That seems like a pretty “typical” title for the recount of
our Seattle visit.
But…it is pretty spot
on with how our week in Seattle went.
Sleepless. Truly! (However, life is pretty sleepless these days
regardless of whether or not we are in Seattle…)
And really, what trip has been sleepFUL since Charlotte’s
arrival? I can think of one. It involves Ben’s Aunt Lori and a large
walk-in closet (Charlotte’s room). If
only we could transport that closet on every vacation, maybe our vacations
would be more vacation-like. (It is a
BIG closet, really! And we don’t close
the door all of the way people. I
promise!)
Then again, who really sleeps on vacation? Does anyone truly feel relaxed after a
vacation? If you do, I would like to
know where and how you vacation. Maybe
you should write a book about it and I might read it. Or not.
Because I don’t feel like I have time to read anymore. Oh how I miss you reading!!
And oh how I tangent….
I tangent bad.
Focus, Amanda.
Back to Seattle.
So we actually went to Seattle over a month ago
already. Goodness gracious how time is
slipping through my fingertips!
As usual, our trip going to Seattle was on the upper end of
the stress spectrum. Even though we were
travelling in the evening and thought she would sleep, she was not down with
that idea. She was up and wired. One flight attendant kind of scolded us for
letting Charlotte play in the empty seat next to us. Yeah lady, I will blame you for my child’s
unpleasant cries throughout that flight ;)
It may have also had something to do with the fact that our threeish
hour flight turned into a fiveish hour flight because we had to fly around a
storm. Of course I am glad we flew
around the storm as opposed to through it….but five plus hours on an airplane
with a toddler while 30+ weeks pregnant?
Hmmmm…not preferable.
BUT! We arrived
safely in Seattle. And as we deplaned
and walked past security, there stood my brother and his sweet wife-to-be,
Marady waiting with open arms. (They had
been waiting for a couple of hours unfortunately due to Delta neglecting to
update our flight status…such troopers they are!) I must brag on my sister-in-law. She is truly one of the sweetest and most hospitable
people I have ever met. Marady took
Charlotte and my bags from me and insisted upon carrying them. And she was wearing heals!
After a night of tossing and turning with Charlotte in bed
with us, we awoke to a lovely day in Seattle- turns out it was to be our only
day of sunshine during our Seattle stay!
We spent the day hustling about the suburbs, gathering things like memory
cards for my camera (for Brock and Marady’s wedding!) and visiting Ikea….(because
how can you not visit Ikea when you are 10 minutes from one??) and helping Brock
pack up his apartment.
Yup, Brock found a house to rent the day of our arrival, and
was able to push the paperwork through so they could move in the next day. I gotta say, Brock lucked out with having
most of his family in town to help! We
were somehow able to pack up Brock’s entire apartment, load a moving truck and
unload everything into his house before 10pm.
(Well, Charlotte and I bailed around 7pm….we went back to our hotel and
left the grunt work to the non-pregnant and non-toddler people….But we didn’t
get much rest, I assure you…)
From there, our Seattle vacay sped up another notch. We were preparing for a wedding, after
all! We enjoyed many sleepless nights in
our hotel room with our sweet girl wedged between us most nights. Because the girl just will not sleep in her
pack-n-play when she can see Mommy and Daddy RIGHT THERE next to her in a big,
comfy bed. Note to self: do not make family lug pack-n-play across the
country again. And our days were full of
much rushing and a good ol’ dose of family drama. Because drama happens when you are on
vacation, period. And it especially
happens when you have extended family right there with you! :) Love you, family!
Even amidst the wedding festivities and family drama, we did
manage to fit in a fair amount of sight seeing.
I mean, who knows when we will make it back to Seattle with two babies
and a tight budget? (Did I mention we
only had to pay for one flight ticket thanks to all of our mileage from South
Africa? Well…we are now out of
mileage. Goodbye air travel. And I am not too excited about long car trips….hence…who
knows??)
Pretty much everywhere we visited in Seattle is thanks to
Pete and Larry. Pete and Larry are the
stars of the book, “Larry gets Lost in Seattle.” Brock gave it to Charlotte for her first
Christmas and she LOVES having it read to her.
It just so happens to include a variety of hot spots in Seattle….and
since we have grown so fond of Pete and Larry….we just had to hit them up with
our little lady!
 | |||
 |
| my little sis and me...and Cale! How can you miss him?? |
Larry visited the market and saw fish flying through the air....quite
unremarkable, I am sure, for a dog to see. Charlotte thought so too.
Mommy's tummy was not so fond of the flying fish. P. U.
 |
| Charlotte enjoyed the golden pig...or is it bronze? Ehh, it's a pig sculpture... Haha, and she has pig tails! Totally laughing about that right now...oh how easily I am amused! |
Larry also crossed path with a very tall man hammering away. Poor Larry could not get any help from that giant. Neither could we. So we just took a couple photos with him instead...
Charlotte did not want to do a ton of walking, and as is her norm, she wanted Mommy to carry her. Doesn't she looked thrilled about the sight seeing?
 |
| oh too funny, sweet girl! Mama loves you SOOOOOO MUCH! |
Larry even visited the oldest toilet in Seattle. And it was underground! Charlotte wasn't able to see this sight along with us, toddlers were "strongly discouraged" from joining the underground tour. So we made a date out of it. By FAR, the best thing we have done in Seattle, that tour! It was super interesting, entertaining and totally worth the money. If you go to Seattle, you must go! It's in Pioneer Square. And remember, Larry visited there. (I had to rhyme, Larry rhymes all of the time!)
Psst, if you are interested, google Seattle's underground city and you can learn more about the story. It really is very interesting!
 |
| That's the oldest toilet! |
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| a view from Seattle's underground city... |
And, we finally made it to the Space Needle! Just took us three trips to Seattle to do it. Fortunately, we hit it at just the right time because we didn't have to wait in line too long. When we left, the line wound down the street. Oh...and I suppose I lied earlier. Because we did end up with another sunny day in Seattle. So we had two total!
It just so happens, the "pile of clothes on the floor" Larry passed by was located right next to the Space Needle. Score! (It's a museum...and I already forgot the name....and I am too lazy to look it up. Larry didn't go inside anyway...and he didn't know the name of it either, so that's okay)
And I am pretty sure we visited Starbucks more in that week than we have ever in any week of our time in this world. Because for some reason, Seattle and Coffee/hot drinks just go hand in hand. Plus there was a Starbucks on every corner. Seriously. Charlotte is a fan. She got her own drink on more than one occasion.
P.S. I will do a separate post about Brock and Marady's Cambodian Wedding later. You are in for a treat. Or at least my blog book is.
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