Seattle in October

Uncle Mike and Aunt Jeannette took their yearly trip to Seattle this past weekend. The first stop was O'Hare Airport in Chicago to catch the next plane to Seattle. At the airport, Brownie took a stop to hang out with some stuffed bears.

We left very early in the morning in Champaign, so we got to Seattle before it was lunch time there. Seattle is in Washington which is in a different time zone (ask your parents about time zones). Walking down the street from our hotel we saw this pig-shaped lunch bus. We ate there one of the other days and it was really tasty.

We also visited an outdoor art park down by the water. The tree you see behind Jeannette is completely made of metal.

There was also this glass installation that had different colors in the shape of clouds. It had a pretty neat effect when the sun shined through it.

Below Brownie you see another metal piece of art that Mike thinks looks like a palm tree.

"Oh no! I've got Brownie in my eye!"

Back in downtown Seattle we had a coffee, read our books, and watched a couple guys play a really huge chess game.


On Saturday, we went to a place called Cyberdog to get a hotdog. As it turns out they were vegetarian hotdog substitutes that weren't very good, but inside the shop they had this dog that looked like a much bigger version of Brownie.

We like to come to Seattle to visit Chris & Emily and Jessica & Matt. However, the reason our visit was this specific weekend was because we wanted to see The Black Keys again. It was an excellent show!

On Sunday we went over to Lake View Cemetary to visit Bruce Lee's gravesite. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, one of the martial arts that Mike studies. Next to the cemetary was an Asian art museum that had a coy pond outside.

We were in Seattle for five days and away from home for almost six. Diesel was very happy for us to finally be home.

Berkeley, CA (again)

Uncle Mike took another trip to Berkeley, CA this past week to visit some people to talk about work. He was hoping to go straight from home to the airport, but ended up having to go into the office before his flight. Brownie sat by while Mike had his morning coffee. The wooden top you see was brought home all the way from Peru by one of Mike's co-workers.

After landing at the San Francisco airport, we had to drive through rush hour traffic over to our hotel. On the way we passed a Ralph Gracie Jiu Jitsu Academy. (Pro-nounced Halph). Next time Mike goes out here he'll have to take an extra day so he can get some training in.

The next day we got up to walk over to our meeting. Brownie and Mike made a stop at Starbucks to get a coffee.


The people we met with are very cool. In their lounge area they had a bunch of games and even had an old Speak-n-Spell! Uncle Mike and your mom had a Speak-n-Spell just like this one.



We were invited to go to the roof of the building and check out the view. Way in the back, across the bay, is San Francisco. Brownie was a little nervous sitting on the ledge.


The elevator of the building had giant buttons on the floor that you could kick to select what floor you want to go to. Mike thought this was a really cool idea since he's often in an elevator with his hands full and it's hard to press the buttons.

Finally, on the last morning there, Mike took a picture of this neat metal sculpture.

Gencon - Indianapolis

This past weekend Jeannette and Mike went to a gaming convention in Indianapolis. It's the biggest game convention in the country and it's only two hours from Champaign!

The first thing we did was hit the exhibit floor to see what new games were being released. Jeannette took a moment to get a picture with this giant inflatable monster.

We took this picture for a couple friends of ours that are really into Dr. Who. In the show, the scientist travels through time using a blue telephone booth. But where's Brownie during all this?

There he is! We found him hanging out with some stuffed Settlers of Catan resources. In this game, you have to collect things like wood, wool from sheep, bricks, wheat, and ore. There was a TON of stuff to see and do, but with all the walking around we needed to take a break.

We stopped for some nice, cool drinks before heading back to the exhibit hall. The trip would have been worth it if it were just us, but as an added bonus, Jeannette's best friend from college flew all the way from Seattle to attend as well. Jessica and her husband Matt sat down with Brownie for a photo in our hotel room.

We're headed up to Madison, Wisconsin again next weekend and then Seattle at the end of September. Luckily, we don't have to pay extra to take Brownie on the plane.

Mike and Jeannette visit Chicago

Mike had a conference in Chicago and invited Jeannette to come along with him. Jeannette was born in Chicago so the trip was a fun walk down memory lane. They arrived in the evening and went to P.F. Chang's for dinner, it was really good.

Here's a picture of Mike waiting for his dinner:
The next morning Mike had to go to the conference so Jeannette took Brownie for a long walk. But first, Brownie had to get caught up on his email:

The view outside of the hotel window was wonderful. The building next door has a rooftop track. Can you see the man running his laps?:


Brownie needed a sip of coffee while he and Jeannette planned their route:


There were all sorts of beautiful buildings to see, Jeannette had a hard time picking what she wanted to photograph:


One of the things Jeannette loves about Chicago is that if you don't like what you see...:


...just look up and everything changes:


Even the big construction equipment follows the rules of the road:


Jeannette visited her friend Andrew while he was at work, he works for the Illinois Senate Republican Caucus as a communications specialist. That's a fancy way of saying he helps our State Senators do their jobs better:


Andrew works in the Thomson Center, it's an amazing building with a huge atrium. Brownie was on the top floor when Jeannette took this picture. The top floor is also where Governor Pat Quinn works when he's in Chicago:


After visiting Andrew Jeannette went for a walk on the riverfront, Brownie is taking a moment to look at the river up close:

Jeannette decided to visit Marina Towers. It's the big corn cob-looking building below. Her grandmother, Mick, used lived there when Jeannette was a little girl:

The little building with the floppy roof is the current home of the Chicago House of Blues. When Jeannette was a little girl she and her sister used to call it the "Pizza Building" because the roof looks like a raw piece of pizza dough:

Jeannette treated herself and Brownie to lunch in the marina restaurant under Marina Towers:

Jeannette took a picture of Brownie while he was looking over the menu. Jeannette had a lobster club sandwich and Brownie had fancy mac and cheese:


When Jeannette began her route back to the hotel she stopped at a Vietnam War Memorial. Your grandpa is a veteran of the Vietnam War, he served in the Navy:


The last stop Jeannette and Brownie made was to a mall with a Lego store. Outside the store are large Lego sculptures of people sitting on benches. Can you see Brownie sitting in the lap of the the man in the blue suit?:


Can you see him in this picture of the Lego lady?:


Jeannette and Mike had a fun time in Chicago. Fortunately Brownie was with them to help record their trip.

Jeannette's New Car

Jeannette got a new car this past week. It's a Volkswagon Golf TDI. Isn't it cute?

Here's Jeannette posing for the camera in her new driving scarf and goofy sunglasses.

We headed out to the store with Brownie riding on the dash. The new car is really fun to drive.
Jeannette took a picture of herself in the mirror while Mike was driving. Mike wanted to drive since Jeannette gets to drive the new car all week long.
Brownie fits nicely in the cup holder too! Maybe he can take a nap there during long trips.

Trip to Poughkeepsie, NY with Uncle Mike

Uncle Mike had to take a trip to a place called Poughkeepsie, NY for his job. It wasn't going to be very exciting, but Brownie came along to keep Mike company. Here's Brownie looking out of the window from the airplane:

There was already snow on the ground out east, but they were expecting another snow storm as well. Mike had to land at a smaller airport and then drive up to Poughkeepsie. It was dark and rainy at first, but then it started snowing. It kept snowing too. Mike wanted to visit a martial arts school that night, but classes were canceled due to the weather.

Mike had to work all day, but Brownie was able to use the internet in the evenings from the hotel:

The plan was for people leaving early the next morning to drive down to a different hotel that's closer to the airport. The drive took nearly twice as long as it was supposed to because of the snow that just kept coming. This is a picture from that drive. (Uncle Mike shouldn't be taking pictures while he's driving.)

Mike's flight out was canceled so he and Brownie had to spend another day at the hotel. Aside from not being able to come home, it was pretty relaxing. Brownie had time to catch up on some of his reading while Mike did some work on the computer.

Finally. Mike got home in the late afternoon the day after he was supposed to. Jeannette's brother Wally, his wife Natalie, and their baby Mason were already there visiting. Here's a picture of Mason, he's seven months old now.

That's it for now. Brownie is really looking forward to Spring so he can get outside and do some yard work.