Ella's 3rd Birthday Party

Hola amigos. Today we had an intimate gathering of close friends to help celebrate my 3rd birthday. Mommy, and to a lesser extent Daddy, went out of her way to make a girl feel special. Here are some images captured by Senor Shutterbug:

Shooting the Smiths

Today Daddy met up with Tia, Doug, Carter and uber-pal Campbell Smith for a family photo session at scenic spots all around Seattle. Other than the photo shoot, heading to Spanish with Mommy and preparing for MY PARTY, it was a pretty chill day here at the homestead. Look for the photo finery to be gracing a family Christmas card in the months to come.

Ugly Betty Season Premiere

Tonight is the much anticipated season premiere of Ugly Betty, one of Mommy and Daddy's favorite TV shows. Of course Grey's Anatomy is to follow, but it's all about catching up with Miss Suarez, her family and the rest of the Mode crew. To stick with the theme, turkey tacos and Tecate in a can are the featured menu items tonight. Arriba!

Maximilien's 10th Anniversary

There was a break from the pooey weather just in time for Daddy and Mommy to have cocktails and catch a beautiful sunset on the patio of Maximilien at the Market tonight. They arranged for Ms. Cathy Van Riper to hang out with me while they enjoyed a fine dinner in celebration of the current owner's 10th anniversary of guiding Maximilien to consistent yumminess.

Their intention was to eat off the special anniversary prix fixe menu, but instead went whole-hog with myriad selections from the regular menu. Their server was a chap named Mike that has waited on them several times before. This relationship proved to be fruitful as he kept bringing wines to taste and provided a port during their dessert that was all on the hizouse. They don't want to rave too much about this place in fear that it will get overrun with foodies and hipsters, but this is really a place that you need to get to .

Happy Birthday to Me

Last night Mommy and Daddy stayed up late putting up decorations and building a Playmobil house because today is my birthday and they wanted me to wake up to some special fanfare. Can you believe that I've been rockin' it for three whole years now?

While we were upstairs getting dressed we missed a phone call from my pal Campbell. It sounds like she was pretty excited that it was my birthday and couldn't wait until my party on Sunday to shout it from the mountaintops:

Hear Campbell singing me happy birthday here. Is that not the sweetest thing ever?

Those that know me are aware that I'm often hard to wake up. Not even persistent coaxing by Mommy and assuring me that there was a surprise downstairs was enough to get me going with a start.

Poor Mommy and Daddy were so excited for me to see the streamers all around and the gifts they had laid out. It's not that I didn't appreciate it, it's just that, well, it was too damn early.

Things start to get better once I get the bottle goin'. I guess it's sort of like all of the adults and their beloved coffee. Once I had the opportunity to ease into the day, it all started to become clear and I eventually was very excited.

The highlight of the day was when Nana picked me up from school early and we went out for ice cream at Walter's Scoop. When we got home she had another surprise waiting for me too:

Today was an awesome day and the perfect way to celebrate my birthday, but I am looking forward to the expanded party celebration hopefully at Golden Gardens if the weather holds out. Happy birthday to me. =)

Ryan Moore's Birthday

The day was action packed with a jaunt to Spanish, an afternoon birthday party for an amigo from school and a family dinner in Issaquah with the Anderson's. No day this busy could begin without a proper breakfast of foam from Mommy's latte and a healthy dose of bacon from her Reduced-Fat Turkey Bacon Sandwich from you-know-where.

I was definitely looking forward to our dinner over at A.J. and Brenna Anderson's as it was the first time seeing them since our excursion to Big Fork, Montana. Every time we're out their house it's so much fun to put on all of their princess dresses and perform a fashion show for the heavily libated parents. I'm sure tonight will be no exception. But first, there was a birthday party to attend...

My friend Ryan wanted to have an intimate party for some of his fave friends from school and I was fortunate enough to be included. Ryan's big brother Brendan made him a special forest cake and we had fun both indoors and out as it was a beautiful fall day.

Ryan - The Birthday Boy

Sofia

Nola

Brendan - The Big Brother

Our Gang - Guess which one is Spanky

Family Pizza Night With Friends

Tonight took our Friday Family Pizza Night tradition and mixed it up a bit by having the Tiritilli/Villaran posse over to our house for a play date and hang session extraordinaire.

But before the fun with Sofia, Mirta, Larry and Leonardo kicked into gear, Daddy and I met up with the Smiths at the Barking Dog for a quick round of bebidas to cap off a fine week. Daddy had his usual IPA and I rocked the root beer. Although incredibly brief, it was super great to see Campbell, Carter Doug and Tia.

Erika's 3rd Birthday

Today Daddy, Mommy and I zipped up to the Greenwood Public Library to celebrate Erika Newman's 3rd birthday with a bunch of her friends and family.

We ran around and had a ton of fun catching "butterflies" from the butterfly machine and playing peek-a-boo under the banquet tables.

Erika's cake was a super cute princess cake featuring a bunch of my fave Disney characters and tasted super yummy. She did a great job blowing out her candles!

Boat Street Cafe

Tonight the parents embarked on a long awaited culinary adventure to the Boat Street Cafe. While they were out frolicking in their foie-gras and such, I was comfortably at home in the company of one Mrs. Silver Wheatley (nee Silver Galloway). She had been on a 10 day wedding/honeymoon get away and will sadly not be returning to ELDC, so it was great to see her.

The parents were quite taken by all of the intimate charm that Boat Street has to offer. There was al fresco dining available in the cute courtyard and the entire restaurant was opened up to the outside, providing a nice evening breeze.

Apparently their server was amazing and recommended great wine in addition to an interesting substitution for Daddy's dish. In fact, all of the servers kept coming to their table as if they were fighting over them. Hee hee.

COCKTAILS

• Daddy: BELVEDERE MARTINI served up with olives
  
• Mommy: BARTENDER'S SPECIAL Campari with lemon-basil infusion and orange

STARTERS

• BILLY'S BEEFSTEAK TOMATOES with olive oil and vanilla bean fleur de sel
  
• SALADE COMPOSEE Laura Chenel Chevre, date relish, pine nuts & arugula

ENTREES

• BOAT STREET CRAB CAKES banana hot pepper confit, and pickled peppers
  
• CARLTON FARMS PORK LOIN RIB CHOP Sauteed chanterelles, sweet corn, onion & savory

DESSERT

• WARM NECTARINE CAKE with vanilla bean cream

Family Picnic Night

Tonight was part thirty-nine in the ongoing 412 part saga that is Thursday Night Family Picnic with the Lights (Don, Henry, Amy and Audrey). The scene of the crime this pleasant evening was the playground on the perimeter of the Woodland Park Zoo.

Red Mill burgers were consumed, gossip was shared, kids cried, and fun was had. As the weather is surely due to change soon, we hope that this isn't our last Thursday Night Family Picnic night for a long time.

A Day in Healdsburg

Today while I was getting jiggy at Howarth Park with Gramps and Gramma J, Mommy and Daddy were in the Sonoma town of Healdsburg living it up in wine country. One of their first stops was at the 360 Cellars tasting room. This particular place caught their eye as they are a rep for none other than Stags' Leap Winery, one of their faves.

They tasted a ton of wines and ultimately wound up joining 360's wine club as it is a great value and promises to be tasty based on what they were tasting. Their line-up went like this:

• Chateau Souverain 2004 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
  
• Chateau Souverain 2003 Alexander Valley Syrah
  
• Fortitude 2004 Frediani Field Blend
  
• Sbragia 2004 Andolsen Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
  
• St. Clement 2003 Oroppas Cabernet Sauvignon

Daddy liked the Chateau Souverain 2003 Alexander Valley Syrah so much that he brought a bottle to enjoy while lunching at the Dry Creek Kitchen and another to take back to the Grups. Also along for the ride was a bottle of the St. Clement 2003 Oroppas Cabernet Sauvignon and one of Stags' Leap Winery's 2002 Estate Grown Merlot. Guess who are excited to get home and try some wine!

Auntie Rosy

Today we said thank you and goodbye to the Grups so that we could head into San Francisco and rendez-vous with Auntie Rosy. The plan was to scoop her up from her joint of 35+ years and take her to brunch at the Fog City Diner.

We had a nice time chatting over the yummy eats while gazing out on the Bay. Mommy had the cheese biscuits and gravy, Daddy had the smoked chicken hash, Auntie had the calamari and I had 6 pieces of bacon and a bowl of fruit with yogurt. Six pieces of bacon!!

After lunch Mommy hung out and chatted with Auntie while Daddy took me to Crissy Field to burn off some steam. It was fun running around up and down the hills while Daddy tried to snap pics of me with the Golden Gate in the background.

Our time in the Bay Area culminated wiht a final chat session with Auntie and Daddy kindly reprogramming her remote control. The is remote is about 5 inches by 10 inches... It's freaking huge!! I guess it has to be since Auntie can't see so well anymore.

At the Grups

This weekend Mommy, Daddy and I flew into Oakland International Airport so that I could spend some time with The Grups (Gramma J and Gramps, a.k.a Jerry the King) and for Mommy and Daddy to spend some time in Wine Country.

The flight was uneventful, if nothing short of beautiful during sunset. We waded through the throngs at baggage claim so that we could score our nicely equipped Chrysler Pacifica. Daddy and Mommy were both loving the size of the Pacifica... Not quite a mini-van, but bigger than a wagon.

Tickle time in the morning before breakfast with Gramps

Saturday was the big playdate with Gramma J and Gramps - We went to the bouncy house sponsored by their local grocer and then spent a ton of time at Howarth Park. You may remember that I visited this very same park with them back in March of this year. The place is great and I had a great time hanging out with the cows there.

Getting close with Gramma J during breakfast

While I was with Gramps and Gramma J doing our thang, Mommy and Daddy were in Healdsburg tasting wines, getting me treats from Powell's Sweet Shoppe, having a nice lunch at the Dry Creek Kitchen and doing some gift shopping. They found a really cool Himalayan salt block that can be used in many different ways for preparing food and joined the Cellar 360 wine club.

Knocking down domino snakes

Along with Papa Jack's sister Suz and husband Jim, we all sat down for a nice plate of lasagna that Gramma J whipped up. Afterwards the adults had her famous chocolate cake with homemade frosting while I had an ice cream bar. Tomorrow we go see Auntie Rosy and I'm psyched!

Nana and Papa Italy Postcard

ROMA - Piazza di Spagna // Spain Square

The Family Beel were excited today to see a postcard come in from Nana and Papa all the way from Roma, Italia. Here's what Nana had to say:

Have walked these steps at least once a day since we got here. Spent the day at Vatican and plan to explore the ancient city tomorrow.

The weather is clear and sunny but very hot! It only means we drink more beer.

Looking forward to sharing our adventures with you upon our return.

Love,

Mom (Mil, Nana) and Dad (Fil, Papa)

From Rome they headed to Tuscany to rent a villa and chill out. If you were to place a bet, I can imagine a reunion there in the not-too-distant future where the Family Beel are also in attendance.

The Wedding Photog

On Sunday Daddy shot a wedding as the 2nd shooter/assistant to Laurence Kim at the posh W Hotel in downtown Seattle. Just before the ceremony Laurence had the bridal party take to the streets for the fashion shoot portion of his coverage. While Laurence was at ground level with the bridal party, he snapped this pic of Daddy shooting from above.

To check out more images from this wedding, click here.

Daily Report R.I.P.

As I've recently been promoted from Unit 2 (Kangaroos) to Unit 3 (Kookaburras) at ELDC, It's with a heavy heart that I must announce that there will no longer be a Daily Report feature on Mondays.

Apparently they write a weekly synopsis for presentation on Fridays. Hmmm. Besides two years of routine being turned upside down on it's head, I'm feeling pretty good about the new class. It's nice to be reunited with pals Owen and Sofia, but it's heart-wrenching to bid a temporary farewell to my friends Henry and Maddie.

The real kicker is saying farewell to teachers Heather Jones and Saibvhonn Lovie. Saibvhonn has been with us a few months and I've built a solid relationship with her, but Heather has been my teacher for an entire year... More than any other that I've ever had (Silver, Erica, Amy Lower, Cindi Togar, or Nicolie) so I'm definitely feeling the void.

Ride the Duck

It turns out that neither Mommy nor Daddy have ever done the Ride the Duck tour in all the years that they've lived in Seattle. Remarkable. Today we changed all of that by dragging Uncle Mike and my cousin Anna Marum out for a beautiful jaunt around town.

We got our Quackers, queued up, and finally got on Captain Rocky Bottom's duck. He turned to be a great captain for our 90 minute tour. If fact, he was just rated the top Duck captain and was featured on Kiro news.

After the tour we headed to Cactus in West Seattle for some yummy vittles and then a little frisbee on the beach. None of us could get over how beautiful the weather was... We know it's just a matter of time before it's gone.