Monkeying Around in Downtown Seattle

It was a beautiful Saturday in Seattle, so we piled into the car for an adventure! Wendy, Ken and I had chosen downtown because there is SO much to see there! We had no idea of the excitement ahead - and how great it would be to be a little sock monkey on this very sunny day!


We approached the Emerald City. They call Seattle that ... and honestly, with how much the skyline looks like Land of Oz, I was actually looking for Flying Monkeys! With my eyes to the skies (I do not like Flying Monkeys), I saw something amazing! I yelled, "KEN! STOP THE CAR! THEY ARE EXPECTING ME!"


A huge sign welcomed me, exclaiming that this is in fact the Year of the Monkey in Seattle! Well, that's what I thought it meant until I saw it was just a store name, but it was fun to think that I was so welcomed here. The store next to it is called Island Fever, and they actually hire pirates to work there. I felt safe outside, but I got nervous when I saw one of my cousins inside who appeared to be positively blue with fear! I was reassured, though, when he gave me the "thumbs up" and I didn't have to worry that the pirates were after him.

   

We headed even further downtown after that because I was getting hungry and Ken said he knew a good place where I could get an almost-as-good-as-Detroit-my-hometown falafel sandwich. There was a nice policeman directing traffic around some construction, and Sgt. Vela told us it was okay to park where we wanted to park. He was so NICE and FRIENDLY! I like people in Seattle! 


Well, imagine our surprise when right there next to us where we parked (actually, Ken did the parking. Wendy and I just sat there quietly), there was a restaurant called, "Cocoa Banana" and they have a MONKEY in their sign! WOOO HOOO! I pretended I was the monkey, and we all laughed.
Oh, the falafel at Zaina was mmmmmmm-mmmmmmm-MMMM! When we were done, I heard a television set in the back dining room. I had to see what it was! OH MY STARS AND GARTERS! It was Ben Stiller in one of the "Night at the Museum" movies. And to my delight, I saw my cousins, the Capuchin monkeys, were on the screen! I think they saw me because one of them smiled at me!


We walked over to a toy store called "The Magic Mouse" and I'm glad it's not called the Magic Monkey. The man there was so mean! They had a whole bunch of my sock monkey cousins, even the realllllly big ones, and I wanted to have Wendy take a picture of me with them. I was trying hard to just sit there and stare like they were, but when the man said, "No pictures allowed in the store. The owner says no pictures allowed in the store," I got really mad. Wendy smiled, gave him my business card, and asked if maybe he could make an exception. He crossed his arms and said, "No pictures allowed in the store!" (He reminded me of the really mean guard at the Wizard's palace in Oz, actually!) 

Next we went to an outdoor market downtown in Occidental Square Park, with all these booths with people in them, and they were selling their stuff! Mostly things they made. I met a nice lady, ALSO named Wendy who makes adorable stuffed animals. She calls her business "Adorable Seattle" and I think she is so smart! 


There were so many things to DO in Occidental Park! They have a HUMONGOUS chess set that is there for people to play with. I thought sock monkeys might be able to play too, but I nearly got exhausted trying to use my famous knight opening move. I could not help but notice that the white bishop looked JUST like Grover, without the blue fur and pink nose. He had his mouth open, and I thought he might want me take something out of it, but he just had his mouth open. We had a nose to nose staring contest, and Bishop Grover could not help himself from giggling!

  

There is a way cool group of sculptures there, honoring the fallen Seattle firemen. At first I did a doubletake because I thought that there was a fire! But, no, they are just metal firemen. They were a little scary because they looked like what I think Darth Vader would look like if he grew up to be a fireman. I pretended to play with them, doing the Fireman Crouch with one, helping another use the chainsaw, and helping to steer the big fire hose with a couple of other guys. I was making Darth Vader breathing noises, and they said I sounded like their oxygen tanks! Wow, was that fun!

   

And THEN just when I thought things could not get more fun, there was a GIANT tarp with about two gazillion Legos just spilled all over them! There were some kids playing, but they were pretty busy, so I just helped pull more and more Legos out of the box. 

I met the NICEST girl there! Her name is Carrole (AKA Cirquesse) and not only does she hoola-hoop, she also smiles all the time! Carrole was hoola-hooping to some music that was playing nearby, and people were dropping money into a box. She is going to be a nurse and the hoola-hooping helps pay for her school! I think I would like Carrole to be my nurse if I had to go to the hospital because she could hoola-hoop for me... and she has a really nice smile!


Before we left the Square, we took a look at some amazing primitive sculptures. Me, being a primitive soft sculpture, I really liked the one called Bear. I was pretending that he was pushing me down! It was pretty fun, but then I started looking at his face a little too long, and I got scared. I told Ken that it was time to go.

It had been a while since we saw any monkey stuff, until I saw Smith Tower! That tower looks just like ME, the way it's shaped!


As we walked through Pioneer Square, we met a really nice guy named Rick. He works at Utilikilts. There are a lot of guys who wear kilts in Seattle. Okay, not a lot, but a lot more than in Detroit! Rick was so fun! I don't know how he knew I want to be a Biker Monkey, but he put me up on his bike with him! While he was talking to Wendy and Ken, I could not help but try to find out... what DO they wear under their kilts! (I'm not telling!)

  

It had been a long day, and I was getting hungry again, so we decided to head home. As we were driving through very slow traffic downtown, Ken (who was really doing the driving) said, "Look, Ernie! Another monkey!" Well, right there on a pillar were all these signs saying Massive Monkees with really scary monkey faces on them! I tried to look scary like them, and I even added growling, but I think I just ended up looking blurry.


My trip to the Emerald City was so nice. I want to go back again! I really enjoyed it and all the people I met. I am very glad that there were no flying monkeys!

Take Your Sock Monkey to Work Days for me!

Well, being back from vacation has been a little boring. Mostly I have been sitting around watching Wendy make sock monkeys or get ready to do her training work. Ken has been going back and forth to work all the time. Both of them sigh a lot. I don't think I'd like to be a human and have to have a job. I like being a sock monkey, but - like I said - it has been a little boring.


I asked Wendy if I could go to work with her one day. Okay. I didn't ASK... I kept saying, "Can I come with you? Can I come with you? Can I come with you?" until she stopped sighing and said, "Okay, Ernie. Today you can come with me. Today we will pretend that it's Take Your Sock Monkey To Work Day!" I was SO excited to be going to work! Of course, I don't know what people do when they go to work, but it was exciting to get out of the house!

Wendy was doing a training for some awesome afterschool professionals who work for Kids Company here in Seattle. She thought I could be helpful as a Junior Trainer because it was a workshop on "play" - why humans need classes to learn about playing is beyond me! Anyway, I went to her class and the teachers really liked me. I was able to join in at the end of a puppet "experience" (whatever that is!). All of the teachers were way cool and friendly. I made new friends with two guys - Cortez and Brandon! Cortez let me sit with him during part of the workshop! Brandon's dad is from Michigan, so it's like he and I are almost cousins! We both wear hats and really big grins too!


The next day, Ken was going to go to Lowe's to get some "stuff" he needed to work on the place. WORK! Another chance to go to work! It seemed like saying "Can I come with you? Can I come with you? Can I come with you?" did the trick with Wendy, so I tried it with Ken... and off we went to Lowe's! 


I don't know if you have ever been to Lowe's, but it's SO much fun outside! Ken let me pretend to drive a giant lawn mower. That was fun - but what was even more fun was playing with the gear shift and then looking into the gas tank and yelling, "Helllllooooooo down there!" I cracked myself up! Ken was laughing too, even though later he told me it was a cup holder. I have a lot to learn...

On the way into the store, I saw all these beautiful flowers! And they were hanging on what looked like Monkey Bars! I love swinging on Monkey Bars, so I jumped away from Ken and started swinging from planter to planter. WOW was it fun. Well, it was fun until Ken told me to settle down and then put me in the shopping cart... with the seatbelt on. 


I think Wendy's work is more fun than Ken's! 

As a special treat, Wendy and Ken took me to an outdoor concert with them. It was at this very awesome place - Marymoor Park - to see Rodrigo y Gabriela, and there were so many people there! And kids, too! We were there early enough to eat some dinner and then wander around (they called it "people watching" but I don't see what's so special about that - I do that all the time!). After a while, we found our seats. Then we waited some more in these chairs. 


Then I decided to pretend that the band was on the stage and I tried to start a wave like at Comerica Park. But there were not enough people there to do the wave with me. Finally, I played a really fun game of hide and seek with Wendy. Well, it was fun to start with. I hid in the backpack and would peek out to see if she was looking for me. Ken was calling, "Ernie? Where's Ernie???" and we were all laughing. So I decided to hide really deep in the backpack. I found some cookies down there, and after I ate them, I realized I was sitting on Wendy's sweater. And it was nice, warm, dark, and comfy. I missed the concert because I was doing such a good job of hiding that I fell asleep!

One thing I learned about going to concerts - I'm not going to play hide and seek next time, I'll tell you that! 

July 25 - From Motown (AKA Tiger Town) to the Emerald City

JULY 25

You know, I had a really good time on my trip. It was lots of fun and I met a lot of people. I learned that Michigan has really nice and cute girls - of all ages. I learned that people are so friendly when talking with sock monkeys. I learned how to shoot pool, and I ate a lot of really good food. I met Big Boy, and Uncle Sam, and Bike Monkey, and The Outlaws Motorcycle Gang from Kalamazoo, and Ken's friends and cousins. I LOVED seeing Frannie and Jesse again. AND I met Wendy's very cool son-in-law John and his very cool cousin Tom. What a treat seeing Aunt Dale and Uncle Rod. I hope the next time I go on a plane, I can meet people as nice as my new plane friends Jeff, Nico, and David. (I also want to get a Hero Exit Row seat again. And I'll ask the Captain if he or she will let me play on the slide after we land.) 


I met a lady named Cupid at Comerica Park, and Mickey and the Statue of Liberty there, too. At Starbucks, the Starbuckians were fun to play with, the coffee was nummy, and Terri was very smiley! There were lots of girls all over the place - Carrie, Audrey, Marissa, and the super sweet ladies from Mercy Class of '91. Howard and Mindy were way too fun - and I'm glad that Howard played with me and taught me how to shoot pool. I am really happy that I got a chance to go to Frankfort and to Corktown!

Sue and Emeline were so nice to me - and I was sad that Sue could not come to the Tigers game that she got us the tickets for! She's one of my heroes, and I can't wait to spend time with her soon.

It was so exciting when I woke up today and got dressed in my new Tigers uniform! I asked Mr. Potato Head to play ball with Puppy, Baby, and me. He has a Tigers uniform, too! We looked like real ball players and we were pretending to be watching the other team STRIKE OUT!

I told Mr. Potato Head all about the Tigers game, and I taught my friends all about how to do a wave. The four of us tried to do a wave, but they all wanted to raise their arms as soon as I put mine down. We have to work on the timing. Then we played catch for a while. One time I threw the ball and all three of them shouted, "I GOT IT! I GOT IT! I GOT IT!" but it ended up falling in the middle of them! We all laughed really hard, and Baby even fell over backwards laughing!

Traveling is fun, especially the Frannie and Jesse part because they are my oldest friends. I loved when they cuddled me, because it made me feel so loved. When I got home and was playing ball with my new friends, I realized that home is where you hang your Tigers cap. And right now, that's Seattle.

So stay tuned for my Odyssey in the Great Pacific Northwest! Maybe Wendy and Ken will take me to a Mariners ballgame, and I can have some garlic fries. And a hot dog, too. I understand that the Mariners could REALLY use an Authentic Rally Monkey this season. Maybe they will hire me and I can play with The Mariner Moose, who is their very funny mascot!

July 24 - Part 2 - Up Up and Away Back to Seattle

JULY 24

You may recall that my trip on the plane out East was a little boring. I was not looking forward to another almost 5 hours on a plane, and I told Wendy and Ken that I would try to be a good sport, but that they need to remember that I'm just a little sock monkey. Ken told me that he would do his best to make sure that I was more comfortable this time. And WOW did he come through!

We had the coolest seats! It was like we had our own playroom! Ken smiled his way into the heart of the gate attendant, and she gave us exit row seats. Not only were we bound to be the heroes of the flight in case we were going to crash, and I could be there yelling (in a very deep and grown-up voice), "Be calm! Single file! Women and children first!" and maybe put my hand on some nervous person and say, "There, there. It will be all right!" just like I've seen in the movies, but if we didn't have to be heroes, there would be room on the floor to PLAY! The man who let us get on the plane asked if we would take our Hero job seriously in the exit row, and I said that I most definitely would. Wendy showed me the folder that had lots of pictures that told me what I had to do in case of an emergency. Do you know that they have slides on the planes? How amazing is that? I wish I had known that on the trip to Detroit, because I was bored and that would have been fun.

Once we fastened our seatbelts and took off, I started to look for things to do. Soon I was able to spread out on the floor with my toys and play for a really long time. Baby played "Rescue Time" with me (Baby makes good siren noises). The flight attendant, Nico Fuentes, was so cool! Not only was he one of the nicest flight attendants EVER (Wendy told me that), but he could sing! Nico used to be a back-up singer in Las Vegas, and he said he sang with Tony Orlando and Dawn for a while (I wanted to ask him to sing "Knock Three Times" but Wendy pointed out that he would just be singing the back-up part...). Nico liked me a lot, and I liked him. He even gave us a copy of his CD to listen to! Oh! My friend Jeff from the flight to Detroit was also on the plane! It was really great to see my old new friend again! 

The exit door had a sign on it saying "DO NOT SIT" - and it reminded me of the "No ANIMALS!" sign in Beulah. So I hopped up there to sit. I had a hard time balancing, and this nice guy sitting behind us - his name is David - helped out by holding me with his foot. It was very friendly and simian-like of him! Made me feel like he was a good friend and cousin! He offered to take me mountain climbing and to China too - but Wendy told him that I couldn't go. I was relieved, because I didn't want to be so far away and he didn't say if Puppy and Baby could come with us. Then I got very excited when I saw where they hide the slide!!! I love slides. 

 

Some of the time on the plane, Ken gave me pony rides on his leg because he could stretch out all the way with no seats in front of us. Then he gave me his iPod to listen to. I like his music. All Wendy wanted to listen to on her iPod was show tunes, which I like, but I wasn't in the mood for Ethel Merman and she was. After a while, Ken wanted to take a nap, so I looked at GAMES magazine, trying to find something to do. HOORAY! They had some "kids stuff" pages and those puzzles were easy. Then I asked Wendy what I could do next, and she let me read her Craig Ferguson book. I liked that A LOT! He's very funny, and I think he would like me as a friend. He has puppets on his show a lot, and they sing and dance, and he is very cool and fun. His book was pretty interesting. I don't know if he has any sock monkey friends yet. It would be fun to sing on his show with the puppets.

  

I looked over at Ken and he was dozing. I asked if I could join him in a nap, and he said that I could if I would stop talking and just be still. After a few minutes of me asking Ken lots of questions and if HE would sing "Knock Three Times," he asked Wendy to settle me into the little suitcase to take a nap. She let me use her really soft red pillow to cuddle up in, and I have to admit that it was very peaceful and comfy all snuggled in there. I fell asleep singing "Knock Three Times" with Puppy. He pretended to be Nico, and I was Tony Orlando. And that's how I spent the rest of my plane trip!

July 24 - Part 1 - As the trip winds down...

JULY 24

The last day of our trip was here. I was pretty sad when we got all packed up to go, and part of the reason was because Spider-man was on TV and they made me turn it off. I really like that movie, and the only reason I didn't pout was because Wendy and Ken told me I had a surprise coming very soon. 


We went to this big mall and they bought me a Detroit Tigers uniform and a Tigers t-shirt for my souvenirs! I couldn't wait to wear it, so we put it on - and they even got me a bat, a ball, and a mitt! I've been singing John Fogerty all day, "Put me in, Coach... I'm ready to play...today... look at me... I can be... Centerfield!" I would have also clapped at the right places, but sock monkey hands don't make much noise so it seemed silly to do. Anyway, I looked very official - just like the guys I saw the other night at the game! I love baseball! I am a sock monkey of summer, that's for sure!

Aunt Dale and Uncle Rod met us for sushi. It was great to see them again. It was also great to get some sushi! I had been practicing my chopstick skills all vacation, since Ken LOVES sushi and he had already had a couple of coney dogs, so I knew we'd be chowing down on some sushi soon! I even shared some with Puppy. He is not a good sharer, and he wanted to put wasabi on everything so that I wouldn't eat it. AND he kept saying in a really deep voice, "Wasabi, Ernie? Wasabi, Ernie?" over and over, and thinking he was really funny, and it was so annoying. That's the last time I go to lunch with Puppy!

 

As if Wendy and Ken didn't have enough to eat, they decided they had gone a full week without visiting Starbucks. Luckily there was one right near the sushi place, so in we went! It was so cool! I mean, really too cool - it was 90+ degrees outside but inside it was like when they put the word COOL in those icy letters... I wished I had my sweater with me, but it was packed in the car.

We all know that Starbucks has great coffee, but I gotta tell you, those yummy baked treats looked good! I hadn't had any sweets since my chocolate chip cookies in Beulah, and I wanted a brownie! Wendy suggested we start with coffee and then see if we were still hungry (I think she meant ERNIE when she said "we"...). Then she said I still had some doughnuts of my own in my backpack, and that if I wanted sweets, I could have a couple of those.  


I met these really nice baristas - Jen, Sophany, and Parker. They let me sit back by the cups and pretend I was a barista, too. Jen is a Coffee Master and it said so on her pretty apron, and so I thought she might have some wise things to say like Yoda. When Parker started making my coffee, I dashed around to the other side of the counter - so I could be a barista AND a customer... the total Starbucks experience! A really nice lady, Terri, held me up so I could get my coffee. Then I helped her get her order. 

  

While I had my coffee and doughnuts, I read the packages of coffee and learned a lot. I also learned that Wendy and Ken split a brownie... the exact one I had been looking at. I asked them how it was, and they said that the real food was, in fact, simply delicious - just like the napkin says it is! 

I love Starbucks. The people are so friendly - on both sides of the counter! Next time WE go to Starbucks, though, WE are getting a brownie for OURSELVES!