"May all your dreams come true..."

This weekend turned out to be a very rewarding one. On Friday, I found out that the Dayton Chapter of the Disneyana Fan Club would be holding their annual convention on Saturday and Sunday. One of the great things about having a child is the chance to rediscover some of the things I have lost touch with from my own childhood. The world of Walt Disney, and everything it encompasses, is one of those things I have had the chance to rediscover. Over the past several months, Radha has developed a love for the modern Tinker Bell movies ("Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue" is the first full movie she sat through). When I found out that Margaret Kerry, the model/actress for Tinker Bell from 1953's "Peter Pan," would be one of the convention's guest speakers, I knew we had to go. Yesterday, we arrived just in time to see Bill Farmer (the voice of Goofy for the past 20+ years) and Mrs. Kerry tell some very entertaining stories about their histories working for The Walt Disney Company. Following that, Mrs. Kerry signed a picture of Tinker Bell with a personalized message just for Radha. Of course, there were plenty of Disney goods for sale and Radha ended up picking out a Piglet pin. What made the purchase memorable was how random the pin was. It featured Piglet dressed as a clown with "Happy Halloween 2002" inscribed on it. You could totally imagine a two-year-old picking it out!

I do believe that we are warming up to living in Ohio quite well. Last weekend, we celebrated Father's Day by going out and sharing some great family time together. After the great time we had this weekend, I think we're on a roll. It makes me very hopeful for our future happiness as a family here and eagerly awaiting next weekend.

Just the Two of Us...

Within the past month, Reese and I took our first out-of-state trip without Radha. We're very fortunate to have my parents close by, who never turn down an opportunity to watch their granddaughter. Reese has really wanted to take me to Seattle, Washington since she visited there over four years ago. Since I had never been there, I thought it sounded like the perfect place to make some new discoveries and recharge our relationship.

For one of the West Coast's major cities, Seattle sure was easy to navigate. The streets were plentiful, but never too crowded even during the weekend we visited. This made it much easier to see the sights we were looking forward to. Friday morning we awoke and quickly got ready for the spectacle that is Pike's Place Market. It was quite the bustling scene...fresh seafood, flowers and well made local goods and clothing nearly everywhere I looked. We shared a special breakfast there, a sweet cream cheese and Marionberry vatrushka with Starbucks coffee from the original location to wash it down. That afternoon, we walked to the Space Needle from our hotel. The structure's elevator took 44 seconds to shuttle us up to the observation deck 520 feet above the city. Waiting for us at the top were 360 degrees of amazing views. It really was a fantastic opportunity to see the entire city!

We spent Saturday on Whidbey Island, where Reese had attended a writers' colony back in 2005. She was able to show me several special locations she remembered such as the log covered beach at Double Bluff Bay and the quaint town of Langley. We even discovered a few new spots together including the pizzeria in Langley where we dined on a delicious pesto pizza.

Due to the fact that Radha wasn't going to be with us, we had agreed this would be a short getaway. We got up early on Sunday morning and made our way back to Sea-Tac airport, our last cups of Washington java in our hands. The trip back home was a long one, but we sure were happy to see our sleeping baby girl when we arrived at my parents' house to pick her up. It was nice to hear a series of high-pitched "You're back!" yelps from Spencer as well. I went to sleep that night knowing that there was something very special indeed about Seattle, Washington. I will definitely be returning, with Radha along, expecting to find even more to like.