This past weekend, we decided to extend Melody’s conference trip for a 3-day getaway in Seattle. Westley and I awoke at 4:20a for our morning flight to join her at her hotel until check-out. We trudged through the rain to MoPOP, where we learned to play drums and mix tracks at the music lab, fought monsters and solved puzzles at the indie games exhibit, and explored costumes and props at the sci-fi and fantasy galleries. We warmed up with noodle soups from Pho Viet Anh, checked into our AirBnb studio loft overlooking the Space Needle, then headed to Chihuly Garden & Glass to educate ourselves on glass blowing. I recovered from diarrhea and a nap for dinner reservations at Haidilao, only to overstuff myself again before bed. On Sunday, we went to Pike Place Market to sample treats from Le Panier, Piroshky Piroshky, Daily Dozen, The Crumpet Shop, and Aditi Chai. We then descended to the Seattle Aquarium to meet touchy anemones, a sleepy octopus, and hungry oystercatchers, before retracing our steps through the maze of shops for Pike Place Chowder and Market Grill fish sandwich. At the Seattle Art Museum, Westley practiced capturing artworks with my camera. Realizing that most museums were closed on Mondays, we powered through to the Pacific Science Center, where we flew Boeing-designed paper airplanes, danced like jumping spiders, and secured standby spots at the intimate planetarium show. Melody and Westley found souvenirs at the Seattle Glassblowing Studio before we headed to Mercer Island for dinner and game night with my friend Kathryn and her family. We slept in and awoke to French pastries from La Parisienne on Monday, then headed to the International District for another self-guided food tour that included crossing bridge noodles from Ten Seconds Yunnan Rice Noodle, pineapple bun and XO chang fun from A+ Hong Kong Kitchen, and fish congee and wonton noodle soup from Mike’s Noodle House. We snapped photos of Bruce Lee’s mural outside his favorite restaurant, then played through seven decades of pinball at the Seattle Pinball Museum. We concluded with Dough Zone dumplings and noodles, and picked up TP milk tea that we had to finish before airport security. Fortunately, the TSA precheck shutdown was reversed last minute, but our 2-hour flight delay made for a tiring trip home.

I spent the past weeks obsessing over house lights, swapping bulbs around to optimize lumens and color temperatures. I also installed picture lights over our Peruvian tapestry and hired expert help to put one over our fireplace canvas. But Westley was the one to truly light up our lives this year. Last week, he completed the 18 laps of freestyle necessary to pass level 10 and graduate from Swim America. He also performed his first orchestra concert after just a few months of violin lessons, completed COM level 3, and showed off his vocal skills at NewStar’s lunar new year gala. He even gained enough confident to compete in his first fencing tournament, where placing second-to-last in the Y12 mixed foil pool of 5 earned him a bronze medal. Melody celebrated my birthday with me at Omakase Por Favor, although I had more fun sampling Paris Banh Mi and Fluffy Fluffy at the Davis Collection. Westley spent his birthday posing his completed RG Gundam Sinanju, hanging his piranha wall art, and trying out the Murdle Jr. and Ghost of Yotei that we got him as presents. We otherwise continued our tradition of triple chocolate mousse cakes from Nugget, and spun the birthday wheel at Shabu Shack on Superbowl Sunday in between watching Winter Olympics events from Milano-Cortano. Although a person’s zodiac year typically brings bad luck, I’m thankful that my Year of the Horse has been off to an auspicious start.