What a wonderful trip. so far

Shelby and I are in Seattle at an AIDS conference for work. In addition to the main meeting, which runs Wednesday to Friday, I needed to arrive early for a special meeting, and Shelby is helping coordinate a workshop today (Tuesday). We decided to bring Eli, since our upcoming solo travel would otherwise mean a monthlong stretch with little continuity. While we have travelled with Eli many times, we are always impressed at how quickly he adapts and how inquisitive he is. The trip here was uneventful, though everyone was tired since he awoke in the middle of the night on the way here, since we had told him that we would be going to the airport after he awoke. Having a three year old who will sit mostly quiet for a 5 hour flight is pretty remarkable.

Our first day here, we took a harbor cruise around Eliot Bay. Eli was overtired, but later he said he had a lot of fun on the big boat. We had dinner with two colleagues from work and Eli was so tired by this point that he put his head on Shelby's lap and went to sleep in the restaurant! He didn't even wake up when I carried him the three blocks home to the hotel. We are staying at a hotel on the waterfront, with a balcony overlooking the bay. I am typing this from the balcony while Eli takes a nap.

Yesterday, Eli and Shelby visited with one of Shelby's friends while I attended my meeting. They went to the Childrens' Museum and Eli told me he had a wonderful time. Apparently he was particularly fond of the drum room. Later in the afternoon, my meeting ended and the three of us walked down to the Pike Place market. Eli was proud of himself for walking up all the stairs from the waterfront to the market, even though he wanted to take the elevator back down on our way back to the hotel. Much to my surprise, he stopped at a stop sign and pointed out each letter in sequence. Later, he did the same at the 'Public Market' sign atop the market. Eli enjoyed sitting on a piggie bank sculpture, while I enjoyed finding the tea shop that makes the cinnamon and orange tea I buy at a 1000% markup at home. Eli also liked watching the fish sellers throwing the fish around.

We came back to the hotel and went to dinner with another colleague. Back past the market and up the hill into downtown Seattle. Eli was on great behavior, not least because he got to have pizza two nights in a row. After dinner we came back to the hotel and had dessert. While we waited for dessert, I showed him pictures of famous musicians in the lobby of the hotel. To my surprise, he pointed to one picture and (correctly) identified the band as the Beatles. Pretty cool. He got to bed after dessert and slept until about 7:30 this morning. Fortunately, jet lag doesn't seem like much of an issue.

One aspect of the trip that Eli eagerly anticipated was having breakfast at coffee shops every morning. We found one yesterday monring that served some healthier options, so Shelby and Eli went back there this morning while I went to the first hour of my meeting. After breakfast, we traded places and Shelby went to her meeting. I walked Eli past the Olympic Sculpture Garden (where we watched a train go through a tunnel, much to his delight) to the Experience Music Project, or, as Eli calls it, the music museum. He had so much fun. The museum was not particularly busy, particularly when we arrived, so we went to the part of the museum where you can experiment on different instruments and he spent two hours playing drums, guitar, bass, keyboard, singing, scratching turntables, etc. He is just learning the differences between these instruments and how to keep rhythm, so it was very fun to try to play alongside him. After this, we tried the interactive 'sound stage' where we got to simulate rock stars singing 'Twist and Shout' to our adoring admirers. It was really loud, but Eli had a great time singing into the microphone.

After the music museum, we decided to go to the Space Needle's revolving restaurant for lunch. Eli had a great time in the revolving restaurant, pointing out railroad tracks, boats, birds, helicopters, seaplanes, and other items on the ground and in the air. He wasn't even (visibly) scared in the 1 minute elevator ride up and down. Now he is taking a nap, but I will need to wake him in about 15 minutes so that Shelby and I can participate in a panel discussion on work/life balance. Isn't that what this is, taking turns watching Eli so the other can work?