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.  

Canoe Races, Swimming and Playing with Friends:)

Last Friday the kids and I took a last minute overnight visit to my Mom's while Gabe was on call.  Saturday morning we got up and met Hillary and Aunt Amy & her family for the Kenduskeg Canoe Race.  It was impressive to watch the racers come through 6 mile falls, some making it look easy without getting wet and others dumping it completely and having to abort the race.  The water looked cold and I was glad it wasn't me;)  After the canoe race we were able to see Maddie and Maria play softball in Brewer.  The kids really enjoyed the game and seeing Uncle Jon.

The boys have been taking swimming lessons since after Christmas, every Sunday Audrey cries because she can't go too and every Sunday I tell her that when she is 3 she can go to swimming lessons.  I obviously should have been more careful since she is 3 now. So, we took her to swim after swimming lessons during the last week.  Truthfully she could be in swimming lessons, but I would have to get in the water with her and after 8+ years of that I was trying to avoid it and take the year off... Almost no one showed up to the last day of swimming lessons, likely because it was an actual nice day out, so Audrey got to get in the water while the boys were having their lesson!  We are really thankful to have such an awesome group of lifeguards:)

During public school April vacation week we have had a few extra friends over during the day and the kids had so much fun!  I thought that Audrey and Jackson would grow tired of each other after the first day or two, but they seemed just as happy to see each other and play on the third day as the first. They all play so well together it makes things easy on my end.  I spent today trying to pack things up, we are leaving for Boston/Seattle on Thursday!

More Art and Space at the Portland Science Center

This week's art medium is working gold leaf, or in our case aluminum foil;)  Ben painted lots of people with shiny eyes, Noah designed a crown with shiny jewels, James drew out and painstakingly used many tiny pieces of foil to create a Battleship game board.  Audrey continued with her abstract art theme.  We are having so much fun learning about new artists, their works and the different mediums they used in a time before craft stores.  

We have been trying to get to the Portland Science Center to see the Space and Robot Zoo exhibit for months and were afraid we were going to miss it if we didn't go before our upcoming vacation to Seattle.  Last week Gabe had a day off, so we all hopped in the car and went.  All of the kids have been really interested in space from both the PBS special about the year aboard the International Space Station and the new children's show "Ready, Jet, Go" which is all about space exploration.  They were thrilled to learn more about space and see some of the things they have been thinking and talking about in person.  James still doesn't have closure about which planet bumped into Neptune to cause it to rotate on it's axis sideways, but he was happy to have closure on some other questions;)  

Baking and Hiking:)

In our down time we have been watching "The Great British Baking Show" with the kids on Netflix.  It is technically a reality show, but not at all like American reality cooking shows.  This one has very real, average people who are kind to one another without the drama.  All of the challenges are normal baking without ridiculous twists and unrealistic time constraints. It is a great family show, all of our kids love to sit and watch from start to finish.  As a result, we have been baking some things that we wouldn't normally  take on.  One episode had the contestants making swiss rolls, so we looked up a recipe and everyone helped to make it.... it was easier than I thought! A more recent episode made some tarts and the kids got right on that and made these individual tarts with fruit.  They are becoming pretty good bakers:)

Last Friday, Shannon and I took the kids for a last minute hike at Bradbury Mountain State Park, followed by a shopping trip in Freeport.  It was supposed to rain in the afternoon, so we hurried to hike, but it didn't rain a drop all day! The kids were really good sports in the stores and waiting in the car while the adults took turns shopping;)