Seattle Trip

Getting some energy out in Yakima

Weston was so tired he just put his "lellow" blanket over his head and went to sleep

Had a great lunch with my grandparents in Green Lake (thanks Travis for the pic)

Weston has always been a huge fan of my Grandma Jeanne

The loved the dirt kayak at Green Lake

Carson charming us during lunch

Carson with Keke

Weston is displaying his very happy face on the carousal at the zoo

Keke got to ride as well

At the Woodland Park Zoo (we got in free with our Zoo Boise pass, love it)

Pretty sure the highlight of the trip was the bus rides, thanks Travis for helping us get around

Family pic at Seattle Center

Weston driving the bus at the Children's Museum

Carson loved the construction work area, it was right up his alley

Another hit was the grocer store at the Children's Museum

Pike Place Market, so many good memories

Weston hamming it up at the aquarium

Billy and Carson loving all the "wa wa" around

All of my boys enjoying the animals

Quick snack time before being let lose in the aquarium

Billy in front of the departing ferry

Morning TV with Aunt Keke

The first time the boys have not slept in cribs or pack and plays, the results were less than desirable

Cutie Carson

Weston driving his truck

Carson playing with the toy that Billy got him in Walmart on our way there

Weston playing with his new toy

Family pic at Pike Place (way to not get the sign random picture taker person)

So unfortunately they changed blogspot around a little and all of my pictures uploaded in the exact opposite order.  So you see the end of our trip first.  Oh well.  So a couple of weeks ago we packed up the kids in Billy's car (first time we have taken his Nissan Maxima on a road trip since before kids), and headed to Seattle to visit my sister Katie and her fiance Travis.  They just rented an apartment in Eastlake with awesome views and super close to everything. 

The drive there went pretty well.  We had plenty of snacks and movies, but unfortunately it was rainy so instead of finding a park we let the boys walk around Walmart and pick out a toy.  They were then entertained by the toys for a while and liked the exercise.  Everything was going pretty good until we hit traffic in downtown Seattle and then Carson puked.  Fun times.  The boys were really excited to get out of the car and even at a ton of spaghetti for dinner plus some garlic bread. 

As this was their first night out of their cribs in about a year (at which time they were in a pack and play) bedtime could have gone better.  They didn't want to stay on their mats and then rolled around a ton and would wake up really easily.  The next day (Friday) we got up and took the boys on their first bus ride downtown.  We looked really special as we got on the bus with the huge stroller and the boys still strapped in and the bus driver had to tell us we had to take them out for the ride.  The boys loved it though.  They just looked around the whole time.  We had a nice walk from the ferry terminal (where the bus dropped us off), to the aquarium.  The aquarium was really neat and the boys loved looking at everything.  After a couple hours they got pretty cranky because they were tired, so we packed them up in the stroller and headed to Iver's on the water for lunch.  Yummmm, it was so good! 

After that we still had some time before Travis was going to show us around his office building so we headed to Pike Place Market.  For those of you that don't know I lived in Seattle one summer during college, so I have a lot of fond memories of downtown Seattle.  We just walked around and took in the people and the booths.  The boys started getting pretty sleepy and we were so excited when Weston fell asleep!  We walked around for about 15 minutes over to Travis' building and just before we met up with him Carson fell asleep.  It was awesome!  They haven't slept in their stroller in about a year.  So we enjoyed Travis' tour of his building (we could see so many things from up there) and then we met up with he and Katie at the Starbucks in his building as it was starting to rain.  We enjoyed some food and good conversation while we let the boys sleep. 

Being given some more time in the afternoon that is usually taken up by naps, we decided to take the boys to the Children's Museum at Seattle Center for a little over an hour that afternoon.  We headed outside only to find a it poring rain.  Luckily Travis was a whiz at the bus system, but we still all got pretty wet.  We had a nice time at the Children's Museum and the boys loved being able to run around and touch everything.  The weather and time also made it pretty empty, so that was nice.  We ordered pizza on our bus ride home (thankfully the rain had stopped at this point) and the boys enjoyed being "city babies." 

Having learned from our mistakes, Billy actually went to sleep with the boys and I got to stay up and watch TV and chat with Katie and Travis.  It was nice to relax after our big day.  Saturday we woke up and headed for the zoo.  Unfortunately it was a little chilly and the boys were just in bad moods.  The highlight for them was seeing the gorillas up close (we only have monkeys in Boise) and of course ridding the carousal.  Thanks soon-to-be Uncle Travis to having some change for them!  When we had to leave the zoo to meet my grandparents in Green Lake, I don't think anyone was sad as we were hopping for moral to improve.  So unfortunately if you take crabby and tired kids and ask them to sit still in a restaurant, you are asking for a disaster.  They did okay at the beginning, but then I had to take Carson out of there early.  It was just too stressful.  Luckily Travis is awesome and picked a restaurant right across the street from Green Lake park.  So we were still able to chat with my grandparents while the boys played in the sand.  The park was super fun and in such a beautiful area.  Everything was going well until I left with my sister to go try on wedding dresses and Billy and Travis had the task of taking the sandy, tired boys and putting them down for a nap.  Thanks Billy, I totally owe you one!

My sister and I on the other hand had an awesome time, getting to have a glass of wine because we got there a little early.  The tried on three of her favorite dresses and they were all amazing, but I think by the end she pretty much had it narrowed down.  But she is still working on a venue, so that will ultimately determine what she gets.  Travis and Katie then had another awesome feast for us for dinner and because it took so long for the boys to go down we had to wake them up at 6.  We took them for a walk by the water (so beautiful) and to see the boats.  They walked a really long way and then had a nice bath.  Uncle Travis found them the Lion King on TV and also got all of us some assorted ice cream treats (which the boys loved, yes, they are my children).  Bed time was much better since we just went to bed with them and knew we would be in for an early morning. 

As always they woke up early and we started getting around and were on the road by around 8:30 Seattle time I believe.  The boys immediately fell asleep (so it seems like they too were exhausted after such a busy vacation, maybe they should have slept more at night), so that was a nice break.  It was nice weather all the way to Boise so we were able to stop at some parks.  The drive home was harder just because Billy and I were a lot more tired and less patient.  Driving time was only 8 hours, but with little people it took us around 11.5 each way.

Thank you Travis and Katie for letting us crash your super fun condo with two little people.  Still when we get in the car to go soemwhere and I ask them who we are going to see, Weston still ask Keke?