego set.

It was hard choosing a set that Daddy said I had enough money for, but when Daddy said he’d lend me an extra $2, the deal was sealed!

M&D took me to Seattle for a visit.  Boy do they have a lot of fun things there!

On the first day, we started out with an airplane ride:

They have a really great airport where you get to walk way out and be near all of the propeller planes.  I could have stayed and watched longer, but M&D said it was time to go.

Next, it was a ride on the light rail (my first real train ride!):

Not only was the ride fun, but there was lots of great stuff to see out the window while we were riding, like these diggers!

After the train ride, Daddy and I went for a big, big ferry ride.  This ferry carried a hundred cars – and even big tractor trailer trucks!

Not only that, but it had three levels with stairs, and it had an inside with seats and tables, and snacks!

That was kinda nice because it was pretty windy “topside”.

After this big day, we stayed with Uncle John and Aunt Carol at their house by the lake where they have a dock where you can throw rocks in the water – which is the best kind.

The next day, we went to the market.  Our adventure started with my first bus ride:

And that was no ordinary bus!  It was a double bus.  Daddy said it was “articulated”.

At the market, these chocolate croissants tasted as good as they looked:

The fish were fun to look at, but we didn’t taste any.

Then it was down the big hill…

…to see the UPS truck:

Just Kidding!  It was the Seattle Aquarium!  There was lots of fun stuff to see here, like this enormous fish tank…

… and sea otters…

… up close and personal!

The next day we went to visit my friend Lauren at her house.

We worked on making a snack together, and also on puzzles and games.

Later, we went for a ride on their dock-boat.  Lauren’s Daddy Big Ben let me drive!

At the end of that day, I guess I was pretty tired.

Our last day in Seattle, my photographer apparently took the day off so I don’t have any pictures of me to share.  But we saw Aunt Jo, Uncle Don, and cousin Sarah for a yummy breakfast.  And we visited with cousins Nicole, Haley and Toby, and we even went to the Lego store where I got a recycling truck set!

What a fun trip!  I hope we get to go back soon!

The new year has started at BCC, and Shannon and I are now Penguins!

We get to be in a new room with lots of new stuff to play with, and we get to go on field trips every month, too!  I can’t wait!

Last weekend was the big Agilent Summer Picnic.  There was lots of stuff to do, including this big, big slide.

In case climbing around the side isn’t fun enough…

… you get to climb up the back and then slide down the front.  Weeee!!

There was also lots to eat, including hamburgers, ice cream, and cotton candy.  Mmmmm…

I also met my new best friend, Lauren.  We played tag.

And then we went on the slide together and put on our shoes together when we were all done.

Then it was time to try the climbing wall.  I was still working up my courage while the guy was putting on my harness.

But I went climbing right next to Daddy.  I didn’t climb as high, but I sure had fun!

Lauren went climbing with us, too!

I can’t wait to go to the picnic next year!

We’re now back from our vacation, but I wanted to tell you all about it.

We started by driving all the way to Los Angeles.  Our first stop was Ghiradelli’s for ice cream.  That made all the driving worth it – at least that’s what Mommy said!

We had some fun climbing on the rocks and looking for otters amongst the kelp.  We found a crab claw and a starfish!

After all that excitement, I retired to our room to relax with the rock garden.

The next day we drove through Big Sur and stopped at this very functional bridge.  There was a waterfall there, too.

With all the driving we were doing, I got very good at sleeping in the van.

Later we were at the pier in Santa Barbara.  They had some very neat flags – and more ice cream!

The next morning, I got to carry our “officially sanctioned” breakfast down to the lobby for breakfast.  I think M&D wanted me to eat something good after all that ice cream!

Next… on to Ma and Pa’s!

My playgroup is called the Little Monkeys. This year, I invited all of my Little Monkey friends to a birthday party at… where else but Funky Monkey! Now I am four years old!

We ate pizza and cupcakes. Mmmmm!

I got to drive a fire truck!

I also learned to play Skee Ball. Making faces helps the ball go into the right hole.

Thanks to my Monkey friends for helping me have a great birthday!

I invited a few school friends over for a birthday party. I’d like to share the five P‘s of a good birthday party with you.

Parachute.

Play structure.

Pin the tail on the donkey.

Personalizing your cupcake with your Pals. (I have been asking Mommy if we could do this for months.)

Thanks to my good friend Uncle Rick for lighting (and relighting) my candle when the wind blew it out.

My readers may not know this, but now that I’m 4 I’ve done this a few times and I know: it takes a lot of face-scrunching to blow a candle out.

Daddy got out his guitar so that I could have a try at playing it.

Other than being a little big for me (and not having a strap like Pastor Brian’s guitar), I don’t see what all the fuss is about.   This seems easy!

It’s always fun to visit Grandpa and Grandma Harris because I get to play in Grandpa Harris’s old-time truck.  It has a big steering wheel, and you can turn it and see the front wheels turn.

It also has a lift gate in the back for lifting me up and down.  I think I’m getting big enough that Grandpa Harris has to try pretty hard to lift me up!

Then we went on a big adventure!  We got to go golfing, and I got to drive the golf cart!

Check out my driving skills! (Ed Note: Ben! Keep your eyes on the… er…. fairway?)

Oh, and there were even presents to open.  I got this fun parking garage from Grandpa and Grandma.

I had a great time visiting and I can’t wait to come back!  Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Here’s my first Lego project that I made without any help from Mommy or Daddy. It’s a school bus!

It has wheels to roll on, and a steering wheel to drive it. And it is mostly yellow, and has seats for people to sit in!

(Ed Note: Hopefully, this is the first of many yet to come…)