Downtown Seattle

Here we are in our hotel room. It is a suite and has two rooms.

We went to the historic area of downtown called Pioneer Square. It was pretty early so not much was going on yet.

There is a waterfall garden on the side of a building which is pretty neat.

We decided to pay the $7.50/adult to go up to the observation deck at Smith Tower. It was the fourth largest tower in the world back when it was built in 1914.

Usually I am scared of heights but this tower wasn't so bad.

We were in the Chinese Room.

Across from our hotel, there is a playground at the marina on Lake Union. We knew about this before we chose the hotel by using www.tripadvisor.com.

Ballard Locks

At the advice of friends, we went to Ballard Locks this afternoon after Bobs had a nap at the hotel. We made a quick stop into Target too. Thank goodness for our GPS, otherwise we wouldn't be able to drive around Seattle very easily. Even with the GPS is has been difficult.

The Locks are located at the entrance to Puget Sound, and they allow vessels to enter Lake Union (where our hotel is located) and Lake Washington. It is the busiest Lock area in North America. We saw around 10 ships and boats get in and out for the hour we were there.

There is an under ground viewing area where you can watch fish go through the locks. There were only steelhead trout during this month. Later in the summer you can see different types of salmon.

The sun came out for a bit so we hung out and spent some extra time there. It is located on a small botanical garden.

After our huge fish and chips lunch, we didn't need much for supper so we found a cafe in Ballard and had yet another coffee and hot chocolate. It's a never ending treat in Seattle to stop in at a coffee house. There must be a million in this city. (50,000 Starbucks). There was a nice little play area in this coffee place.

I am finding that Seattle is an extremely kid friendly city. Maybe it is because I haven't travelled much with kids. Other cities have great kid amenities as well but we have been really surprised with how many kids things we have run into. The people here are also very friendly, and we have ventured off the tourist path a few times to experience this.

Tourists in Seattle

We have done a lot already this morning in Seattle. We took a tram up to Pike Place Market.

It's a slightly raining, and overcast day so we did some indoor things.

The market was just opening up so we watched the vendors set up their flowers and fish.

We wish we could have bought some fish to cook back at the hotel but our suite is a bit small and only has a cooktop.

Below is Bobs and I standing in front of the first Starbucks ever. I went inside and it looked like an independent coffee house. It was pretty crowded so I didn't get a coffee here.

Thank goodness we brought the double stroller because we did a lot of walking. We went along the waterfront and over to the free Olympic Sculptures Park.

This is Pier 70. Lots of activity at the harbours around Seattle and they seem to have so many.

Lots of trains to watch here as they start here to transport all the shipped goods inland.

Here we are at the Sculpture Park.

There was a large indoor space with things the kids could do, like make their own sculptures and draw.

Bobs fell asleep in the stroller so we went to a Chowder House on the marina across from the hotel and had Halibut and Chips. Mmmm. Mads kept us company. It's now only 12:30 and we are back at the hotel. We will relax before we head out again for some more fun!

Last Day Spokane/First Day Seattle

Last day in Spokane we did a bit of shopping and a Starbucks trip.

The babies love eating out of their snack traps and it keeps the food from falling out!

We found a park behind the townhouse we were renting. They have cedar chips as their fill in the playgrounds. Nice and soft and cleaner than dirt and rocks.

It was Election Night in Canada on our last night in Spokane. I was set up with a few computers, an itouch, and fortunately CSPAN was showing CBC Newsworld feed. What an evening!

Then the next day, JJ and KC and his mom drove back to Calgary and we had a rented car to drive onto Seattle. Our first morning, we went up to the Space Needle and then in the afternoon we drove to Alki Beach.

Mads made some friends at the playground and it was a gorgeous sunny day.

We know it gets rainy and dreary in Seattle so we took advantage of possibly the only sunny day.

We saw one couple sunbathing in their swim suits but it is still too cold here for that. It was a high of 17 degrees this day.

Bobs and I are wearing purple because it is his favourite colour.

We went for a super hike up some steep neighbourhood hills in Alki. There were some amazing and rewarding views up top. The people living up there are so fortunate. Sea and mountain views more than 180 degrees.

Manito Park

Spokane Bloomsday 2011

We have arrived in Spokane and after a day of shopping, we got ready for the 12 Kilometre Bloomsday Race.

We are renting a townhouse where we stayed two years ago and it is perfect for the whole group.

We make sure to stop at playgrounds so the kids can have some fun too.

The grass and the trees are ahead in growth by about two weeks from Calgary.

The girls ran the race while the dads watched them.

Each of us ran at different paces.

Kris bought Elliott a pink shirt to match his. He was so proud of it.

The boys are more interested in the sewer than the race itself.