A Few Days in Seattle

Right after school got out we packed up and headed north.  Nate had a continuing education conference he was signed up to attend in Seattle -- the kids and I tagged along to keep him company and to visit Helen & Samuel.  Seattle is so magical -- all the water, the big boats, sea planes, and the green, green landscape.
We loved seeing Helen & Samuel's charming neighborhood in Kirkland.  It was so fun to walk along the lake and get gelato after dinner.
We loved riding the Great Wheel -- so amazing to see the city from a ferris wheel capsule over the water.

It wasn't a super restful vacation (we stayed in three different hotels in five nights and for two of the nights all five of us were in one small room, so when Caroline went to bed at 8:30 we all just had to be really quiet and sit in the dark :)  Traveling with a one year old was ... interesting, we did a lot of driving and a lot of settling and unsettling from place to place so Caroline was bounced around a lot, napping in the stroller or the carseat or wherever she could catch a wink.  I spent a lot of time on restaurant patios and in the halls of the hotel, just letting her wander around and savor buckle-less freedom.  

But even with a lot of shuffling, we had such a fun time!  We lucked out with four dry, mostly sunny days.  While Nate was in his meetings the kids and I left our footprints all over Pike's Market, we got donuts at Top Pot, we made our way to the closest Target to buy shoes for Caroline (we left home without a single pair for her!)  We saw the gum wall (gross!)  And we got to visit Auntie Hellie's salon and get our hair done -- such a treat!
 
On our way home we stopped and stayed a night in Portland -- we had dinner with Barbie & Drew and their adorable little Graydon.  It was also great to see Braxton.  And if you ask the kids, the best thing about the whole trip was that at the hotel we stayed at in Portland we had a special access code that let us get free treats from the vending machines -- um, pretty much the most exciting thing when you're 6 and 9!  You should have seen the goodies they loaded up with for the drive home -- yowza!