It’s 1934 and I am 2 years old, straddling the camel with my parents, who recently immigrated to Seattle from Istanbul, Turkey. I still enjoy visiting SAM!

Not exactly a family photo, but every summer I have been out painting in Volunteer Park at least once, and have painted the camels or some part of them…

We used to live on Capitol Hill and were regular visitors to Volunteer Park. My girls loved the camels!

This is a photo of my brother and sister circa 1960. I was not born yet, but later visited the museum often as a child and always looked forward to climbing on the camels before and after our visit! I currently volunteer in the art studio at SAM.

Every Seattle kid needs their picture on the Camels! Hard to believe our littlest one will be in kindergarten the next time she climbs on the camels!

We moved to Seattle in 2008. I took the kids to iconic sites in Seattle, including a stop at the camels at SAM. My son did his best “walk like an Egyptian pose.”

My daughter and son-in-law Eryn & Justin Bergquist had their beautiful wedding reception at SAAM on a very hot -upper 90’s – August evening. The date was August 13, 2009. It was a gorgeous venue for the celebration of Eryn and Justin’s marriage.

The camels were a required stop on a city-wide treasure hunt for a friend’s birthday when we were teenagers.

Big sisters. Little brothers.

“I am so proud that I got up on that camel.”