Seattle - Saturday

Whale Watching Day!!!!  We began with a quick breakfast at the hotel and then packed everything up and loaded the van.  Since we had been in Anacortes the day before, we knew exactly where we were going Saturday morning to check in before our excursion.  We had to check in one hour before departure and after that set out to explore a little more.  There wasn't a lot to see, but the girls had fun talking to Grandma Ball while we drove around town.  There were banners announcing Hedgehog Days, but we never saw any activity going on to indicate a celebration.  What do you celebrate about Hedgehogs anyway?  We invited Grandma and Grandpa to join us for dinner in Renton with Lori (Chris' sister) and Sam and their kids--and to help celebrate Chris' birthday on Sunday!  The girls were incredibly excited when she left a message that she and Grandpa were getting ready to head out.  They had a three-hour drive.

Our whale watching excursion was slated to last five to six hours.  I wasn't quite sure if my girls' thrill meter would last the entire time, but it's not like the boat was going to let them off early.  We headed down to the pier a little early and noticed a line of people already waiting to board the Island Explorer 3.  We met Tyson (the gopher, jack-of-all-trades new guy) first who began to give safety instructions.  Captain Mike took over our instruction and then directed us toward the boat where we would meet Captain Carl.  The girls were pretty thrilled to be under way.  Not too long after boarding and heading up to the top deck, Misha spotted a seal--our first "wildlife" spotting of the day.  We motored out of the harbor and marveled at the beauty surrounding us.  It was a little chilly with the breeze, but there were plenty of spots to stay out of the wind.

Our next encounter with wildlife was a Steller Sea Lion followed up shortly thereafter by four or five Dall's Porpoises.  They looked like mini orcas.  Actually it was difficult to get a good picture of them because they swam close to the surface and when they jumped out of the water, they made a pretty good splash.

It took a while for us to see the next big guy, and he was swimming off the shores of Vancouver Island in British Columbia.  Split Fin, a humpback whale, and yes that is the name he is known by, (apparently all of the whales are documented and named and can be identified by those in the know) swam solo of the island.  We watched him swim for quite some time.  I tried to get a good shot but he was swimming in fairly shallow water (for him) and never made a really great dive with the tell-tale fluke (tail) wave.  I got one fairly decent shot of his fluke and another of his spray (which we were told has quite an awful smell if you happen to get misted).  It was kind of crazy, everyone on board would wait for Split Fin to surface, someone would yell out, "There he is!", and by the time you had found him and focused, he was mostly gone.  Still, pretty exciting.

We were able to continue in the Canadian waters down to Victoria, BC.  We were right off the shore when a pod of orcas were spotted swimming right along the shore line.  Can you imagine looking out your living room window and seeing whales on a regular basis?  We hung around watching this pod for at least 45 minutes as they swam in the harbor.  Chris spotted two bald eagles as well.  And there was a seal sunning himself.

After another 45 minutes watching the orcas, we took a right around Discovery Island and began a return trip back to Anarcortes.  Some of us were a little more tired than others, and another (aka Kristen) repeatedly told me she was ready to go home.  Chris and I were surprised that the girls were as enthused as they were all day long, we thought for sure they'd poop out on us after two hours.

As we neared the shore, we had an Australian passenger take a family picture of us.  It was just a little bit windy.  Amy and I had some major hair malfunctions.

We were happy to disembark and because we took over six hours on our tour, we had to hurry to the car to begin the hour and a half drive to meet up with Grandma, Grandpa and the Burkmans at Coho Restaurant.  The girls as usual, were thrilled to see their grandparents and Kristen was sure to seat herself between the two of them at dinner.  It was great to see Sam and Lori as well.  I think it was a first time for all but Chris in meeting their little guy Simon.

Seattle - Friday

Our first night in our hotel it sounded as though windows were wide open.  I looked in the light of day, and the windows hardly fit their casings.  Chris jostled the windows around in the casings, and we hoped for a quieter night as we were next to a rather busy street.  At least we could no longer see daylight around the edges.  We had originally planned to stay at the Homewood Suites on Pike Street our entire vacation, but it wasn't a very logical idea as there would have been a lot of driving back and forth.  So, we checked out Friday morning and headed north.  It was a bit overcast, but we hoped for the forecasted sunshine later in the day.

Our first stop on Friday was the Boeing Factory.  Sadly I have no pictures of our tour there as cameras and any electronic devices were not allowed on the tour.  If you know my husband, you know that he is a huge airplane fan.  He has vast stores of knowledge secured away in his brain.  There are times when it is no fun to watch movies with him when he continually points out the unrealistic nature of an airplane scene.  We drove a short ways to Everett for our scheduled time and boarded the bus to the factory.  I have to say the new dream liner Boeing has developed should be quite cool.  If you would like to order one, it was only a cool $187 million and you should plan on a 2019 delivery date.  The tour lasted 90 minutes and then we headed off to the ferry in Edmunds.

The problem with kids is that you have to keep feeding them.  As we were in line for the ferry, Chris hopped out to find something quick to purchase to take with us.  Cars began to start up all around us and he still wasn't back.  All of a sudden I saw him on the sidewalk running past the van and then into the rows of cars.  He was very quickly scanning vehicles looking for us.  Finally finding us, he hopped in the van, deposited pizza slices on my lap (in a box), and we proceeded to drive on to the ferry--a first-time experience for the girls in this family.  Heck, Seattle was a first-time experience for us girls too!

We parked the van on the ferry and exited to the upper deck where we had a quick lunch and let the older two girls explore the boat.  The sun was beginning to peek through the clouds.

We made haste across the Puget Sound and landed in Kingston, WA. Ah, the drive was beautiful. My only lament? It would be a couple of weeks before the trees were in their full Fall glory of colors. It would be a fabulous sight to see. I loved the winding, tree-lined roads with branches creating a canopy as we drove by. We stopped at a quaint little village called Port Gamble. I thought it was hilarious to see what caught my daughters' attention. As Chris and I meandered through a little book shop, Misha and Amy stayed outside to create a pile a leaves, "We never get leaves like this at our house."

From Port Gamble we continued on to our next destination of Port Townsend where we would take another ferry to Whidbey Island.  Kristen chose to put on a crabby face.  It took a lot of coaxing to work the crabbies out of her.  I think searching for seashells did the trick though.

The Port Townsend ferry dropped us off on Whidbey Island. One of the highlights on Whidbey Island was Fort Casey and the lighthouse at Admiralty Head.

We had thought to stop in Oak Harbor for dinner, but were highly unimpressed and kept driving on to Anacortes.  It is a good thing otherwise we might have passed over Deception Pass in the dark.  There is an amazing bridge that connects Whidbey Island to Fidalgo Island.  We came upon it and at the first stop was a State Park that collected a $10 fee to stop.  We figured they meant business since a police car was sitting in the lot.  We drove a little further to the other side of the bridge where there was a small parking area--no charge.  The girls were reluctant to get out of the car but finally joined us.  They just don't have the appreciation for fine scenery.  I took pictures and then Chris found stairs that took you under the bridge to the other side.  Amazing.

We ended up at Randy's Pier 61 for dinner.  The girls were excited for fish and chips, salmon and halibut.  Each has different tastes, but they do like one kind of fish or another.  The meal was rather spendy, but quite tasty.  We would be returning to Anacortes on Saturday morning for our whale watching tour, but for the night we stayed in Burlington about 30 minutes away.  Such a treat not to have to drive all the way back to Seattle and then turn around and come right back in the morning.  It seemed late because the sun was already down, but we arrived in Burlington around 7:45.  Amy needed some good tennis shoes and we lucked out to pass a small outlet mall with a Nike outlet store--and we scored a great deal thanks to Kyle's Nike family discount.

We found our Hampton Inn.  Sadly, we were all in one room--except for Kristen, that is.  She was happy to sleep in the closet on cushions.  Really?  I didn't encourage that one at all, yet she was all for it.  She liked to pull the mirrored doors close, but after she fell asleep, I pulled them open a bit so she'd have good air circulation.  Truth be told, her sisters were a little jealous.

Seattle-Wednesday and Thursday

Oh how I love the Pacific Northwest--mostly on sunny days though--and that's when it seems we visit.  It fools me though, and makes me want to live there.  Our visit began late Wednesday evening.  The girls had Friday off for the end-of-quarter and we had them miss Thursday (it would be soooooo nice if the school district had a Fall Break).  Our flight didn't leave Denver until after 9 pm on Wednesday.  We left the house around 6:30 so we could stop at the Chick-fil-A drive thru along the way.  Some of us were a little bit tired (and I include myself in that category).  We had a little extra time after checking in and then going through security, so we got off the train at Terminal B and got some TCBY.  Our girls each insisted they wanted their own cup, and not a single one of them finished it!  I think they just wanted to play on the moving walkways more.  We hopped back on the train (we were the only ones in our car) and made it to Terminal C.

The original plan was for Misha to sit beside Christopher and I and Amy and Kristen to sit on another row, hoping, of course, to not have anyone sit with them.  Well, Kristen planted herself by the window seat next to me and would not move.  Misha and Amy were crabby and started fighting, especially since Misha knew she wouldn't be sitting by me.  So, Amy moved to the row behind us.  Ended up that all three girls had a window seat, but neither Amy nor Misha were too happy about sitting by strangers.  That'll teach them to fight!  Kristen fell asleep around 10:30 and was zonked until we landed in Seattle.

We arrived in Seattle at 11:30 local.  Sadly, my cosmetic bag somehow took a detour to Tucson.  Of all my bags to lose, that is the one I would not want to the airlines to lose the most.  Southwest gave me a make-do toiletry bag with a toothbrush and paste, a hair brush, and other essentials to get me through the interim, but I was not happy.  We finally arrived at The Homewood Suites in downtown Seattle around 12:30 our time after picking up our rental car.  We got the girls settled and everyone quickly dropped off to sleep. 

Chris had to work at 11:00 am, but before we parted ways for the day, he walked down Pike Street with me until we came upon the Walgreens where I could purchase a few things to get me through the day.  The day was a beautiful, clear, sunny 60 degrees.  Kristen came with us and chatted the whole way there and back.  She kept saying to me, "This is the life."  After returning to the hotel, I finished getting ready and the girls and I headed out the door.  I took a small map from one of the in-room magazines and we were off to the Pacific Science Center.  You'd think with all the museum and "science centers" the girls and I visit they would get tired of them, but no.  It was a good way to pass the morning and afternoon while Chris was in meetings.  We walked to the Pacific Science Center.  My girls would have rather we take the transit but instead we ventured out.

It took us about 20 to 30 minutes to walk to the science center, which, incidentally, was quite close to the Space Needle.  We had so many other things planned for this trip, we opted not to take the elevator up to the top.  The girls didn't seem to mind too much.  They explored the science center for a couple of hours until grumbling stomachs overtook them.  We got directions at the front desk to the Seattle Center for lunch.  Amy had pizza, the rest of us ordered from Subway.  We spent a while longer at the science center, until I had reached my fill around 2 pm.

I looked at my handy dandy map and set out down Broad St. to the pier.  You might imagine there was a little grumbling that the girls were tired of walking.  There was more grumbling when we had to back track a couple of blocks back to Pike St. and then go up a monster set of stairs to find the Pike Place Market.  And you might imagine there was a little more grumbling from stomachs as well as mouths about being hungry.  We did a quick run-through the market but didn't find anything to satisfy appetites.  We SHOULD have taken some of the off-shoots that we found on our return trip.  Ah well, treats count as snacks right?  According to my daughters, yes.

The girls saw some tie dye long johns that they wanted to buy for their dad's birthday.  I kind of nixed that one.  Chris called us as we were searching for snacks and after changing out of dressy work clothes, we met him on the top floor of Pike Place Market.  We made a slower perusal of the shops, tasted delicious Honeycrisp apples, sampled honey, and purchased a lotion bar.  Amy liked it so much she went back and got a bar for herself.  It smelled wonderful.

We decided to have dinner at the hotel and slowly began to make our way back up Pike St. stopping at a few shops along the way.  I'd say the girls and I, and probably Chris too, were pretty tired at this point with all the walking and a late night to boot!  We headed up to our room and crashed.

Field Day

Last Spring, the girls' elementary school planned and then postponed Field Day a few times due to weather.  They thought perhaps to get a jump on all the end of school activities as well as the weather by holding Field Day in October this school year.  I thought just maybe they might have to postpone because of the weather, but they toughed it out and the weather got nicer as they day wore on.

Misha's Field Day was held in the morning and Kristen's in the afternoon.  Gotta love that I get to go over twice!  I'm all for Field Day, and maybe I've mentioned this before, but I like the idea of a traditional Field Day with races, long jump, triple jump, relays, etc.  Now they have stations with some crazy activities.  At least it gets them moving.

Amazing Technology

With Chris' travel schedule, he is often gone during the week.  Mornings are busy trying to get girls out the door--Amy at 7:20 and Misha and Kristen at 8:45--but we try to make time for family scripture reading and prayer before Amy leaves for the day.  Our morning routine has taken on an added dimension of Daddy.  He joins us for scripture reading and prayer via Facetime.  This amazing technology makes it possible for him to participate with us, whether it be through reading a verse or saying the prayer.  He can even give Amy a smooch on the cheek as she walks out the door.  It is a wonderful way to include him in our family time.

Kristen's Tooth

Kristen has been lamenting for awhile that she hasn't lost any teeth AND that she is the only one in her class in such a sad predicament.  Every so often she asks me to wiggle her teeth in hopes that one of them might give a little.  No such luck yet.  The other morning when she requested a little tooth wiggling, I noticed a funny flash of white and asked her to open her mouth.  What do you know but she has an adult tooth that has already erupted behind her bottom front baby teeth.  Her teeth are only slightly wiggly.

Happy Birthday Christopher

We'll be out of town for Christopher's actual birthday day, so I think I planned a good surprise for last weekend.  I had been at Time Out for Women all day Saturday and we had planned for him to pick me up from the Merchandise Mart and go from there.  I had done checking and found a Shepler's Western Wear off of 104th.  It was to be our first stop.  He has wanted a pair of cowboy boots and a hat for a long time.  I didn't tell him where we were going until we were almost there.  You could tell the wheels were turning. Once he figured out the plan, he was quite amenable to the idea of shopping (usually a sticking point for dates, so I have tried in the past year to avoid it).

We finally located the men's section at the back of the store.  He had an idea of what he wanted.  I had an idea of what I liked.  Luckily we were both on the same page.  It didn't take long to find a pair that he kept coming back to in comparison with others.  The boots add at least an inch and a half to his height which means I'll need to wear 6 inch heels or something crazy like that.

After picking out a pair of boots, we went to look at the hats.  He really wanted a black stetson (and maybe that'll come in the future), but for practicality purposes, he chose a hat that would work for wearing in the summer time.  I think he looks pretty hot.

We had reservations at Hacienda Colorado for dinner and followed up with a movie at the AMC in Westminster.  Great evening with my sweetheart.  Happy Birthday!

Fall Colors

Christopher and I were so impressed with the beautiful fall colors that we decided to take the girls up to check them out on Sunday afternoon.  We have XM in our car and were able to listen to General Conference as we drove.  There were NOT smiles all around--until we finally found a place to get out and explore after driving for a couple of hours.  Picture heavy post.