About Bellevue's Downtown

Are you looking for a place to go with your kids this Halloween? Go to The Bellevue Collection in Downtown Bellevue. It's a place where I take my family every year and it's safe, fun, relaxing and you can get a jump start on early christmas shopping.

Here are a few pics of the family last year at Bellevue Square / now The Bellevue Collection.

At The Bellevue Collection, are various photo stages where you can get your picture taken with props in the back ground.

Judah "the lion" having Jamba juice after playing and going store-to-store for candy.

The family waiting in line to get pictures taken.

Here is a link to this years Bellevue Collection Halloween activities. See you all there.

Rebar mini camp in Bellevue was good half day of information. There were some very informative attendees, good topics, an overall educational camp. I can see how these last a full day easily. We could have had quite a few more sessions.

I've heard more discussion lately of "levels" of classes needing to be offered. Some discussions get bogged down in beginner minutiae, which is great for those just learning to use the technologies. There aer a handful of real estate pros in these same sessions that could really pow-wow into a smaller group and discuss the higher-level issues they're working with. It might require some organization, and it's frankly amazing that the organizers can already make these sessions happen on the fly. It's a well-oiled machine, for something that goes from index cards to sessions in 10 minutes.

One great session today was Jim Reppond's "Twitter 201". There was no beginner stuff, just Twitter add-ons, advanced features, strategies for getting noticed, re-tweeted, etc. The group seemed very well-informed, and I think these kinds of sessions could keep more tech-savvy pros involved. We may just need to have at least one high-level session per hour, all day long.

Overall, nice work, folks, I enjoyed meeting some new faces and some old one that I've only ever seen online before.

Here is a view of downtown Bellevue from my office off NE 8^th street. I see this view every morning as the sun rises and people are going to work. In the evening I get to experience some of the most beautiful views that Bellevue has to offer.

I labeled some of the buildings that can be see in the picture. Stay tune for more pictures of these amazing buildings as they can be seen from all around the greater Eastside area.

A- The Bellevue City Center

B- The Meydenbauer Center

C- The Key Center

D- The Bellevue Transit Center

E- The Symetra Building

F- The Bravern Condominiums

G- The Bellevue Plaza Center

H- NE 8^th Street

You can see five cranes currently working in downtown just in this picture. Two of the cranes are on Bravern Condominiums as they are working diligently to finish on time for the GRAND opening coming late winter.

Have you been to the Downtown Bellevue Park? Amazing what you see here, view of downtown buildings, Bellevue Square (shopping mall), sculptures of art, Bellevue condos being built on every corner and just happy people enjoying the sunny day.

I'm seating under a school of trees just center of the park. The trees can be seen from every direction and are one of the many symbols that represent the Bellevue Park. (on the right you can see the "Bellevue Towers")

I'm facing west, trying to work on a tan but most importantly enjoying the sun in the Pacific Northwest as I blog.In front of me facing West, is open country with ample room to run and play.

To my right is the North entrance to the park which you can see JP Penny and Bellevue Square Mall.

Behind me is the East entrance to the park, the tower on the left is the Westin Hotel, and to the right are the Bellevue Towers.

To my left is Meydenbauer Bay, high end shopping boutiques, and the South entrance to the park. New condos coming soon as you can see the crane in the background.

I went to the car to grab a candy bar and my bottled water and as I was walking back to my bag, I noticed a Bride and Groom having their pictures taken. I went up to them and ask if I could take a picture of them as I have never seen any newlyweds at the park, and I come to the park often. Thank you guys for the opportunity, I wish you both the best the world has to offer. Congratulations!

If you're planning on coming down to the park, I recommend parking on the south entrance as it has more parking stalls and close to the heart of the park.

I'm sitting here typing this blog and I have three dogs trying to see what I'm up to. They seem friendly but too hyper for me, they must have just taken a "dog nap".

People are great with keeping their dogs on leashes but there are those that don't care and let them roam freely. To each their own.

A group of children are playing hide-and-go-seek around those tall trees in the center of the park. The sounds that they make remind me of my son Judah.

Two friends hanging out and enjoying the park after riding their bikes

These guys are ready to ride again after relaxing their feet in the water. Thanks guys.

Many activities are represented at the park. Here are just a few going on right now...

• Soccer
• Biking
• Football
• Frisbee
• Baseball / throwing the ball
• Volleyball
• Running / Jogging

And for those of you that want a more relaxing non-strenuous activities you have...

• Walking
• Reading
• Meditating
• Sunbathing
• Enjoying a picnic
• Sleeping

I just found out that every Saturday at 5pm, a group of dog lovers meet and let their dogs play with other dogs. The dogs are friendly and like to get in peoples business, I find it funny.

It seems like everyone enjoys a quick game of "Throw-the-Frisbee" as it can be seen happing just about anywhere in the park. A group of guys invited me to toss the Frisbee with them. WOW! The force and speed that the Frisbee travels is unreal. These guys must play in a local Frisbee team or something. They thru the Frisbee to me a few times and every single time I dropped it. I need to work on my "A" game. It was fun to join in and be involved. Thanks guys. J

Stay tuned for more of what Downtown Bellevue Park has to offer. If you would like to know more about a specific area of the park, feel free to send me an email or add a comment on my blog.

Thank you.