Ugh. Cyndie's is lame, no better than IHOP. I lived in walking distance to it, tried it out three different times since some people just raved about it, always left wondering what the heck they were talking about.

Carmelita, absolutely no doubt. Caveat - I haven't lived in Seattle for 4 years now, and my last visit was in early 2007, but Carmelita was always excellent and never let us down.

carmelita.net

If vegetarian isn't your thing, then Ivar's Salmon House. Best seafood in town.

Cafe Flora is close enough to Capitol Hill to count. But Fnarf is right - Carmelita is the most romantic restaurant I found in my eight years in Seattle, so it's well worth the trip, especially given the occasion. Happy Anniversary!

I don't know if they do corn dogs, but Burgermaster is a great drive-in that I miss now that I'm in Denver. There's one in Kirkland near 520 and I-405.

If there's a yard or nice play area where he lives, get him a stomp rocket. It's a little air pump that you stomp on, and four rockets made out some kind of styrofoam thing, and it shoots the rockets way up. My five year old daughter loves hers.

The other suggestions are great, too, but this is the kind of toy that will make your nephew think of you as the cool uncle.

The Dark Crystal

Do you at least have a dirt patch? Chickens need one for dustbaths.

I'm no expert but I'm starting to raise a backyard flock myself. Check out the following books:

Living with Chickens

This one has lots of basic info in not-too-great-detail, which I liked a lot as a beginner.

For more in-depth info...

Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens

And although I have not looked at this next book, it is aimed at backyard chickens.

Chickens in Your Backyard: A Beginner's Guide

See if Seattle Tilth is offering any classes on raising chickens as well. Maybe take some pictures of your yard and bring them along so the instructor can offer an opinion.

Couldn't you have emailed Paul?

No, she's not your sister-in-law because a brother-in-law married to a sister-in-law is incest.

A lot of people will just call her your sister-in-law, but you should call her your brother-in-law's wife. Be prepared for people to look at you like your stupid and say, "you mean your sister in law?" Correct them ("No, my siter in law is either my brother's wife or my spouse's sister") and be part of correcting this widespread misunderstanding.