The Young and the Restless

Sleepless in Seattle

We (okay, maybe just I?) have been spoiled with trips lately.  Spring break was coming up and we had some frequent flier miles to put to good use, so we decided to explore the Northwest with a trip to Seattle, Victoria and Vancouver, Canada.  We woke up at 4:30am and barely made our flight.  But we made it, and Ryder traveled great and we were off to a good start. 

I've been to Seattle once before when I visited my good friend, Jodee for her 30th birthday.  I remember it was green, beautiful, rainy and catching a fish at Pike's market was the highlight.  I was more than a little disappointed when the fish throwing boys weren't throwing any fish, I had kinda hyped it up for the kids and I wanted them to see what a rockstar I was.  They weren't super impressed with this place, it was cold and smelled like fish.  They did like getting grossed out by all the fish and sea creatures and I loved walking around and seeing all the unique vendors and sampling the fresh fruit.

Jason's favorite were the Asian buns. I kinda like his Asian buns.

The gum wall was just a hop, skip and a jump away.  At the beginning of the alley you see some gum stuck to the wall and it's gross but it's not that cool, but then you keep walking down and it is like nothing I've ever seen before. Disgusting and fascinating.  Of course we had to leave our mark and it took about 20 minutes to pick the perfect spot.

We then did the express tour of Seattle where we drove to a tourist spot, hopped out for a picture, hopped back into the warm van and drove to the next stop.  We seriously did the entire city of Seattle by 2:30.  They were too cold to even get out for the obligatory Space Needle shot.

Kerry park boasted the best views of the cities.  The beautiful homes on the drive up were pretty remarkable too. I wish we could have come here on a clear night, I bet the lights would be amazing. They had a fun playground that Kylie and Jayden played on while I sat in the van with the boys.  I spent a lot of time sitting in the van with the boys. 

The Fremont Bridge Troll.  Maddox was a little freaked out at first and the homeless people living under the bridge made us not want to spend too much time here.  We got our one shot and were on our way.  It was still pretty cool to see, especially the real car he is smashing with his hand, and we all made speculations about how it was made.

The Gasworks park with its pretty view of the city in the back ground is another spot that I'm sure would be fun to play at if it wasn't rainy and cold.  Instead we went back to the car with wet shoes and a chill to the bone.  Due in part to the fact that I let the boys jump in puddles for a picture's sake.  After that we went back to the hotel to warm up and nap.  Atleast me and Ryder napped, I don't know what everyone else did.

The highlight of Seattle was by far our visit with our good friends, the Chapmans.  They gorged us on pizza and it was so nice to let the kids run around while we chatted.  Sometimes you make friends and you lose touch over the years, and sometimes you make friends and they remain friends for life.  The Chapmans are those kind of friends.  I only wish we could have spent more time together, the kids were sad to say goodbye, and so was I!

The next day we drove a few hours through beautiful green countryside and then took a ferry over to Victoria, Canada where the next leg of our adventure began!