Sunny Seattle

We left rainy skies in Phoenix for a week of exploring in Seattle. Known for rain more than sunshine, we were very lucky to have beautiful sunny days for the majority of our visit. We only got a short light sprinkle on our last day.

After arriving on Saturday late afternoon, our first adventure after checking into our hotel was finding the Confectionary - a favorite store of Morgan and Lindsay's from their summers in Seattle many years ago, we headed out to find the legendary candy store. With only a few misturns, Dan drove us almost directly to it. What a way to start a vacation - 4 kids in a candy store (Dan & Michelle included)!


On Sunday after church at the Seattle 1st Ward, we headed to the Space Needle for brunch (the only time we get to go to Sunday Brunch is when we are out of town, so we did it right). We had a gorgeous sunny blue sky for our trip up the Space Needle. The restaurant revolves to give you a view of the entire city. It took a few minutes to not feel dizzy, but we soon adapted.

The view was amazing and the food was delicious.

On Memorial Day we ventured out to the Pike Street Market. We got there before the crowds and enjoyed strolling past the great shops. Michelle's favorite was the pasta and flavored oil shop. Bryce and Adam loved Dog Alley. We also discovered Chukar cherries and Turkish Delight. The fishmongers throwing fish were fun to watch, but Adam did not appreciate the smell.

Bryce and Adam on the famous brass pig - a giant piggy bank - at the Pike Street Market. Note the flowers in Adam's hand. We stopped at one of the many flower vendors and asked for the most fragant flowers to overcome the smell of the fish. The flower lady let us smell a few recommendations and then gave us the flowers for free. Seattle is a friendly place!

On Tuesday we were off to the Pacific Science Center. Bryce and Adam couldn't pass up a taking a turn playing a round of chess on the giant chess board. Adam gave Bryce a run for his money, but Bryce soon had him in checkmate. Behind them is the insect and butterfly exhibit. We enjoyed the variety of live butterflies in the exhibit. We also had fun at the Combustion demonstration at the Science Center. We sat up front and could feel the heat from the explosions!

Adam turned 8 while we were in Seattle. Morgan & Jamie along with Lindsay & Boyd gave Adam a gift certificate to the Pacific Science Center Museum store. We had a great time at the Science Center - one of the best we have visited. And Adam was delighted to add to his Monopoly Game collection (he loves the game) with the Night Sky edition. He couldn't wait to get home to play it, so we opened it up in the hotel.

On Wednesday we headed north to take the Boeing tour. We got quite an education on the new 787 that is being built. It was fascinating - but no cameras allowed. Here is Bryce later in the museum standing next to the tail of a 747 to give you some perspective of its size.

It was our quest to have no fast food on this trip! We were able to find a fun Chocolate Restaurant in Anacortes, Washington for Adam's birthday dinner. What kid wouldn't be delighted to have a peanut butter, jelly and M&M sandwich for their birthday dinner. We didn't mind because they had a great menu for the rest of us too! Bryce especially enjoyed the variety of food we found on our vacation. He even discovered he likes mushrooms!

We took a ferry from Anacortes to Canada on Dan's birthday. Here we are at the Butchart Gardens in Victoria on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. How, you might ask, do you get two boys to be interested in visiting a garden full of flowers - give them each a digital camera and tell them to take as many pictures as they would like. Needless to say, if you want to see the whole slideshow, there are around 150 photos from the Butchart Gardens!

The Sunken Garden that was the beginning of the whole thing. The Butcharts started their garden by beautifying what was once the quarry for their cement business. In the background you can see the smoke stack of the old plant. They started with this sunken garden, and began adding from there. There is now a rose garden, Italian garden, Japanese garden, hanging garden - you get the idea. It was breathtaking.

One of our many macro shots of the vibrant flowers. We had to include one!

We've seen it all! We are on our way to the car by way of a lovely flower tunnel.

That evening we went looking for a dinner spot for Dan's birthday dinner. He recalled a curry restaurant in the Empress Hotel, but alas it had been turned into a bar and the boys could not be served there.

The helpful staff suggested dinner on the Veranda, so we gave it a try - it was a hit. Again, it was a bright sunshine evening (the sun sets around 9:30 pm), so we had to wear sunglasses for dinner. The boys tried out Shirley Temples for the first time.

We had four ferry crossings in all. They were an adventure - driving our car onto a ship. We even saw a school bus drive on at Orcas Island - some field trip!

We had a great time in Seattle (and Vancouver). Adam put it best by saying Seattle was a good fit for our family. Great food, great weather and fun activities. We've only included a small portion of the fun things we did, but if you are looking for a good vacation, give Seattle a try.