I am sad to report I was not a winner, or even a finalist, in the Bunny cake decoration contest. It was a little frustrating to find out people could enter more than one cake only after the contest ended. Some people entered 3 or 4 different designs, and I'm not saying I would have had time to do the same. It would have been nice to know, though.
So that's that.
In Westley's world, there is a ton of walking going on. He's finally going solo every now and then, and yesterday he was doing a great little sideways number. Hilarious as usual! His molars have all come in and it looks like the canines are well on their way to cutting through so that's sure to make for some long nights coming up. He's eating well, still loving anything with tomato sauce, but is finally branching out a bit. Every once in a great while we give him a taste of something delectable like ice cream or chocolate, but it's rare, and he usually doesn't want much. Juice is still out of the picture, which we are fine with, and he loves his Goldfish crackers, and his Winnie-the-Pooh organic cookies once in a while.
We're guessing his stats are about 31 lbs weight, and 35" height.
Our family vacation is coming up and while we're gone we'll be celebrating Mother's day as well as Christian's parents 35th Wedding Anniversary. It will be wonderful to have both our mom's there to share the day, and for the anniversary, we're thinking Surf and Turf for dinner and Creme Brulee made by yours truly for dessert. We're hoping the PNW weather has become a little more pleasant by the time we go so we can enjoy the beach and get some pool time in. We've got a great little swimming out fit for West with the UV protection swim trunks and surf top. He's going to be our little beach bum. It will be wonderful to catch up with my parents, see how my niece, Emily and nephew, Alex have grown, and to see Kaijsa, Christian's sis, too! It's been too long since we've all had a good, relaxing visit.
Before we go out of town we'll be participating in the 1st Annual March for Babies (previously known as Walk-America)here in Seattle at Qwest Field. There's still plenty of time for you to donate and share some love! Think about the fact that if everyone gave just 5$, maybe skipped a latte for the day, or passed on the daily snack run, how quickly that would add up. It's such a wonderful cause to support and so many of us have been affected by premature births and/or defects. Do you know anyone born prematurely or with a birth defect? It may very well have been research funded by the March of Dimes that saved a life of someone you know.
You may have noticed I've added a list of favorite places on the web here to the right. You'll find my March for Babies sponsorship page, Christian's website that displays a great sampling of his work, my Uncle Chris' website for all your promotional business needs, and some other fun things to explore!
And now a personal plea for those of you living here in the Seattle area. I would like to ask you to help send a message to a local business who was incredibly humiliating and disrespectful to a fellow mom in one of my meet-up groups. The owners of Alki Cafe (not to be confused with Alki Bakery) here in West Seattle were horrible to this mom and a group of her friends who were there to begin a day of pampering after she and her family suffered the most terrible loss, that of a child. This mom and friends showed up in the morning with a large group, which they tried to make reservations for and were told they didn't take reservations, and it was not necessary at that time of day (9am). When a few more showed up making their group size about 15 people, the owner proceeded to throw a fit screaming and yelling in the mom's face because the server moved a table for them. He was told why they were there, what had happened in the mom's family, and said in so many words that he didn't care why they were there and went on with the tantrum. Luckily the group was able to put this awful experience aside for the day and get on with the pampering. I hope by sharing this story those of you who have eaten there in the past will consider avoiding this establishment and instead giving your hard earned money to a business who treats it's customers with kindness, respect and the human courtesies everyone deserves no matter what is happening in their lives, good or bad.
We enjoyed a great meal at the Pepperdock Cafe, also on Alki, the other night. The food was fantastic, the atmopshere is a very beachy/diner/pick up your food at the counter place. The dining area is fun/kitschy, the cuisine is inexpensive and has the best fish and chips I've tasted in a very long time. Crispy, Panko-breaded buttery fish fillets served with homemade fries were beyond my expectations of this little hole-in-the-wall place with mismatched wood tables and chairs, outdoor summer seating and a pretty extensive menu showing everything from egg-rolls to salmon burgers. We'll be going back to the Pepperdock Cafe.