Fourteen in May

 How can you not love this girl leaning into her teen years?

So Behind

I have almost given up on blogging, but not quite. Not quite. So what follows will be a lot of brief posts to play some sort of catch up. No promises are being made about future posts. We will see how it goes.

Day 3 - Museums

Last Day:

On the advice of several locals we skipped going up the Space Needle and opted to go to the Chihuli Glass Gardens instead. Michael and I were entranced. The girls, well they tried. Hand blown glass and gardens were not their cup of tea. 

They did try, though.

After the museum, the girls wanted to go to MoPop, but Michael and I were not very interested and were also due at our pre-booked chocolate factory tour. So we left the girls downtown and went off to a chocolate factory tour.

 Alas, due to miscommunications, we were not able to go on the tour, but we were able to get a refund and use it to buy chocolate. So not all was lost.

After loading up on chocolate we wandered around town, to give the girls plenty of time at MoPop. We visited the troll under the bridge, along with many other tourists. We then went up a walking path and found peace, quiet, and a turtle. 

Not just any turtle, a wishing turtle. We gave him a little water, made a wish, and then headed back downtown to retrieve our girls and bid farewell to Seattle.

It was a whirlwind of a trip. We didn't get to see everything, but we truly enjoyed what we were able to see. 

 

Day 2 - Lean into the Tourism

We started off the day in Pike's Place Market. 

We were trying to come up with reasons to take a beautiful bouquet home, but alas, we didn't think it would last. We just enjoyed the color and variety, all overlayed with the aroma of fish and fresh donuts. We opted out of the fish, but opted in for the donuts. I believe we made the correct decision.

We stopped in Left Bank Books to browse and purchase a few books. Tiny book store with so many books! It was hard to restrain ourselves. 

It was also hard not to cozy up in their reading nook and never leave. Alas, we had other places to visit.

We stopped in a highly recommended shop to grab a drink and watch Seattle walk past the windows. Then we had to scurry across town and meet friends David and Leasie for lunch at the Highlander Public House.

Libby avoided all seafood by eating fries and salad. With only a little prodding from Leasie, though, Kylie decided she was game to try an oyster shooter. 

Little lemon,

ready to go, 

down the hatch.

Verdict: it was okay. (My favorite part of these photos are Libby's face. I don't think she will ever fully recover)

After lunch, we walked down the pier to see David's sailboat. It was a lovely boat, but a disappointing weather day. No chance of going out into the sound. 

We did find a boat that was destined for Kylie. It only cost $35,000 and came complete with many weather beaten tarps and some gently distressed lawn furniture. We decided it would be a great investment in her future.

After eating some gelato, we headed back to house for some very needed rest. 

After dinner the girls wanted to head back out, so we ended up in the International District and loaded up with mochi, purple bread, and other treats to bring home with us. 

Then the girls decided they needed bubble tea. We were able to find a bubble tea shop within walking distance, so we splashed through the puddles to get a frosty drink with the added bonus of pinball. 

 On the way back, Libby also had to demonstrate the waterproof nature of her boots and rainjacket. One is never too old to jump in a puddle or two.

Seattle -Day 1

Libby and her friend wanted to go to Seattle to attend a concert. We agreed to take them if they paid for the concert and half of the lodging. Our Seattle trip was born!

Earlyish Wednesday morning, we hit the road, leaving Ethan at home to keep the pets and younger kids alive.

We arrived in Seattle with plenty of time to get checked in, walk down the street for some falafel, take a brief rest and head out on the town.

We dropped the girls at their Backseat Lovers concert and then Michael and I walked around a very chilly downtown Seattle. Neither of us had ever been, so we enjoyed just exploring.

The sound was beautiful and very, very windy.

The wind kept us chilled, but the sunset was worth it.

We still had plenty of time to kill, so we leaned into the tourist stereotype and took pictures of everything. Seattle has so many great little details, every block had a new curiosity. 

The light hit this fish fountain in such a way that scales shimmered and changed colors. Not a great picture, but a pretty great little fountain.

Chilly hours later Libby said the band was playing their last song, so we walked over to the Paramount Theater to gather the minors. As we stood outside, the temperature continued to drop and I was freezing. Unfortunately for me, but fortunately for the girls, the band played an encore, and then another, and then a third. Half an hour later the girls finally appeared and we headed back to the rental for some well deserved rest and to unthaw for the evening. We all happily crawled into bed and were quickly in slumber land.