Spontaneous in Seattle

Living on the opposite end of Washington from Seattle, and having already made our daughters sit in the car for almost a week out of the last two months, we didn't think we had the heart to pack them up again for another 7-hours of traveling. But, when we found out Eric has another cousin who lives close to Seattle, and she asked us to please come stay with them, we decided on Friday at 3:30 that our Washington experience wouldn't be complete without a day on the pier.

After researching online, and calling my friend Lisa who is from Seattle, we put a plan into action.

We had a great drive up to Seattle. Jolie had taken her first nap in I don't know how many weeks that day, and while Mierae fell asleep as soon as we left at 7:00, Jolie played happily with her balloon from Red Robin and entertained herself for the next two hours while Eric and I listened to Harry Potter. We had a nice visit with family, and the kids loved playing with new toys and jumping on a trampoline.

Mierae had gotten up before 5:30 Saturday morning, so both girls napped on the way to the city. We were lucky to find a parking garage with a reasonable rate for all-day parking close to our activities, and the girls were happy and excited when they woke up and saw their new surroundings.

We went to the aquarium first thing. The kids were so excited!


Mierae couldn't stay away from the orange and purple starfish. She was excited to get to stick her hands in the water to touch them and the anemones over and over again.



They had a fun floating jellyfish ring


right next to the cave for the giant octopus, "Buster." Here are the kids waiting for the octopus to come out and eat a Dungeness crab.


And the octopus did wake up and make an appearance! (Sorry, no pic!) But, our favorite show was of the fur seals.



We got to watch them have a snack from outside, and then saw them swimming underwater from inside. We also loved the harbor seals and the sea otters (we had fun watching them eat clams). We also got to watch divers feed fish from the underwater dome.

The girls even got their faces painted: Mierae wanted a pink and purple octopus, and Jolie chose everything, ending with an orca, which is what she got. :)



After playing with mermaid dolls in the souvenir shop, and buying some mermaid sticker books to take home, we headed down the pier.


The girls got to ride on a carousel...


and pose with a penguin...


before our next adventure...


We boarded the "Spirit of Seattle" and awaited our hour-long harbor tour. Mierae had been apprehensive after her last experience on a boat. After trying to reassure her that this "boat" would be a LOT bigger, she had to see it to believe it.


After getting on board, there was no looking back!


We loved the tour and the views from our ship. It was a wonderful way to sightsee on a sunny day.




Mount Rainier was even visible that day.


(Frankly, after all the heat and sunshine in the tri-cities, I was hoping for an overcast sky and some rain! The only one in all of Seattle who was disappointed in the sunshine!...)

Our day was not complete without a visit to Pike's Place. (Mierae and Jolie were troopers!! Here Mierae is energetically climbing the steps by herself. They did SO well the whole day.)



We ended up getting to the market right as it closed, so we didn't get the full experience we wanted. But standing in the elevator to go up to the market, it was as if I was back in Ukraine or Nice--cigarettes, body odor and raw fish, all in one breath. Real enough for me. :) We did find some fun shops and were able to deliver on a promise to give the girls ice cream.



We wanted to have a great seafood dinner, but we ended up ordering a fried seafood special 'to go' from a restaurant at Pike's. I learned that I do NOT like clams.

We had a great day and couldn't have asked for better. We're so glad we spontaneously decided to go. We know we would have regretted it if we'd missed the opportunity. Now we're planning a trip to Chicago this fall after getting back to Ohio. I'm looking forward to the pizza!