The kids slept til 7 this morning- hallelujah! We decided to do a little tour of the Capitol Hill neighborhood in the morning. We began at the Bagel Deli, and enjoyed bagels, juice and of course- more coffee! Then we walked around a bit and landed in Izilla Toy Store. What a fabulous place! It is a big space, with lots of room for the kids to play. It had a doll house that Violet took a liking to, as well as a train table, spaceship you could go in, and a marble run that Matias and Matt both enjoyed. There was not a huge selection of toys, but what was there was awesome. As Matt put it, more of a curated collection than anything...and run by a very nice man. We spent a lot of time there! Then we put in a quick appearance at the Elliot Bay Book Company and their reading castle.
We then headed back to Volunteer Park to meet up with the Germans. We played on their playground and then enjoyed a picnic lunch of egg salad sandwiches (compliments of the Germans' chickens!) and peanut butter (not to be confused with Eloise's baby wipes or butt cream which travel in identical containers). The kids took another dip in the wading pool while we soaked up some perfect weather. Sean and Matt headed to the park cafe to procure some of THE BEST cookies ever, and arrived just in time for wading-pool chlorinating time. We enjoyed the cookies and by the time they were consumed, the kids were able to head back into the pool. We have yet to see a drop of rain and have been greedily soaking up the 70s and sun!July 7, 2011-
This morning we saw a touch of rain while we took the bus downtown and then hopped onto the monorail. What a fun way to travel- we even got to sit right up front!After a stop for coffee (this is an at-least twice daily occurrence. When in Seattle...), we went to the Children's Museum of Seattle. It was a neat museum- not as big or fancy as Chicago's museum, but well-enjoyed by the kids. Violet's favorite was by FAR the time she spent in their open art room- painting, coloring, gluing sand, doing clay. She could "art" all day long.
We came home for a long family nap, and when we woke up it was dinner time! At Emily's fine suggestion, we hit Pagliacci's Pizza, which was really tasty. Violet loved eating her pizza whole- "I did it myself!" Then we strollered over to the public library for a while and did some puzzles and read some books. After the kids were in bed, the Germans came over and we chatted and watched the movie "Fantastic Mr Fox." July 8, 2011-
This morning we gathered around Matt's laptop to watch the last NASA shuttle launch. Matias was fascinated by the fuel tanks and how they fell off when they were used up. It then seemed only appropriate to go to the Museum of Flight (but not before another stop for coffee and donuts, of course). The museum was fantastic. We walked over to their airfield, where we were able to climb into real airplanes- including the Concorde, and the Air Force One plane from the Kennedy era.
They had a kid area as well with a helicopter, small plane, hot air balloon and a hang-gliding simulator for the kids to ride in. Violet especially loved the airplane.
Another neat part of the museum was the air traffic control tower. It actually overlooks a runway (of Boeing's test flights and other private aircraft), and had real radar screens showing where all the planes in the US were. There were binoculars to look through and you could see the planes taxiing and taking off right there. Definitely the closest to real operating planes that you can get these days!
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| photo by Matias |
We finished off the evening by being absolutely creamed at Spades by Sean and Emily. Good thing their baby is so cute!
July 9, 2011-
Today we got up and headed over to Mercer Island for their Summer Festival and Parade. Yes, another parade...of course enjoyed with coffee! They had lots of dogs and local groups in the parade- though only about 3 members from the Lion's Club. Then we explored the fair area and craft booths. We bought a little piece of art that caught our eye. There was a Renaissance theme, and there were Knights jousting on horseback.
The kids napped in the car on the way home and then we headed over to Sean and Emily's chicken coop (a few blocks from their house) for a chicken coop open house and BBQ with their friends Jake and Emma. The kids had fun playing in the chicken coop (the poor traumatized birds may or may not ever lay again?!), and we enjoyed great food. Sadly, the elevation changes and concrete steps did not agree with tired and newly taller Violet. She fell (3, maybe 4 separate times) and skinned herself up quite well...nose, cheek, chin, knees, elbows. It was not her day...but overall we had a lot of fun.
July 10, 2011-
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| note the skinned up face! |
Then we went to the Fremont Sunday Market, a huge farmer's market and craft fair. Lots of things to look at, and yummy raspberries to eat! Eloise made the big purchase of the day- a stuffed toy that may or may not be a hedgehog?!
After much-needed naps, we met up with the Germans at a park on Capitol Hill, which had another wading pool. We enjoyed a taco dinner at the park, before making the most important stop of the day- Molly Moon's Ice Cream Shop. Matias has a sweatshirt from Molly Moon's, so it was fun to see the actual place. They boast flavors like Theo Chocolate, Salted Caramel, Basalmic Strawberry and Brown Sugar Buttermilk. YUM. We decided we could probably fit most of Eloise into one of their waffle cones.
After ice cream, everyone came back to the apartment, and the adults played Carcassone while the kiddos went to bed. We got in our last few Eloise snuggles...at least until we see them again, hopefully around Thanksgiving.
What fun! I say that if you only had one epic showdown with Matias in the whole of the trip that is GREAT! You guys are my inspiration for traveling with children! You seem to do it so well! :)
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