Washington

Hooray! We made it to Seattle! Our first stop in Seattle was a Duck Tour ride through the city. Boston Duck Tours were my favorite, so we tried them in Seattle and had a GREAT time seeing the city by land . . . and by water and quacking our way through the whole thing.Tom Hanks floating house from "Sleepless In Seattle".
After our tour we walked around the Space Needle to check it out. Last time we were in Seattle, it was mine and Scott's anniversary. We ate dinner at the rotating restaurant up at the top. This time, with three kids, we just looked up.
We made our way on the monorail through town over to Pikes Market. The kids were very interested in the "flying fish" and Brie even got to help out with a huge salmon. We also loved all the fresh flowers, fruits and veggies.
Raspberries!
Our wandering took us down to the pier along the water where we found a carousel to ride and, of course, some little girl dancers who LOVE to put on a show for the adoring public.What was the best part of Seattle though? Seeing our Randi! She let us all take over her house for a few days and was so very good to us. It was certainly fun to be with her.

Randi did the girls nails with sparkles and jewels. They were in beauty parlor heaven.Hanging out with Maxwell, the dog. Zachary is showing him some of his own special tricks. And, hanging out with Randi's dad, Rex.

Our second day in Seattle, we all got to go to a day game at Safeco Field together. What fun and seriously, what good food. Not just a hot dog at this baseball game.After a good baseball game we hit the beach. I guess, I would kind of call this a beach. It certainly had sand and ocean and girls in bikinis and lots of volleyball, but no one would touch the water and it wasn't above 75 degrees. The view as beautiful though and the kids always like to cover every inch of themselves in sand. Along with the beach volleyball competitions, there was also a cart wheel competition on the sand. The two participants - Brielle and Ava.After such a good time in Washington, it was time to hit the road for a very long drive home. We told the kids we wanted to get home that night instead of staying somewhere half way. So, we stopped for bathroom breaks and diaper changes at gas stations while we filled up. We ate in the car, the kids napped, watched movies, colored and sang. To our utter shock and amazement there was almost no crying, fighting or complaining. Can you believe it? We pulled into our driveway and the GPS said our total driving time was at exactly 13 hours and the amount of time we allowed for stopping? 42 minutes! Yahoo! It was soooooooooooo good to be home.