{ Seattle Vacation - The Fishy Day } - Day 3 of 8

Finally to Day 3 of our 8-day adventure in Seattle. Today we started out the day at the Seattle Aquarium. The girls absolutely loved the aquarium. At the entrance is a huge tank. While we were there, a diver was feeding the fish and seemed to get quite friendly with an eel.

We then entered by far the coolest part of the aquarium (at least for the girls). It was an area the aquarium called Life on the Edge where you could actually touch the sea life. And also in this area was a huge tank with an octopus. It was very amazing to watch it swim from one side of the tank to the other, all the while moving those amazing arms (or are they called legs).  Beside the octopus was an aquarium made into an arch. It contained jelly fish. Miss A was quite intrigued by the jelly fish and still talks about them (as well as the giant octopus).

We moved on from the Life on the Edge to an area where they were offering free (donation) face painting. Miss A chose a penguin, and Miss J chose a seahorse. It was Miss A’s first face painting. To our amazement, she was quite still during the whole procedure, but she looked very nervous the whole time. It was adorable to watch, really.

After the face painting, we all decided that it was time for lunch, so we went to the front to have our hands stamped so we could return to the aquarium once we were done eating. The guys wanted to go to The Crab Pot. It’s an apparently famous place to eat seafood. I wouldn’t know. I adamantly detest seafood. The guys ordered two different seafood feasts. It was crazy. The waiter brought out these huge bibs for them to wear as well as tiny forks and wooden mallets. When the food arrived, I thought I might hurl. It came in a huge stainless steal bowl which the waiter immediately emptied the contents out in the middle of the table. While the sight and smell of it initially turned my stomach, I did bravely take a bite of crab. And I must say, it wasn’t all that bad. Shrimp…not so much. Miss A even tried the shrimp. She nearly begged to eat it, but once it was in her mouth, she very quickly spat it out. (That’s my girl!) But while she didn’t enjoy eating the shrimp, she sure had a lot of fun playing with it. I couldn't hardly stand the sight of that large pile of seafood, but at the same time, I couldn't stop photographing the gruesome scene. Finally Tim asked me if I was going to eat or if I was just going to spend the entire lunch time taking pictures. Ha!

After the guys had gorged themselves on the mass of seafood, we went back to the aquarium. We started where we left off, which was at an area with multiple fish aquariuma with all different kind of species. We were meandering through when all of a sudden Miss A started hollering in an animated voice, “Nemo, Nemo, Nemo!! There’s Nemo!” Sure enough there was Nemo. He didn’t seem to care to be photographed though. I stood for a while with camera ready waiting for him to come out of his semi-hiding place, but alas, he chose not to so we moved on.

The remaining part of the aquarium was just as cool. We walked through a large globe looking aquarium. I didn’t get such great photos because I had on my 50mm lens and that just didn’t get enough of the aquarium in the frame to get a great shot. So alas I will just have to tell you, it was cool. So many cool fish. The seals were cool to watch swim. One little guy was swimming like a mad man. Miss A had fun watching him swim around and tried to talk to him, “Ar, Ar, Ar!” Another cool attraction was the Salmon Ceiling. You just looked up, hoping that glass would hold those hundreds of salmon! The last animal we saw in the aquarium was some baby sea otters. They were sleeping and cuddling with one another. It was absolutely the cutest thing.

The Seattle Aquarium was built right at the water's edge so the views it offered were absolutely spectacular.

The Seattle Aquarium is located just below Pike’s Place Market. So we walked back up to the market. I gotta tell you. I think I could spend days at the market.

 After seeing the fresh fruit, I decided I just had to have some. I’m glad I did. The peaches and plums were mouth wateringly delicious.

Our next stop in the market was The Confectional. We stopped to get a shot of chocolate for 75 cents. Upon request you could have cayenne pepper in your chocolate shot. No, thank you! But of course my spice-lovin’ husband said, “Absolutely!” It was interesting to say the least. My favorite part of this store was a sign that said, “We will be happy to help you when you’re off your phone.”

Next to The Confectional was a store that was closed...due to food poisoning.

The name of this store seemed humorous to me. I believe I will have me some pastry. How about you?

The guys decided they needed to try out a Piroshky, which was a pastry of some sort. They had every variety of Piroshky that you could possibly want. And while the guys stood in line for a Piroshky, Mandy took this time to sit down and take a break with the girls, and I went to the original Starbucks to try to get a few shots. It was jam-packed that day! I could hardly get in and then when I did, taking pictures proved to be difficult.

Just a bit more scenery from the Pike's Place Market.

 

Aaron entertaining the girls while Mandy and I used the ladies room.

People gathering to watch these guys sing and throw fish. If you look closely, you can see a fish flying through the air.

We left Pike's Place Market with the intent of doing some shopping. Our first store was a store that carried Marimekko. Super cute clothes, fabric, handbags, and home decor, but extremely pricey!

 As we were walking along, I noticed Seattle's Best, and I really wondered who serves the best coffee in Seattle. St. Louis is a baseball town...Seattle is a coffee town!

 We went to a few more stores and then ate at a little sandwich shop. We were just finishing eating when a firetruck rolled by carrying a load of pirates. A parade was going to be starting a few hours, and they were clearing the streets. I really wanted to see the parade, but I was vetoed.

So we headed back to our bus stop.

This day marked the 17th week of Mandy's pregnancy, and all day long, we had tried to figure out a way to take a creative picture that she could post on Facebook to announce the new addition to their family. While we were standing there waiting on our bus, I saw this trash receptacle that said, "Big Belly." Not too long ago, we found out that Mandy is having a boy. I cannot wait to meet my new little nephew. I am so super excited for her, Tim, & Miss J.

{ Seattle Vacation - Space Needle } Day 2 of 8

Day 2 of our Seattle vacation had us heading downtown on the 358 again to Seattle Center and the Space Needle. As we exited the bus, it was soon very clear to us, if we expected to see anything from atop the tower, we would have to wait until the fog cleared.  So what did we do? Why we were in Seattle so of course we stopped at a coffee shop. And for the life of me, I don’t know why I didn’t photograph this. But this coffee shop was actually inside a parking garage. There were no doors to enter the parking garage. You just simply walked straight into the parking garage through a nonexistent wall.

We then headed to EMP (Experience the Music Project). It was by far the darkest museum I have ever been in. And by dark, I mean low-lit. One of the coolest things at the EMP was a tower of guitars that actually played music that one could listen to on head phones that surrounded the sculpture.

The featured exhibit at the EMP was a room containing the actual apparel of the Supremes. They had quite the attire.

The girls’ favorite part of the EMP was the Sound Lab. They played drums, keyboards, scratched records, and sang in their very own studio. I’m thinking they probably, most definitely have a career in music.

Connected to the EMP is the Science Fiction museum. I maintain that the Sci-Fi museum had to be connected to the EMP. Otherwise, no one would visit it. But then again, I’m not a sci-fi fan at all. I’ve never seen all of Star Wars. *Gasp* But the guys really seem to enjoy it. I’m just glad it consisted of two rooms, and the complete tour was over in 15 or 20 minutes.

After the EMP and the Science Fiction Museum, we headed outdoors where we discovered the fog had dissipated, and the sun was out in full bright force. 

The guys stood in line to buy the tickets to the Space Needle. The tickets didn’t take too long to buy, but the line to actually get up into the Space Needle was forever long. So while the guys stood in line, we took the kids to an adorable little carnival located beneath the Space Needle. The girls had a blast riding this car ride.

While the girls were squealing with glee with each circle around the tracks, we received a call from the guys informing us that they were very near the entrance into the ascent into the Needle. So we took some disappointed girls away from the ride and went to stand in line to go up. The girls, at this point, were getting a little tired and were not thrilled about standing in line for even a moment. So we entertained them by pretending we were on a Dora show. “We are going to go through the long line, across the short bridge, and up the big elevator to get to the tall tower.”

This huge Starbucks coffee cup was located near the elevator. Miss A loved it. She loved it so much in fact that nearly the whole time we were at the top of the Space Needle she said, “I want to go back to the Starbucks cup!”

Finally it was our turn to cram ourselves into a ginormous elevator with 40 other people. And off we were up the tall tower. The view atop of the tower is very much like that of being up in the Empire State building in New York. But as a true St. Louisan would say, it sure doesn’t beat the Arch. Seattle is a beautiful city. And the Space Needle provided lovely views.

The wall of the Space Needle at the top was a lovely green color. I tried to do a mini-shoot of Miss A. But she wasn’t having it. Instead I got this lovely shot of her pretending to be a pirate. ARGHHHHH!!

We took a moment to chill inside atop the tower and to take in the view.

 Then back down the elevator we went.

I took this shot of the Space Needle directly after exiting. It was while I was taking this picture that I realized. It is no where near the height of  the St. Louis Arch. It kind of looked puny to me from this angle.

We took two very excited girls back to the Carnival. Where some of the rides they opted to ride, needed an adult to ride with them. So….guess who rode. Not me!! Oh Mandy and I did have a good laugh over this. What a good daddy!

And then they both wanted to ride this swinging boat. The expressions on their faces are priceless.

Then both dads shared father/daughter moments riding the carousel. So sweet.

And for their last ride, they wanted to ride the cars again.

We walked from Seattle Center down to the Sculpture Park. While we were somewhat admiring the first sculpture, we noted the signs that said, “Do not touch the art.” But we didn’t realize how serious they were until we heard this over the loud speaker, “Do not touch the art. … SIR!”

I don’t know, given the choice, I think I would have opted to sit in the empty chair.

The trail through Sculpture park deposited us out right at The Old Spaghetti Factory so we had a little din-din.

Then we headed back up to the bus stop, enjoying the view of the Space Needle along the way.

Our bus stop just happened to be right at this big pink elephant sign. The girls loved this sign and pointed it out each day when we passed it on the bus. It truly was a highlight for them every single day.

The day was fun but passed by in a blur. So long Seattle Center.