Lobster Festival

The Lobster Festival came to town a few weekends ago, which meant Phineas had his first Smokey's Greater Shows experience.  He stuck to the truck rides (surprise!) and and fun going around and waving to us on the side.

Riding Dijon

Phineas went for a ride on Dijon!  He was all smiles and laughter as Mom led them around the ring.  After he got off, Phin started talking about how he'll go over jumps when he's older.

Olympic Sculpture Park

After visiting the market, we walked over to the Olympic Sculpture Park. Here are some pictures of Phineas wondering through the park and looking at the art.

Pike Place Market

While in Seattle, we went to Pikes Place Market with Oma and Aunt Julie. We looked around at all of the things at the market and Phin got to sit on and feed Rachel, the market's bronze piggy bank.

Space Needle

We hadn't intended to go up the Space Needle on this visit but every time Phineas saw it from the ground he asked if we could go up it and eat in the restaurant.  We went up but didn't eat in the restaurant.  Because it was an anniversary year there were several scale models of the Space Needle in displays.  Phineas liked looking at them, and he liked looking down on the helicopter pads.

Red Sox at Safeco Field

We got lucky and the Red Sox were in Seattle while we were there!  We had tickets to a night game and sat on the first base line behind home plate.  Phineas enjoyed watching the game while eating lots of popcorn and ice cream.  He made it to the eighth inning before becoming completely exhausted and falling asleep in mom's arms.

Fremont

We noticed that we have more Seattle pictures that we never got around to posting back in July. So, Here are some pictures from our walk over to Fremont. Phin loved the drawbridge there and we watched it go up to let the sail boats pass through underneath then come back down and let the cars drive across again.

 Phin, smiling as he watches the bridge raise up right in front of him

Watching some boats pass under us while we walk across the bridge

 

We went down on a walking trail along the canal to watch the bridge from below

While we were in Fremont, there was a street festival going on and Maximus/Minimus the mobile pig was there, serving up lunch!

Balance Bike!

Here are some pictures of Phineas testing out the balance bike he got for his birthday.  The learning curve is very steep and he went from tip-toeing around on it to going so fast that we have to run behind him in about 3 days.  Now we take it out for a spin most every night, usually down Main Street.

Cruising through a parking lot

Speeding down the sidewalk

Checking out a toy store's window display

Stopping for a picture

Some nights, once every couple of weeks, we stop for ice cream while we're out.  Phineas orders mint chocolate chip on a sugar cone every time!

Taking a break on the way home, whether he needs it or not!

One final grin while riding.

Climbing Mount Battie

This morning we went to Camden Hills State Park and climbed Mount Battie.  Phineas had fun hiking and walked much of the way himself.  On the way down he rode on Dad's shoulders.  Phin's highlights were the view from the top, the tower on the summit, and seeing the holes in trees made by woodpeckers.

A cookie break at the top.

 Up in the tower.

 Riding down.

 Checking out woodpecker holes with Mom.

Taking a water break.

Happy Birthday Phineas!

Phineas turned three on July 13th.  Mom made him a chocolate cake with butter cream frosting.  For months Phineas requested a firetruck cake but, despite major efforts, we couldn't quite get a dark enough red food coloring to make it work.  Instead, we put a truck on top driving along a chocolate road and then had Phineas help it put out the candle flames.

He got lots of truck toys, including a Hess truck and many Matchbox toys.  He got a play car mat that has streets laid out on it that is the perfect size for the Matchbox cars.  And he got a balance bike, which he helped Dad put together and then took for a test drive in the house.