Seattle Patriot

We welcomed Blake Victor Cressey into the world on May 28, 2008 at 10 PM. He was a whopping 7 lbs 8 oz, and 19" long, with blue eyes (which we think will soon become a beautiful brown).  He has been delighting his friends and family already (including aunts, cousins, parents, grandparents and GREAT-grandparents!), and has proven himself to be quite photogenic!! Proud parents are taking Blake home today, and he’s looking forward to seeing his new digs and trying on some of his new wardrobe!  Here are some photos from his first, second, and third days with us:

Blake has been trying to come out (and Em has been trying to get him out!) for about 24 hours.  She’s working like a champ and we’re hoping to have him with us out in the world very very soon! (Like…TODAY!)  We’ll see if he complies. Pictures and more to follow…

Anna, Mom, and I threw Emily a baby shower this weekend which was fabulously fun! Everyone was overwhelmingly generous, and gave wonderful advice. I felt so fortunate to be able to get this advanced preview into this wonderful life that is motherhood. What an amazing opportunity! We can’t wait to welcome Emily and Ben’s little baby boy bundle of joy into the world ANY DAY now!

Round 2 - Friday afternoon after many many hours of flying we arrive in Munich. After being up for over 24 hours-ish, we now have to make ourselves stay up for another 8 hours - yikes!! So we head out to an open-air market in the heart of Munich (via U-Bahn underground rail system, which was clean, punctual, and otherwise awesome!). You’ll see we encountered lots of meats, not all yummy looking, but tried some of the award winning Weisswurst (”Vice-vurst”) which was sort of an extremely mild version of Brautwurst.

Saturday we left early to catch an U-Bahn to Die Welt (aka “Bimmerworld”) to pick up the car. We got quite a tour, a tasty breakfast, and finally, the car, which we literally drove right out of the showroom… but not before I snagged an apple streudel on my quest to find the best apfel streudel in Munich. We then took our maiden voyage out to Dachau concentration camp. It was a very interesting bit of history, and there was a lot to see and reflect on, beginning with the iron doors at the entryway, reading (in German): “Work shall set you free.”

Sunday the entire day was taken driving out to Neuschwanstein castle and hiking up the three mile trail, which was somewhat icy (too icy for busses, which is why we all walked), leading to the castle. We then took an hour tour of the castle, and someone’s camera “accidentally” took a few pictures from inside the castle, which was otherwise not allowed. We concluded the day at a hole in the wall restaurant near Neuschwanstein, which took first place in the apfel struedel competition. Monday morning we left around 5 AM for home, bring our whirlwind adventure to an end.