Seeing Seattle

Over Memorial Day weekend Jeff, Bennett and I took a trip to Seattle with our fabulous friends Clint and Lisa Miller. Clint and Jeff are coworkers, we all serve together in Student Ministries and we're in the same community group. And now we are vacation buddies too. Good thing we all like each other!

The impetus for the trip was a wedding invitation from Joe, a a friend from Baylor that was in Chamber with Jeff and I. We decided a wedding was a great excuse for a mini vacation to a cool city. Somewhere along the way a long weekend morphed into to five days in Seattle with friends.

What a wonderful trip it was! I had never been to Seattle before and it is a beautiful city. We were lucky to experience two gorgeous days of sun and warm temperatures uncharacteristic of that area of the country. The locals were almost besides themselves with joy at the extra sunshine. I definitely still have the early-pregnancy queasiness and exhaustion going on so I didn't get to quite do and see as much as I would otherwise, but it was still a great trip.

Clint and Lisa have the fancy-schmancy camera which I covet (I'm saving my pennies for one of my very own) and I hope to share some of their pictures soon. For now I'll try to pare down my collection of less than stellar photos to a reasonable number that will give you a taste of our adventures.

Bennett entertained himself for much of the flight over by open and closing the bathroom door. Again and again. And again. Are we bad parents for allowing our child to play in airplane bathrooms to avoid a meltdown? I think the other passengers probably would answer "no".

With so much baby gear to haul across the country we decided to forgo a stroller and just use this backpack (thanks Rob and Haley!). I can say, as the one who did very little of the carrying, that it worked out great! Here Jeff totes Bennett back to the hotel for a nap after a yummy lunch at Noodle Ranch on the day of our arrival. Sweet B was asleep before we made it to the room.

I think Jeff looked like one hot dad schlepping his baby across town in that backpack.

Seattle's downtown library is super-cool with interesting architecture and unique interior decor. The children's library is hot pink, there is an intense red stairwell and hallway and, my favorite, neon green escalators.

Thursday evening we drove around the outskirts of the city, checking out the neighborhoods and stopping to take pictures of the gorgeous surroundings. I'm thinking I wouldn't hate to live with this view from my backyard.

Friday morning we were up early (Bennett seemed to think 5 am was a good time to be up and at 'em). After a steep walk down the the waterfront we enjoyed a yummy, filling breakfast at Lowell's in Pike's Place Market.

Jeff and Bennett outside the market. We shopped for fruit and picked up some sandwiches for the day's planned outing to the mountains.

The drive up to the top of the mountain took a bit longer than anticipated. While stopped for roadwork inside Olympic National Park we gave in to our hunger and enjoyed our picnic in the car.

This was a reassuring sign upon entering the Welcome Center.

Gorgeous. Simply amazing.

Possibly my favorite picture of the trip. The Parker family relaxing and enjoying God's fabulous creation.

Bennett was a little unsure about the snow. For a new walker it is a challenging surface.

We had planned on some hiking during our "nature day". As we weren't adequately dressed for the snow and biting wind at the top of the mountain we drove down a bit to find some warmer temps.

Lisa, Clint, Jeff and Bennett enjoyed a beautiful mountain hike while I stayed in the car for a much-needed preggo-nap. It was fabulous.

Saturday morning we just walked around downtown a bit. My favorite area was Pioneer Square. Beautiful!

Jeff, Bennett and I grabbed a pizza lunch at this tiny Italian restaurant. Cute, huh?

I have a very long story that explains why Jeff and I made it to the wedding that brought us to Seattle just in time to see the lovely couple leave the church, already husband and wife. But this entry is long enough already.

Suffice it to say we missed the ferry across the sound. Twice. The drive the long way around gave us plenty of time to let go of our extreme frustration.

Clint and Lisa were so kind to take Bennett for the day so we could attend the wedding (er...reception). Joe and Blythe could not have asked for better weather for their lovely outdoor reception. Here we are with the happy couple and the rest of the Baylor crew. Sic 'em!

Sunday morning my precious, amazing, fabulous husband took our early-bird boy out for a walk around town and let me sleep in dark, quiet hotel bliss!

Then we joined up with the Millers and went to church at Mars Hill. We scoped out a huge REI and had a fantastic lunch that (surprise!) ended up really cheap because of their unadvertised half-off Sundays. Sweet!

Sunday night we had our "grown-ups night out". Before leaving Dallas we researched childcare options and decided to leave our darling child with a stranger from a highly-recommended babysitting service. The sweet, grandmotherly figure came to our hotel and made the easiest $64 of her life reading and watching TV. B was asleep before we left and made not a peep the entire time we were gone.

On to our date night. We ate at the A.MAZ.ING. Dahlia Lounge of renowned Chef Tom Douglas. The food was delectable, the service impeccable and the decor lovely and intriguing. Good choice Clint!

After dinner we used up the rest of the babysitter's minimum four hours by finding a coffee house (not hard to do in Seattle) and playing a mean game of Spades, girls against boys. We haven't finished yet, but upon leaving Seattle the girls were in the lead.

Before leaving on Monday we headed back to the market where Lisa and I got to witness the fabled fish-throwing in action. They really do it! I didn't catch a picture of the fish in air, so you'll have to trust me. Lisa and I felt that this was an appropriate conclusion to round out our Seattle experience.

We wised up and didn't check the car seat on the flight home in hopes of getting an extra seat on board (since we didn't by Bennett a ticket). We were blessed with the extra room and the B Boy flew home in style.