Seattle- Day 6&7

On the 6th day of our trip (Wed), we didn't take any pictures. How did that happen! We thought that it was the last day of the trip, but when we went to board the train the conductor pointed out that the tickets were for the next day. We were able to go back to the same hotel, and have one more day of vacation. Ian and Isabelle were thrilled to have some more time at the swimming pool. They went swimming with Stephen on Wed evening and Thursday morning. We also had croissants from the French bakery for breakfast, which was something that I had wanted to do while we were there.

On day 7 (Thurs), we did remember to take pictures. We went for a ferry ride, from downtown Seattle to Bainbridge Island. We did not do any sight seeing on the island, just rode the ferry there and back. The kids had a great time, running around, looking at the water, and seeing the buildings of downtown recede. The temp was a little chilly on the water, so part of the time we stayed in the enclosed area. (But our kids can never sit still for long.)
Then after the ferry, we were off to the train again. Our stroller lost a wheel about 1 1/2 blocks from the station. Who knew traveling to Seattle would be such an adventure.
But we made it to the station, on the right train, and HOME!

Seattle-Day 5

On Tuesday of our trip, we went on a ride on the duck boat. For those of you who have not seen one it is a boat that has wheels and can drive on land. I wish that I would have taken a picture of the whole thing, but I forgot after we were done with our ride.

The boats were actually used during WWII, and only a few survived. Now they are tourist attractions! It was a good opportunity to see more of Seattle than we had so far. We didn't rent a car, so we walked everywhere. That limits the distance you cover!
The tour lasted about 1 1/2 hours. We went around much of the city of Seattle. We saw the downtown tourist area (where we spent most of our vacation). We also saw both the football and baseball stadiums, the convention center (where Stephen was), the shopping areas, the art museum, and many other points of interest. I couldn't take many pictures because I was busy holding Caleb to make sure he didn't fall out of the boat. Our tour guide was from the area, and had lots of interesting tidbits to share. She is a commercial fisherman 6 months a year, and drives the duckboat during the off season.

Among the interesting things that we saw were some of the spots where they film the outside scenes of "Grey's Anatomy." (The kid's were not impressed with that, but I found it interesting). For part of the trip, we drove into the lake. (I forget the name, I will have to look it up.) Once we were on the water, I was able to take some more pictures. There was a whole neighborhood of house boats. Some people live on them year round. There were also floating houses. They are actual houses that sit on the water, and they are hooked up to the city water, city sewer, etc. One of the ones that we saw was the house from "Sleepless in Seattle." We just looked from a distance, because it is a privately owned house now. Evidently, they get a lot of traffic through the water right in front of their house. We saw a couple of water planes land and take off again. Ian was pretty impressed with that

Seattle- Day 4

On Monday, while Stephen went back to his conference, the kids and I went exploring again. We walked down Alaskan Way (the street our hotel is on). But we went the opposite direction from yesterday. We came to an area with a small park. (I don't remember the name.) The kids had fun climbing on the rocks, and looking at the water. The day was still rather overcast and chilly, so we didn't stay for a long time. Isabelle and Caleb spent most of their time riding in the stroller. But Ian is a real trouper. He walked and walked and walked. I don't think he ever gets tired! Now I understand more why it is so hard for him to sit still in school. If we could only have him walk 2-3 miles before he starts, he might do better! There is a bicycle trail that runs behind the park. It goes around the whole city of Seattle. Wherever we were, we saw bicyclists. There was also and Olympic Sculpture Park right beside the trail. It is free, but the kids weren't really impressed. Ian wants to know the practicality of things..."but what do they use it for?" After the park, we walked back down to the area where the aquarium is located. The kids had seen some toys that they wanted in a place called Pirate's Plunder. Ian picked out a sword, and Isabelle picked out a dress-up Pirate girl outfit. She looks very cute in it. I will have to post a picture of it later.
We ate at a seafood place. Isabelle and Caleb had chicken strips, but Ian tried some fish. He had fish (Cod) and chips. He seemed surprised by the fact that he enjoyed it! After lunch, we went to an area called Pikes Place Market. It is an open air market on the first level. There are lots of little shops and vendors on the first level, and then you can go up or down several levels. There were vendors with fresh fish, fruit and vegetable stands, handmade crafts, etc. There was pretty much everything you could imagine. There are also many restaurants, shops, etc, on the streets around the market. One that was fun for the kids was a cheese shop. You can watch them making cheese through the window. There were many different ethnic food stores. The best smelling one was a french bakery. Everyone had a great time looking around. Of course, Isabelle and Caleb fell asleep. Only Ian was awake by the time we came back to the hotel. In the evening Stephen and I went out to dinner with some other people, and had a babysitter watch the kids here. It was nice to have one meal without the kids. :)

Seattle- Day 3

AquariumToday, Stephen went to his conference, and everyone else went to the aquarium.

They had several pools where the kids could pet sea cucumbers, starfish, sea urchins, anemones, and more. That was one of our favorites.

Today was a "family first Sunday" at the aquarium. One of the special things that they had was face painting. Isabelle chose the aquarium logo for her face, and Ian chose a wolf eel.

Caleb had fun with a big flannel graph board while they were getting their faces painted.

Ian as a diver holding Isabelle the eel.

We had a great time. We saw sea otters, harbor seals, and tons of fish and other creatures.

Seattle- Day 2

Space Needle
Here we are doing some sight seeing. The view from the space needle was amazing!

Seattle-Day 1

Once we were settled in to our Hotel, we went walking. We are right across from Elliot Bay. We walked down the street, did a little shopping, and took some pictures.

The carosel was a big hit. We will probably have to do that again before we go home!

Train Ride

We are in Seattle now. We left Browning at about 6:30 pm on Thursday evening. Mary Jo gave us a ride to the train station, so that we wouldn't have to leave our car. The train trip was 17 hrs... no, that is not a typo... 17 hrs. It was a first train trip, and we were all excited about it. The scenery was beautiful. (At least what we could see before it got too dark.) We had a sleeper cabin, so we had beds for everyone. The kids loved the fold down beds, and they all slept very well. Then we had breakfast on the train, and we arrived in Seattle at 10:30 AM pacific time. We were very glad to be off of the train. Our hotel is about 1 mile from the train station. We decided to walk, and give everyone a chance to stretch their legs. Fortunately, the weather was nice enough for us to do that. Now we are enjoying relaxing and sight seeing. We will be here for about one week.