Waterbaby

During college I spent a semester at Western Washington University (with the National Student Exchange program) in lovely Bellingham, WA, just north of Seattle. I had the opprotunity to spend time in Seattle and I fell in love with that city, which is so different from the east coast cities I had known growing up. I have been back to visit a couple of times, and each time I go I find myself sitting next to the International Fountain at the Seattle Center, a leftover from the World's Fair. The fountain is a masterpiece in my mind. It consists of a huge, crater-like dish of cement with half of a metal ball in the middle; water shoots out of the ball and from jets embedded in the cement in time to music that comes from speakers around the crater's edge. It is hard not to sit and watch as people of all kinds and ages play in the water, dancing, squealing, and laughing as they chase the water. The spray shifts and dances in the wind and catches the light, making the children look ethereal and often creating rainbows in its mist. When I think of Seattle I think of this fountain, of sitting and watching as simple streams of water change cement and metal into something magical.

Like his mom, Harrison loves a fountain. Only his beloved fountain is located in nearby Saratoga, and although it is not as grand as the International Fountain, it still delivers the same sort of magic to our favorite wee one. We spent the Fourth of July watching streams of water shoot through the air, rather than fireworks (we worried the latter might scare the little H man) and Harry's joy was palpable. He danced and laughed, ran around the circle of cement with glee, and stuck his head directly into the spray. He loves the water so!





And although I have no story of magic for you about the following photo, we took Harrison to the local beach and he enjoyed that as well. He thinks he knows how to swim (he's wrong) and has no fear about plunging himself into the water headfirst, especially after watching the bigger kids splashing and swimming. I think the majority of this summer will be spent with water of some sort close by!