Seattle Cemetery and Temple

Is it possible to get a sunburn in Seattle? I submit to you that it is.

I love to see the temple, especially in Seattle.

Everybody smile!!!

Fun at the Splash Pad with David & Kathleen and Melanie & Jay and their kids. 

Kathleen offered to keep Dahlia as her live-in nanny, but we decided to take her with us. This time.

Sunshine in Seattle

When Jason's family decided to copy our honeymoon and take a vacation to the Oregon Coast, I decided pretty early on in the planning that our little family should add a couple of days in Seattle to the beginning of the trip. The waterfront was unthinkably under construction and closed the first time Jason and I went to Seattle, and I felt like he and the kids needed to experience one of my very favorite places in the world. Plus, it really isn't that far from Portland to Seattle and it just seems wrong to me to do one without the other. So we spent Thursday night through Sunday morning with my Favorite Aunt Patsy, and even talked my Dad into joining us for a couple of days. Yay!!!

First stop - Ivars. I like to say that I only eat fish when I can see the ocean. But, truthfully, I really only eat fish when I'm at Ivars.  

Iconic pictures under the Ivars sign.

When you eat fish and chips at Ivars on the waterfront, you have to eat outside and feed the seagulls at least half of your chips. It's just what you do. I was so glad Mick and Dahlia enjoyed this tradition.

I could stare at this view for days and days. But... there were other things to do and certainly other things go eat. So we had to keep moving.

Next stop - Ye Olde Curiosity Shop. They've moved locations around the corner, but even for a purist like myself, it hasn't changed the experience. They still have the totem poles, the huge assortment of colored rocks you purchase by the bag, the fortune teller machine, and the most charming collection of things you never know you needed all crammed into one small space. I don't even know how to describe it, you just have to go explore.

My Dad paid to play the pipe organ and Jason somehow captured the exact moment the organ started to play. Hence, the startled look on my face.

Mickey had one very important item on his Seattle "to do" list - visit the first ever Starbucks. For a kid who doesn't drink coffee, he's kind of obsessed with Starbucks. So we hunted down the original Starbucks at Pike Place Market. 

And while we didn't wait in the forever long line to get a drink at THE Starbucks, we did cross the street to another Starbucks so Mickey could have his treat.

I love all the fresh flowers at Pike Place and I always wish I was on my way to my wedding or something so I could pick up a beautiful bouquet for a ridiculously cheap price. But, since I wasn't, I did make Dahlia pose by the dahlias. Classic.

Also classic - the fish throwing guys at Pike Place. I think this was one of Jason's highlights of the trip. He never talks to strangers, ever, but he made an exception and asked for a picture with The Fish Guy. And I'm so glad he did because what a great shot! Coming soon to a Christmas card near you....

After the market, we made a quick stop for waffle cones (because it really was sunny and warm that whole day in Seattle and ice cream became kind of a must) and took a ferry ride . Such spectacular views of the Seattle skyline and Mount Rainier. I love to be on the water. We rode the ferry to Bainbridge Island and then turned around and rode the ferry back.

It's pretty tempting to get straight back on when you arrive back at the Seattle waterfront and just repeat. But we were all getting a little tired by this point, so we took the train back to our car and ate dinner at another classic Seattle favorite, Denny's. Then back to Tacoma, where Jason and the kids watched America Ninja Warrior and the World Poker Tournament on TV with Patsy and Hal, while I sat down and promptly fell asleep. (Seriously, who watches poker on TV?) Pretty much a perfect day.

Multnomah Falls

When you quit one job, take an amazing 10 day vacation, and then start a new job immediately upon your return, one thing you fall woefully behind on is blogging your vacation pics. But, in a show of good faith, here is Day One of our Pacific Northwest vacation.

After flying into Portland and hopping into our rented minivan, it took me about 10 seconds to switch into "Vacation Mode" and convince myself that Multnomah Falls is pretty much on the way from Portland to Seattle. Which, technically, I'm told is not true.

But it felt true. Jason and I stopped there on our honeymoon and he'd mentioned several times that he wanted to come back with the kids someday. Today was the day!!! So we drove to Multnomah Falls "on the way" and walked up to the bridge. Unfortunately, the higher portions were closed due to fire damage. (We were so far into Vacation Mode at this point that we thought we wanted to hike the mile to the top. That's funny.) So instead of continuing our walk, we bought some delicious fudge --spoiler alert: our best of the trip-- and perused the gift shop before continuing our drive to Seattle.

We stopped for dinner that night at a Jack in the Box that was conveniently located next to a prison and had the ambiance to prove it. Good thing Multnomah Falls had been as amazing as promised, or the kids might have been seriously questioning my vacation judgement by this point. And we were all still a little delirious from the blueberry cheesecake fudge. Which really was incredible.

PS - Mickey commandeered my phone for much of this trip. He has a great eye for photography and captured some pretty awesome shots. He told me I'd have a lot more followers on social media if I let him take all of my photos so my posts "had good pictures." He's probably right. Which is one reason why I will continue to post my own photos. 

Hummingbird Haven

I need to (quickly) learn all there is to know about hummingbird eggs. First, how do I have the patience not to take the nest down to see if there are eggs in there? I think there has to be - this little lady keeps returning. The only thing I can say for sure is that we don't have a hummingbird feeder. And the nest is very intricate.

The Shupester

I finally had a cute boy to take me to a Ryan Shupe concert. Jason and I saw them play at Founders Park the day before the Fourth of July. The Shupester and Banjo Boy haven't changed a bit. But it was a HUGE crowd getting ready for Centerville's fireworks show, and not one person in the audience besides me knew the words to any of the songs. It was kind of a rude awakening that maybe I'm not 23 anymore. When did that happen?

Anyway... same cheesy-with-a-slight-bite style of showmanship - and same great sound. I'll always be a fan of the Rubberband. Dream Big.

St. George Weekend

I don't want anyone to feel too bad that Jason and I stayed home and worked while the kids lounged about in St. George for a week. Jason and I were able to make a quick trip that weekend, so all's well that ends well.

When you roadtrip with me, you end up visiting Pioneer Museums and temple grounds. The kids actually enjoyed the museum tour and the visitors centers because of the air conditioning. Because St. George in June is hot. WAY. TOO. HOT.

We also escaped the heat by going bowling. We bowled two games and my total score was over 200, so I did pretty good for me. Disclaimer: I used the bumpers and I do not apologize for that.

Kids with Grandma and Scott. We learned this trip that Scotty is a decent bowler and that he fries a pretty mean egg. Also, he doesn't use the bumpers and thinks it's a little strange that a grown woman would. Whatever.

We ended Saturday with a sunset swim in the pool. It's not heated, but even I can brave a private pool in 100+ degree weather. Especially if there's also a hot tub.

Last picture. This one makes me laugh. Years ago, my family rented a house in Bountiful and we were surprised one Christmas when our landlords sent us a Christmas card of them sitting in their hot tub drinking beer with their dog in the background. It seemed like an odd Christmas card. (Although I'm pretty sure it's still in a family photo album somewhere because aren't you supposed to save photo Christmas cards?) Fast forward a couple of decades, and here's me posting a weird hot tub picture, minus the beer and the dog. Maybe it's the circle of life.

Grandma Kaylene's Resort & Spa

Mickey and Dahlia have been looking forward to summer when they could spend a week at their Grandma's new house in St. George. From the pictures, I'd say they had an ok time.

They spent hours and hours in the pool, played many games of Skipbo, went to Zions National Park, and had ice cream at an old fashioned ice cream parlor. They mostly loved having Grandma's undivided attention all to themselves... and also the pool.