Wednesday, October 24, 2012

{Seattle}

When Trav's cancer came back we came up with a plan.
We were gonna make lots of memories together.
And that included lots of traveling!
Our goal has been a family trip yearly,
and a little us trip every other year.

2 years ago it was Spain.
4 years ago it was San Francisco.
This year we chose Seattle.
 
We had to plan ahead for this one.
We needed it to be an off week for T.
And we needed it to be close-so the travel didn't wipe him out and
the flight didn't take up a whole day.
Seattle fit the bill.

We were supposed to leave at 11:00 am...
but when we woke up to get ready we had an e-mail from Delta saying
our flight was canceled and the soonest we could leave was
9:45 pm!  We were soooo bummed. 
Seriously, a full day of our vacation missed.

But since we had no choice,
we made the best of it.
Lunch at Kneaders.

 With these ladies.
(Seriously, it's impossible to be blue around them. They cheered us right up!)
 We then went to 'Hotel Transylvania.
This is an adorable movie!
And we really enjoyed our day off in Logan.
It ended up working out ok.
 We checked into our hotel in Seattle at midnight.
When we got there they informed us that they didn't have the
King room we booked available and we both just laughed.
And wondered if this trip was gonna be awful...
cause nothing was going as planned.
But then! Then they upgraded us to a suite.
And boy howdy!  It wasn't your average suite.
It was bigger then our first apartment and AMAZING.
2 big screen tv's.  A ginormous bathtub.  A shower with a regular head...
and a rain shower head?  Trav loved it.
And there was even a little TV in the mirror.
Seriously-it was awesome.
And we felt very spoiled!
(And really a little too mellow for a place like that...)

 Our lovely view.

We got up in the morning and headed right to the ferry
to cross the sound.
It was a GLOOMY day.. and cold.
But breathtaking.



I loved watching the ferry cross the sound and seeing the 
stunning fall leaves on Bainbridge Island.
And all I had was my phone camera so I couldn't even try to capture the beauty.
Once we got to the island we headed about an hour away to a little tiny town called
Port Townsend.  Port Townsend is one of the few Victorian port towns in the US-with 
many gorgeous historical buildings standing.  It was quaint and just lovely.

  
 



 We ate just across the street from this place in a complete dive 
on main street called Waterfront Pizza.
We walked past it and the smell seriously lured us in.
This place was so. freaking. delicious.
And it was so fun to people watch from our little view of the street.
(And a random side note: this place had the very best music playing-
which made it even better for us.)
The building here were all stunning and
it was just such a mellow-hip town.

 
 It was cold.  And I took to calling T the 'unibomber' because of his
awesome hoodie-beanie attire.
 After exploring Port Townsend we headed back to Bainbridge.
I had just recently read a book set here and I couldn't wait
to see it in person.
And it didn't disappoint.
This place is just charming and stunning!



 We stopped in this lovely chocolate shop
for salted caramels and gourmet chocolate
and grabbed a hot cocoa before heading back to Seattle.
 We snoozed on the way back, but were still able 
to enjoy the view a bit.

 That night in Seattle was COLD.
Really, really, really cold.
We opted to stay in the car for a bit and drove to 
Bellevue to see the Temple.
It was gorgeous.  Surrounded by huge fall trees
in every color. And little trails with hidden benches 
on the grounds.  Very pretty, and much larger then I had imagined.
After the temple we headed to  dinner at a restaurant just down the road.
They sent us home with free dessert to celebrate our anniversary and we ate it 
in front of the TV while watching a movie...
It was heaven.

The next morning we headed to Pikes place.
We were really excited to head there because everyone had
told us how fabulous it was...
and it was fun.
But, we were really hoping it was a bit more like
LA's Farmers Market. 
Last year when we visited we fell in love with 
all that place had to offer. 
Pikes Place was fun,
and definitely worth going to..
but it was a lot more trinkety and not near as eclectic.



We did get to see this though.
Ewww.

And it was fun to see all the fresh fish.
And stunning fresh flowers.
 After the market we cruised around the city for a bit and ran right into the Monorail
that takes you to the Space Needle.
Do we look like bums?
Seattle makes you grungy!
It's just to darn cold to care.
 Here she is in all her glory.
We didn't go up.
I know, I know...but it was expensive and we didn't care a whole lot.
Don't judge.
 Before heading on our trip we did some research
on where to eat.
And the entire world of Yelp said to eat at a place called Paseo.
It was in the Freemont neighborhood, and as we drove through there I was
glad we headed that direction.  It was a really great neighborhood.
And the restaurant.
Well....
it was the absolutely dodgiest place I've ever eaten.
In my life.
It is a tiny little shack with maybe room for 6 people to eat inside.
And the line was clear out the door.

 This picture.  I know, it doesn't look good.
I know.
But glory!
This food was seriously, seriously delicious.
Fresh, gooey and right.
And the best thing we ate on the trip.
Which leads me to the conclusion that T and I aren't real classy.
 After we died a glorious food death we headed to Volunteer park.
I wish I would have had a good camera because the view from this
tower of the city was so pretty.
And the park was gorgeous too.
Right across from the park was the street formerly known as
'Millionaire Mile'.
We wandered around and saw some of the huge old homes
and it was very peaceful and quite and even warm for a bit!
We drove through the Queen Anne neighborhood before heading back to our hotel.
 And then, party animals that we are....
I read with my feet up while T watched football.
Heaven.
Freals.
 After lazing we headed out to the cit,
dressed like Eskimos
for fish and chips.
And wandered for a bit.
A very lovely evening before coming home.


  
And we couldn't wait to get home to our little ladies.
Man, we missed them!
As much as we love being alone together,
we just want to share everything with them.
We both wonder how much longer 'just us' vacations will happen.
Now that they are older-we want them there to experience it all with us.

We are smitten with our girls.
It's pathetic.

The day after we came home was Crazy hair day at school.
The ladies wanted to look electrified.
I did my best.
 I adore my goofballs.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

A post about nothing.


So...I guess I'll do a blog post.
About nothing....
Like an episode of Sienfield.
Without Kramer.

Here's what we've been up to.
The ladies are still gorgeous.
 We pose while doing homework.
Duh.
Don't you?

 Once a week we've been doing after school adventures.
This day was a look at the absolutely stunning leaves in Smithfield Canyon.
Seriously, it's never been prettier!
 T is on a 2 week poison break,
and I see glimpses of my husband.
Man...I love him.
So nice to have a few semi-normal weeks together.
 And in other news...do you see his new beard?
He got released as Ward Clerk and out it came.
It keeps him warm with his freezing side effects from his Sutent.
Sienna drew the picture below.
Love it.
 The ladies danced at the Vistaun clinic at Sky View.
For about 20 seconds each!
They really loved it.
 We do nothing exciting here folks,
but the ladies do it in style.
 I am now only working part time and LOVING getting to spend
some time helping in the girls classes. 
It's so dang fun to see them in their element.
Sienna is quite a fan of computers.
 Tonight we had our annual Ward Halloween carnival.
The ladies couldn't wait to unveil their costumes!
Sienna as a cheetah.

 Adyson as a Raccoon.

 I seriously love everything about my girls.
It is a joy to be their mother!