Visiting Seattle- Part 2

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

We spent most of our day Sunday visiting with some of Gabe's friends from college that we have not seen in many years, like 9.  It was wonderful to hang out, meet their family and spend time playing in the rain.  Thanks for hosting us Fudge Family:) We also took some time in the rain to drive around the city and check out different neighborhoods.  We stumbled upon the beautiful Golden Gardens Park.  We got to play on the beach, throw rocks in the water and climb on the playground.  It was the perfect way to burn off some energy after dinner.  

Monday we traveled to Seattle Center in the morning. Despite our reservations, our first stop was the Chihuly Glass Museum and Garden.  It is a museum of fancy, intricate glass which sounds like a nightmare with 4 young kids, and I was scared to death, but we let the opportunity for education prevail and we took the plunge.  It was first thing in the morning, so I was hopeful that everyone would be calm and stay close.  Everyone did a fantastic job!  They took their guide geared at kids and really got into the activities in each room.  The glass artwork was so amazing that it was impossible not to be enthralled by it.  It was totally worth the risk with an amazing experience as a reward. Noah and James were so baffled by some of the pieces that they had lots of questions for the museum attendants.  We took so many pictures, but they could never do it the same justice as seeing it in person. So, if you are ever presented with the opportunity to see some of Dale Chihuly's work, you won't be disappointed!

After the glass museum we went up in the Space Needle for lunch... finally! The kids have been talking about going up in the space needle since we started researching Seattle. They have various theories and stories about what the Space Needle is and why it is there;)  The restaurant was revolving which really blew their minds. Eating lunch while "on top of the world" (per James) was pretty amazing. While on the observation deck, the kids spotted a playground, so that was the next stop.  It was an impressive climbing structure with some height to it.  James spidered his way to the top with ease, while everyone else got about half way up and opted for activities with their feet on the ground. 

After leaving the center we traveled out to Snoqualamine Falls. It was a clear, sunny day in the city, but started raining on our way to the falls.  It was a quick shower and we had great conditions for viewing the falls from several different vantage points including a boardwalk that passed the hydroelectric plant and got up close with the base of the falls.

Today we took in the Seattle Zoo.  Like the museum a few days ago, we spent almost 6 hours!  I am not sure how everyone held it together, but there is always so much to see and learn. The most surprising section of the zoo was the Northern Trail.  At first I thought we would buzz right through it because we are from the north and have visited many zoos there, but I was wrong.  We spent the most time here mainly because there were so many animals we have never seen.  They had two brown bears, grey wolves, great gray owls, mountain goats and a Stellar's sea eagle (the Russian cousin to the bald eagle). The coolest part about the section was that all of the animals were very active, which is unusual during the day.

By unanimous vote, the favorite part of the zoo was the penguin.  More specifically the Humbolt penguins from Peru and Chile.  The kids went back 3 separate times and laughed so hard each time.  I believe that this was mostly due to the fact that their current favorite book and movie is "Mr. Popper's Penguins" so they spent a lot of the time pretending that they were the same penguins as in the movie;)

The least favorite part was, quite conclusively, the bird feeding station in the Australian exhibit.  Everything happened so quickly that we didn't have time to prep the kids about what was going to happen (mostly because all of the signage said that bird feeding was only on the weekends). We bought the sticks and handed them out and before I could grab my camera or a kid, Ben and Audrey started screaming because a bird immediately landed on all of our hands/sticks at once.  Audrey was just terrified and Ben claims that the bird really scratched his hand and he wanted to leave immediately. Noah and James were taken aback, but ultimately thought it was a cool experience.  Noah even had one roosting on his hat for a bit. So, we traumatized the kids in this instance, but they will live to visit another zoo;)

Visiting Seattle- Part 1

We made it to Seattle!  We spent the day on Thursday in Boston enjoying the absolutely beautiful spring weather with the Carlile Family. It is always such a great time to get together with friends who we have gone through this stage of our lives with.  The kids always play together and act more like long lost friends or cousins than kids who see each other for short visits a few times a year.  We jumped on the trampoline, road scooters and flew kites as the park.  We ended the night with a pizza party and swim at our hotel near the airport. Thanks guys for a fun day!

Yesterday morning we had an early flight, but it was a direct flight and it arrived almost an hour before it was scheduled to, so we found ourselves getting off the plane at 9:30 am Seattle time.  The kids did way better than I ever expected and since we got off the plane without a fight or breakdown I am mentally preparing myself for what is sure to be a disastrous flight home;)  We drove from the airport to the nearest restaurant for brunch, but Ben and Audrey had fallen asleep, so we skipped that and ate in the car.  

We weren't able to check into our rental until later in the day, so we drove to Skagit Valley for the end of the tulip festival.  Most of the tulips had gone by and none were left in the fields, but we did get to tour a gorgeous garden with plenty of tulips still in bloom.  After the lack of tulips we were feeling a bit adventurous and decided to take the scenic route back to the city via Whidbey island.  We stopped at Deception Pass for a walk across the bridge and a history lesson. It is an amazing bridge built in the 1930s with some gorgeous views. We were lucky enough that it was Earth Day and admission to all of the state parks was free!  

There isn't a bridge at the bottom of the island, but instead a car ferry to get back to the mainland that carries between 200 and 300 cars. The ride was long enough for us to get out of the car and check out the different observation decks.  On the upper observation deck we went outside to check out the captain's viewpoint and the kids thought it was so cool that the seagulls were flying with us.  Then Gabe got pooped on... the kids are still laughing about this;)

This morning, after a much needed good night sleep, we were in a better place to make a plan for the day.  We ate breakfast at a local coffee shop sharing different croissants.  One of the advantages of being a large family is we get to order lots of different types of treats and sample a bit of each one;)  Apparently the kids don't like pastries that are anything, but chocolate or plain, so in this case Gabe and I got to happily eat the kids leftovers.  

We spent today at The Boeing company's Museum of Flight.  We thought it would be a quick look around seeing all of the planes... five and a half hours later we had done everything the museum had to offer and talked to every tour guide in the place.  We all learned so much about the history of aviation as well as the role of aviation in the military and space exploration. Our favorite exhibits were probably the planes of World War I and II.  James was thrilled to see the Red Baron's plane and learn more about him from the kind tour guides.  Noah was excited to see all of the bomber planes and sit in the cockpit of some navy trainers. Ben's favorite part was anything he could touch and Audrey liked watching the planes on the runway.