We love U2!

Saturday we finally got to see U2. We bought the tickets last year, but the tour was postponed. Glad it was just postponed and not canceled!

The weather was perfect for an outdoor concert, which isn't always the case in Seattle.




Lenny Kravitz opened for them. I'm a big LK fan, so this was a big bonus for me.



They put on a fantastic concert and played most of my favorite songs.






Those U2 guys...not too shabby.

Fall Stuff

Some weekend mid-October we trekked all the way out to Stocker Farms to conquer the corn maze and give their haunted house a try.

I think this was the first time it hit us that it was starting to get cold out. We weren't dressed warm enough for the weather, but luckily Rob had a few extra sweatshirts and pairs of gloves in the car!

We got there too late to hit their pumpkin patch, but were not much for pumpkin carving anyways. With an hour or so of daylight left we took on the corn maze. They offered us a map as we beginning, but we passed and entered the maze with nothing but our superior navigating skills.

There were all these CornText check points throughout the maze, but we didn't give in. We were certain we'd make our way through without any help.

Turns out we sorta suck. We ended up coming back out of the maze without any problems...only we came back out the entrance, not the exit. So technically we didn't do the whole maze, but I thought we did pretty good.

The haunted house was awesome! It wasn't really scary, but there were definitely some parts where I was startled. We met some fun people in line and went through it with them, which made it even more entertaining.

On the way home we tried to ignore the fact that our shoes and pants were all muddy and stopped PF Chang's for dinner. I think we got a weird look or two, but pretended not to notice!

I think we can scratch corn mazes and haunted houses off our list for a few years.

Salmon Days

We joined the rest of Issaquah over the weekend and hopped a shuttle down to Salmon Days. Apparently it's quite a big deal.

At several points in the river you can see the salmon swimming upstream. Some of them were HUGE. And you can see all the ones that have 'met their ends' after laying their eggs. Ah, the circle of life. It's strange to see them swimming around in front of you, then picture all the frozen filets in the freezer. But we do love some salmon at our house!

This big blow up salmon's mouth opened up and kids could climb in, sit down and listen to stories being told {by the salmon, I think}. Weird.

It was a perfect Fall day to be outside, although I'd like to see a few more Fall leaves. I'm inpatient. This is supposed to be a long Fall, so I hope that we'll have plenty of nice outdoor-worthy weekends ahead of us.

At the lake

August seems to have slipped by without any blogging, meaning I don't think we did much of anything worth sharing. I did find a few random pictures from a picnic at the lake a couple weeks ago.

We had a streak of hot weather up here for a few days and thought that Jackson would be all over some swimming. Turned out he had to be coaxed a bit. Okay, he had to be dragged into the water. Completely against his will.

But once he got in he actually enjoyed it...for a little while.

Then he'd had enough of it and was desperately trying to drag Rob out.

I thought he was crazy. If I'd had my bathing suit, I would have gotten in and stayed in for a while. Someone keeps pressuring me to play hooky and spend an afternoon at the lake. I might have to give in soon!

At the races

Saturday afternoon we headed off to the track to catch some races...horse and weiner dog. It also just happened to be one of those rare Seattle days when the sky is clear enough to see Mt. Rainier.

There were about three horse races scheduled before the weiner dog races were to take place, so we got in on that fun too. I have a history of winning big at the horses, but I was too content kicking back in the sun to go place any bets. I'd regretted it after the fact. The horse I had my eye on {named Eyes on my Heart} would have made me some big money. Bummer.

There were three heats of the weiner dog races and each one was funnier than the last. These dogs were hilarious!

In the second race a group of them stalled and then started running back to the person that released them rather than to the person calling them at the other end.

I think that if Jackson would've been in the race he might have been one of them...or that he would have wandered off to smell the flowers {because that's the masculine kind of dog he is} but Rob kept insisting that if Jackson were there he would have cleaned the track with those other dogs.

Next year, I told him. Next year.

The Bite

This past Sunday we braved the crowds and hung out at The Bite of Seattle. We haven't been for a few years and figured it was time to go again.

We've had a bit of a rocky history with The Bite:

• Our first year we browsed all the different restaurants and ended up eating Subway at the Seattle Center food court.
• The second year we went we walked through all the food booths and again opted for the safety of Subway.
• Year three we toughened up and tried some Philly cheese steak sandwiches, and then later wished we'd eaten Subway.

Super lame, right?! This year we were determined to shake things up and get our tasting on. We met up with some friends, paid outrageous sums for parking, did some people watching, had our pictures taken with the Foster Farms chicken...you know, all the good stuff.

The weather was a little off. It was bright and sunny outside but pretty cold. I don't know how those people could stand being in the fountain. I was freezing just watching them!

Here's the famous Seattle lunch truck, Maximus Minimus. But with neither of us being partakers of pork I just clicked a pic of their cool truck to share. Foster Farms has these big chicken balloon floating around and I thought they were funny looking.

Oh, what did we eat!? Well we both had a scoop from the Ben and Jerry's mobile and then...you guessed it - Subway! Our friend did sample some Piroshky so we figure that gave us a little cred, right? No.

There is just something about eating food that's being prepared in a fryer under a tarp that doesn't sit well with me. Actually us. We're so prissy.

Maybe next year we'll try the Shishkaberry's??

They look pretty safe. ☺

Jam-Packed Weekend

Saturday morning started out bright and early with the Seafair Pirates landing at Alki Beach. The sun was out, but there was a bit of a breeze so it was nice to be outside.

We did the pirate thing and then wandered down the rest of the beach. There was a pole vaulting competition going on and a bunch of kids were taking advantage of the low water and doing trick on their boogie boards. It made me want to play in the water, but after glancing at the murkiness of it, I quickly changed my mind!

On the way back from Alki we stopped in Mercer Island and spent a few hours at a street fair there. Rob was into the 3 on 3 basketball tournament, while I was enthralled by these two little poodles that were dyed green and purple. From Mercer Island we headed down to Southcenter for dinner and then back home to rescue Jackson from his boring day at home.

Dog in tow we headed down to Lake Sammamish where Jackson had his first swimming experience. I thought I was going to have to pull him into the water but he walked right in. He didn't stay for long though...maybe next time.

Sunday was a camera free day, but pictures would have been great! We'd signed up for a 5K that was sponsored by a local community club. It was a little odd but we had a good time and met some very interesting people. They were 'courting' us to join up with them, but I think our one visit there was enough.

Post 5K we hit IHOP (of course!!) to get our carbs on and did a little house hunting...then went home to collapse.

Water shots

I finally got around to developing the waterproof disposables camera we took on our cruise. Out of the three cameras we filled with pictures, only about thirty pictures turned out. Yes, very disappointing. Still, there are a few that made the cut.

Here is the picture I took of Rob making out with kissing a sting ray.

On. the. lips. I was stunned that he actually did it. SO unlike him.

And here is the picture Rob took of me kissing a sting ray. Awesome, huh.

**edited to add**

Why were we kissing on these things? Well it's said that kissing a sting ray brings seven years good luck. We'll see...

Yep, we're hot in snorkeling gear, we know.

Stingray City in Grand Cayman. The most beautiful water EVER. It's so incredibly clear. Can't wait to go back!

Isla Roatan in Honduras. Great place to Snuba. The Snuba time went by way to quickly. It was more of a browner environment versus the bright tropical colors we'd hoped for, but it is the second largest barrier reef system in the world, so that was pretty amazing.

It was here that Rob was viciously attacked came into contact with some kind of sea urchin and broke out in hives all over. Nothing a trip to the urgent care clinic couldn't handle though. Plus, it makes a great story. He was so brave. ☺

Messing around in our hotel pool in Key West.

Lesson learned: we need to invest in a waterproof digital camera.