Sleepless in Seattle

We went away to Seattle on the spur-of-the-moment. Todd had arranged for a long weekend a few weeks ago and neither of us were in the mood to sit around. So we got the heck outta here. We followed some of our besties who were heading that way too. Charlie was screaming before we passed Cheney, he loves traveling about as much as Dawson did at that age (what am I saying, Dawson is still a terrible traveler). Luckily Kelli and Shane brought us Donuts-to-Go and Starbucks to ease our pain and counteract the effects of Charlie's blood curdling screams. The twins finally passed out for about 30 minutes, and woke up just in time for us to stop for lunch. We ate our little picnic lunch and then got on the road again. Everything was great, beautiful weather, pretty drive, then we came to a dead stop and not quite sure why? We weren't close enough to Seattle for it to be traffic, what could it be? The radio said all lanes of traffic were stopped for a "disabled vehicle." Tow trucks and fire trucks finally started passing by after we'd been sitting there for what felt like ages. I'd gotten out of the car to chat really quick with Kel, and some lady said "I just feel so bad for the people that have kids!" I said "we are those people." The kids actually did better than I thought, and we took turns carrying them over to each other's cars to visit, trying to help pass the time and to give them a break from their car seats. Another couple next to us said they were supposed to be getting married at 2 pm, and it was 1 o'clock already! Can you imagine being late to your own wedding?! We teased them that we could have a makeshift reception for them with the Coke and cheese sticks we had packed in the cooler. Finally traffic started moving again and we drove past the hold-up: an RV had completely, COMPLETELY burnt to the ground. How awful. We finally made it to our first stop, the ZOO. The kiddos were all happy to be out of the car and ran around the zoo as if they belonged there (and they do). I think my favorite part was watching Ella and Liv pressed up against the glass, watching the penguins swim right up next to them. Their little eyes just lit up. The giraffes are one of my favorites too, and we got see a crazy orangutan swinging back and forth right up next to the glass, which Mitch thought was terrifying. We finished there, said our goodbyes to our buddies and then headed out to get some dinner. We went to a great pizza joint, Tutta Bella. This was the first of several LONG waits for food over the weekend, we were cursed in this department the whole time:) We waited well over an hour to be seated, not fun with 4 cranky kids. Poor Todd didn't even get to eat his meal there, it came so much later than our pizza that the rest of us were done before his came. So he had to box it up and scarf it down after we drove to the hotel, unloaded everything and got settled. The next morning we walked around the Pier. Todd of course got a Starbucks coffee, sort of a sin not to when you're in Seattle. Then we met up again at the aquarium. This time they were working with the seals so we got to watch them clean the seals' teeth (with an Oral B. Must not be a big market for toothbrushes made especially for seals) and do some tricks which was really fun for the kids to see. We left there and went to Alki Beach, the kids were dying to get out and explore so it was a perfect way to break up the day. We ate a little picnic lunch and then walked down to the water. Poor Mitchy was horrified of all the sounds at the ocean. He is so sensitive! So for the first half hour or so he cried and wouldn't let me pry him off of my shoulder, but he finally warmed up a bit and played in the rocks for a while with a very un-horrified Charlie. Ella/Dora the Explorer found a jelly fish that had washed up, and she spent most of the time poking it with sticks. Todd had to skip rocks, of course, and we just enjoyed the fresh air and the smell of the ocean. The weather was gorgeous... We had early dinner reservations for Dahlia, and I was happy as a clam about that fact. Everything was soooo good, I had crab cakes and ate tons of their yummy bread. It's such a beautiful restaurant and way too classy for the 6 of us. The best part of the meal were the crazy-good, hot donuts we ordered for dessert. Holy Cow, I would drive there just for those. We headed back to our room, I took Ella and Dawson to the pool for a bit, then we settled in for a restful evening (yeah right). The next morning we went to Portage Bay Cafe'. We intended to eat breakfast there, but waited 2 hours so it wound up being more like lunch. Poor Todd, this almost flipped his lid. But thanks to Kel's recommendation, we ate one of the most delicious meals. It's all organic, free range, beautiful, tasty food. It's how I'd cook every day if we had an amazing market like Pike's, and to-die-for ingredients at my fingertips. The servers wore t-shirts that said "eat like you give a d*m*" which I thought was hilarious. The kids and I found some fun things to do while we waited, and it really was worth it. We made some great memories, and when a trip begins and ends with donuts, how can it be bad?