Seattle, Yo.

There's been a lot of flossing, "yo", and "bro" at our house this Summer. As you can imagine, it's been delightful and very mentally stimulating. (Insert eye roll.) Naturally, when I think about our trip to Seattle, the first thought that comes to mind is "Seattle, yo." 

Thought I'd share a few pictures from our trip this week to Seattle. The weather was terrific. After having been above 90 degrees for I don't know how long in Colorado, Pacific Northwest temperatures in the 60s and 70s was a welcome relief.

The Gum Wall. It's more like gum alley. I've heard that they clean it off at least once per year and it quickly gets re-gummed. (Is that a word?) And, in case you forgot your gum, there are a few stores close by that thankfully sell gum. We had our own.

When in Rome, you stick your gum on the wall. Sawyer didn't want to part with his gum so Griff added his to the collection.

Day 1. On Wednesday, Griff had a meeting with a client so the three of us were on our own for the day. Madelyn really wanted to visit the Seattle Aquarium. It is such a neat place and a really good aquarium. You can even ride on the back of an orca. (Wink, wink.)

We happened upon the sea otters' feeding time. Aren't otters the cutest?! Then, I found this brother and sister otter pair frolicking and generally having a good time. They're pretty cute, too. 

We visited the harbor seals a few times including once during their feeding and toothbrushing time. Each seal has their own Sonicare toothbrush that the keepers use on them to keep the seals' teeth clean.  Who knew?! And, on our second visit to the harbor seals, we watched as the "Madelyn" and "Sawyer" seals fought over who got to lay in the sun with "Mama" harbor seal. In the end, "Mama" let both of them stay with her in the sun.

After lunch, we took a break from the aquarium and ventured down to Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe...so much stuff and so many weird things. Definitely saw a lot of curiosities! We saw the mummies and shrunken heads and gawked at the Harry Potter wands. We sampled fudge and picked up a little to share with Papa later in the day. Madelyn found some shades she liked. Isn't she the prettiest?

My favorite was possibly the antique Wurlitzer (player) organ outside on the pier.

After walking around the waterfront, the kids wanted to go back to the aquarium which was fine with me. This time, we spent about an hour at the touch tanks getting sea urchin "hugs" and touching the tube worms and anemones. On our first visit, Sawyer didn't want to touch anything. On our second visit, he couldn't get enough. At one point, he was two-handed touching two different sea urchins and I swear I heard him exclaim "Madelyn! I'm touching two urchins!"

The volunteers at the aquarium are terrific. We learned so much through casual conversations with them. We still would have had a fun experience without the volunteers but thanks to their knowledge and accessibility, we learned so much more and had such a neat experience. I highly recommend the Seattle Aquarium.

Day 2. Griff was done with his client meetings so all four of us did some excellent sightseeing.

Fortunately, the kids arrived just in time to catch this piece of public art and hold it up. It surely would have fallen without them.

We did a duck tour and quacked our way throughout Seattle.

We watched a float plane take off past us in Lake Union.

And, while we enjoyed our duck tour, the events in Branson, Missouri, have been on my mind. I realize thousands of other duck boat tours, including ours, have had no troubles. I'm thankful for that. However, it hit a little close to home and I'm so sorry for all those people affected.

Back on land and done with our duck tour, it was time for the Space Needle. Here we come!

After we bought our Space Needle tickets, we had about thirty minutes to kill before getting in line. We found an awesome playground in Seattle Center. Madelyn climbed, Sawyer and Griff did the maze on the ground, and I solved the rebus puzzle.

What a view from the top of the space needle. I don't have a fear of heights but a sheet of plexiglass between the ground 600+ feet down and me is a little unnerving.

The rainforest Sphere at Amazon's headquarters in downtown Seattle.

Day 3. Back to Pikes Place Market. We only had the morning as we were flying home in the afternoon. Nonetheless, we arrived at the market around 8:30A. The shops open at 9:00A. But, the kids and I knew from walking around on Wednesday that there's a little window where you can buy the best looking pastries around - Three Girls Bakery.

What the kids and I speculated from our scouting on Wednesday was correct. Their pastries were THE BEST. I don't even have other words to describe it. I had a spinach and feta croissant, Griff had a ham and cheese croissant, Sawyer had a blueberry scone, and Madelyn had a cherry turnover. But, that's not all. Someone in our group (who shall remain nameless) suggested we get a second set of pastries and try some other things. The rest of the group consented and we ended up with two cheese danishes, a s'mores danish, and a raspberry cream danish. None of them went to waste and none of them lasted very long.

Bellies filled with goodies, we walked through the rest of the market. 

Bought some pickled herring at Pike Place Fish Market for our favorite Scandinavian fellow. Yes, they threw the jar of herring. And, while I paid for it, someone else in the market ordered two salmon which promptly flew right by...one of them was juicy.

Poppie reported that this pickled herring tasted different from the pickled herring at Costco. Neither he nor Griff could elaborate on how it was different.

And, Billie the Pig. We found him. His "sister" Rachel the Pig is in front of Pike Place Fish Market. He's less busy so we could get a good picture.

I'm happy to have visited Seattle. It was so nice of Griff to let us tag along on his work trip and I'm glad we could make it happen.

And, so much for cooler temps in Seattle. It's still hot back here in Colorado.