Summer Trip to Seattle

Ethan flew on a plane for the first time and Mason flew on a plane while being old

enough to fully appreciate the entire experience.  Mason loves everything to do

with airplanes, so getting to board the plane, takeoff, and look at everything on

the ground from up high was like a dream come true for him.  Flying to Seattle was

really great.  My parents were kind enough to help us pay for all the tickets

(Mason doesn't fly for free anymore), which helped a ton.  After flying to Seattle

instead of driving, I don't think we will ever be able to go back to driving.  With

two kids now, I can't imagine trying to survive the drive to and from Washington

after experiencing the convenience of flying.

From the moment we arrived, my parents had fun-filled activities planned.  The

first thing we did after my mom picked us up was go out to dinner at Chuck E.

Cheese's.  It had been a while since I'd gone there.  Mason was basically on cloud

nine the entire time we were there.  He loved all the games and arcades, but he

especially loved meeting the maestro himself, none other than Chuck E. Cheese live

and in person.  The pizza is a little better than it used to be, in my opinion, but

I still wouldn't go there just for the pizza :)


It didn't take us long to get acclimated and settled in to Pacific Coast time and

my parents made us feel at home at their house in Lake Stevens (about 30 minutes

from Seattle).  As the name connotes, there is a lake where my parents live.  The

boys had so much fun going into the water and floating around in inner tubes.  Mason

hadn't ever been to a beach before and it was a real nice treat for him.  The water

at Lake Stevens was really warm and it stayed really shallow for a very long ways

so Mason could really walk around and enjoy the water on his own.

There is a lot to do and see both in Seattle and in the surrounding areas.  There

are a lot of historic sites as well as a never ending supply of hiking and other

outdoor activities.  One such outdoor activities is visiting the Northwest Wildlife

Trek.  This place is amazing.  It is sort of like a zoo, but in my opinion, more

hard core and thus better.  Instead of having to filter out all the weird little

attractions and animals nobody cares about seeing the congest a zoo, the Northwest

Wildlife Trek had nothing but the best of the best animals.  I'm talking about

Grizzly Bears, Black Bears, all 5 types of Deer, and all the coolest cats like

bobcats, cougars, and lynxes. There was also an hour long adventure bus ride

through the mountains where the animals are so that you get to see them all in

their natural habitat.  I would recommend this place to anyone in the Seattle area,

it's a one of a kind place.

In terms of historical attractions, may parents got us tickets to ride a 100 year

old train up to a logging museum at Mount Rainier.  This whole experience is called

the Mount Rainier Scenic Railway and Museum.  It was a pretty cool experience to

ride on a train that old.  The logging museum up at the top of the railway had a

bunch of old machinery and some massively ginormous 100+ year old steam

locomotives.  I must admit I don't see trains very often in up close and in person,

but these massive antique trains truly impressed me.  They seem like they would be

a challenge to build today, so they were really impressive for being from over a hundred years old.

One place that combined history and great sightseeing was Deception Pass Bridge and park.  This

was an ama zing bridge that connects the mainland of Washington to Whidbey Island.  It was a little

scary walking across a bridge that was so high up, but Mason let me hold his hand to feel safe :)


Any trip to Washington and especially the Seattle area would be incomplete without

a visit to the iconic downtown Pike's Market.  This is a really touristy place

because it's really well-known for being on the Travel Channel and other food shows

for some of the fish stores and things like that.  It is located right on the Puget

Sound so the fish is as fresh as it comes.  Other touristy things at Pike's Market

include the original Starbucks and the amazing 'Gum Wall,' which is exactly what

it sounds like: an alleyway that has been covered from wall to wall with people's

chewed up gum.  I don't know how this particular alleyway got it's start, but today

it is quite the sight.  You can find all kids of creative designs people have made

with gum and messages made out of gum left for other people -- in addition to all

the regular gum all over the place.  We let Mason have some gum so he co
uld all

chew up some gum and stick it to the wall.  I wouldn't be surprised at all though

if our chewed up gum was already covered multiple times over with other people's

chewed up gum though, that place gets a lot of visitors!

It goes without saying that Seattle has a great professional sports scene.  There

really is everything in terms of sports, and this is one of the things we miss

about living in a larger city.  It's fun to have your hometown team to watch and

root for all season long.  My dad got us tickets to a Mariner's game and my cousin

Elliot joined us.  Although the Detroit Tigers beat up pretty bad on the Mariners,

it was a really fun game and an overall fantastic experience.  Safeco Field is

right next to where the Seahawks' stadium is, so it is really just a cool place to

spend an evening.  It was great to get to be part of the loyal Seattle sports

community for an evening.


Between the local beaches in Lake Stevens, the historic sightseeing and rides on

the trains, and the fun we had in downtown Seattle, we feel like we got to do and

see all of the best that Seattle has to offer.  At the same time though, there is

so much more to do and see all throughout the entire state of Washington.  We can't

wait til our next visit.  My parents always show us such a great time and make

memories that will last forever.  Spending time with my parents is such a treat!

They love and take such good care of us, it feels like home!