When we landed in Seattle and drove on the highways loaded with enormous pines, I told Brady that I thought this trip might convince me to move to the Pacific Northwest. I figured Seattle would be the highlight of our trip, and we were all excited about the last few days of our vacation before heading home.
First stop was the Pacific Science Center. Zachary was very excited about this and the best part was the butterfly house and live snake demonstration.
Next up, we attempted to go to our dinner reservation. We walked about 15 minutes through the city and finally arrived at the Mexican restaurant. Turns out it was a 21 and older lounge, so that was a vacation fail. We instead found a Thai place around the corner before heading over for our Space Needle reservations.
We hung out at this fountain and a really cool park on the way over. This was my favorite part of Seattle and I wish we could go back and spend more time doing things like this and less time getting shuffled around between City Pass excursions.
The Space Needle is okay...? I'm sure it is pretty amazing when you aren't up there with what felt like thousands of other people. I felt pushed and herded around up there.
This was my favorite moment from the Space Needle. What are you looking at there, sweetheart?
We plugged in our name, and the stat below made me glad we didn't travel all this way for only the Space Needle.
The next morning, we both went on runs in Bellevue by our hotel. Running in Seattle makes me think that yes, I could really love living here. Walking through crowds and getting rained on in Seattle makes me figure that I should stay put in Kauai. The running trails are beautiful, though, and huge trees line every road and path.
I was very excited for Pike's Place Market and it did not disappoint. It was crazy busy, but also fun to be part of the buzz.
We had pastries from a popular bakery called La Panier, killer sea food from City Fish, another hot spot, and of course found the disgusting gum wall by Market Theater.
In the afternoon, we took a ferry ride around Seattle. I liked the narration but not the herds. Cruises will never be my way to vacation.
We made like tourists and ate ice cream mid-day.
Last stop: Seattle Aquarium. This place was underwhelming after the Vancouver Aquarium, and the kids enjoyed coloring more than anything else there. But! It was fun and the kids enjoyed it.
Here are the kids sporting their finds from Pike Place: a stuffed snake and (yet another) mermaid.
That night, we went to dinner at Matt's in the Market, which Fodor called the best place to eat in Seattle. It was fancy and I loved this salad, but the cheese dish below was prettier than it was tasty.
Another run in Bellevue the next day provided relief from the previous day's crowds. So pretty! Such big trees!
The zoo was our agenda for the last day our vacation, and it didn't disappoint at all. The kids were enthusiastic and Brady and I both loved it, too.
Zac's favorite: the wolves.
Kate's favorite: the flamingos.
The best part was feeding the birds. Kate had a bird nip her recently while on the beach eating crackers and has now decided birds are terrifying.
Kate had a bird nip her recently while on the beach eating crackers and has now decided birds are terrifying. She wanted so badly to feed the birds, but her fear is obvious in the pictures below.
Good job, little lady, for trying to like this experience!
We headed back to the airport and on the way, stopped at Theo's Chocolate Factory to celebrate our 14 years of marriage. We love couples trips, but this trip was meaningful because we had so much fun with our kids. They have reached an age where travel is not as demanding on them, and they did well in restaurants and with the activities we chose. We're excited to flip our life upside down with another baby.
See? Travel with a 7-year-old and 4-year-old is easy.
We got home that night at 11pm. Zac had school the next morning, which was not the greatest reflection on our parenting, but he did fine! Our first comment driving back to the house was we definitely didn't need jackets, followed up with the observation that our trees are so short compared to the Pacific Northwest! Can't wait for our next family trip, and so happy for the memories we created somewhere new.
