Going Home Again...Part II

Before I launch into the second and final day of our fast-paced trip...humor me while I mention the following, in my most mature, 40-something way....

Tonight's the premiere of High School Musical 2!!! WOOOOOO!!!!!

My girls and I are having our own little popcorn party...
(Can you tell what kind of lunch pail I would have now if I suddenly became eight again? Move over, Partridge Family...)

OK, back to our regularly scheduled post...

Part 2

Sunday morning we awoke semi- bright and early, packed up our stuff, and headed downstairs to the simple continental breakfast before we left the hotel. The girls were in love with our very simple hotel room, and called out emotional farewells to it as we headed down to follow the scent trail of waffles and coffee.
Then... it was off to Seattle, just a short drive away!

We headed into town, but ended up (by accident) at a free museum about the Gold Rush.
We were actually stopping at that corner to sort of get our bearings...but this unexpected museum visit actually proved to be kind of fascinating...I love history, but knew basically nothing about the Gold Rush era!
This museum spotlighted the time where masses of folks boarded from that port in Seattle for Alaska's Klondike- and the excitement and hardships that they all faced- especially the wives and children who followed, trying to reunite with the husbands.
I can understand the pull of family ties and love...but not so sure I'd risk life and limb for 1\1000th of a chance of a little gold. (Striking it rich was a chance in 10,000!)

After this educational little stop, we found out from there how to best find the Seattle Center, and on their advice, parked our car and took a bus most of the way. Because most of the way happened to be in the "free zone" Sunday. We were down to our last few dollars, so free was a very good price.
(And you wouldn't believe how exciting just doing this is when you're 8 and 5 years old, and you never rode a city bus before!)

We decided that just my husband would take the girls into the Pacific Science Center, while I would find a coffee shop and stroll around the area a bit. Being short on cash as we were, I didn't think that both of us needed to pay admission to the science center...
Besides, would you believe my head ache had returned? Yes, it had.
That one little sample of pain pills in our 1st aid kit the day before didn't go very far, so I was on a quest to find some more and down them with a mocha- straight up.

It turned out that this science center was more fabulous that any of us knew, though! They were in there for a total of three hours- going into space capsules, rowing their own canoes through dinosaur infested waters, strolling amongst hundreds of butterflies...


Ok, next Seattle trip it's my turn to go in there!

When they finally emerged from all that fun, there was still no time for rest.
No sirree...Onto the next exciting thing to conquer- which in this case, was the Space Needle, itself!

This was the their first time even seeing it in person, so they were very excited to go to the top!
I was elected to be their escort now and their daddy stayed back down on terra firma.

They loved riding up the glass elevator- and trying to peer through the telescope once they reached the top.

Here's a couple views...


But by now, my poor girls were starving for nourishment (but the rest of the food we brought for the trip was in the car)...so with my couple remaining, pitiful dollars, I purchased a big pastry and a cookie...and we divided them up. Not prime rib, but it was enough to keep us going for awhile longer.
And at least they can say that they dined on top of the Space Needle.

Finally, we left Seattle Center to see just a couple more sights. We were headed just a few blocks to catch our "free" bus. Or so we thought...

Look at all our energy, that spring in the step...even after all we've already done! Little did we know that we would have more trouble catching the right bus back...and that we'd pretty much be seeing half of downtown Seattle by foot!


We walked...and walked...and walked.
But finally we came to the famed Pike Place Market.

You know, where the woman with the hyena laugh buys ingredients for dinner with Tom Hanks in Sleepless in Seattle. (I'm just a bit partial to this movie since we saw this on our first blind date!)

(You can see the lighted sign on the right...)

As we strolled on through, there were a lot of interesting sights and sounds...

Here we stopped, along with others, to listen to some incredible classical music being played right there on the curb...


And then there were the sights...


Here's a man who likes to hide in his work...

And as for the smells...well, my littlest wasn't exactly crazy about all those fishy smells at first. (I wish I had a picture of her holding her nose!)

We kept wondering what they were really thinking about this big, colorful, open-air market...it was obvious that we weren't "in Kansas anymore"...

Finally, it was time to move on. From there we walked...and walked...and whined...and walked...

We saw all sorts of wonderful transportation passing us by...

There was this...

And this...And even this...


But still, we trudged on ahead, troopers that we were.

When we finally arrived back at the car, it was a happy moment indeed.
And even better a little while later when we stopped for burgers and fries- and a nice big Dr. P*pper for me.

It had been way too long in life since I tasted a Dr. P*pper. Way. too. long.

As you can imagine, the girls promptly fell asleep in the back seat on our way back...
and after coming home, my youngest promptly handed over her previous virus to me, wherein I can no longer talk above a whisper. (A mommy who can only whisper- lucky them!)
Hence, the long post you are once again reading this week...I can talk all I want this way- you lucky ducks, you! ;)

One last thing...on Tuesday, the 14th, it was the 14th anniversary of my first date with my husband...seeing the movie, Sleepless in Seattle on that first date. 14th on the 14th...and just in Seattle. So guess what we all watched Tuesday night? (Three guesses...come on, I know you can do it!) ;)

So, if you came along with me, so to speak, on our whirlwind weekend journey, I thank you.
And look- you don't even have sore feet or a nasty virus! So much easier this way, wasn't it?

In all seriousness, I am so thankful that our family had this trip together. Not every single moment was wonderful, and it came at a time where our budget was a bit tight.

But finding my old friend from third grade...hanging upside down on the monkey bars with my children where I once played...watching the forests and countryside pass by our windows...and showing our girls a new city for the first time...
all were, as the commercial says...
Priceless.