We all took the week off this week from summer camp and work to spend some quality time together :) We kicked off the staycation on Saturday with back to back birthday parties.
First up was Laryd's 9th birthday at the skate park! Ben did his best to keep up with the boys as most of them were a few years older, but they did such a great job of including him. They skated non-stop for 3 hours in the hot sun, only taking a break for lunch, a pinata and cupcakes. With blue frosting. That we are still seeing the effects of (if you know what I mean).
Next up was Bronson's 6th birthday party, where I got to reunite with a few friends that I seem to only see at Shauna's gatherings and always enjoy :)
Ben actually fell asleep much earlier than this on the couch but we didn't want to disturb him while we stayed up later watching TV.
Sunday was a day of errands plus a trip to Bellevue Downtown City Park, a really fun park that was recently renovated.
On Monday we drove down to Seattle (with zero traffic - thanks eclipse!) to kick off our "true" vacation. We made it to the waterfront in time to enjoy the eclipse for 30 minutes. It was SO much cooler than I had expected and so fun that we could all experience it together (and collectively with so many people in Seattle)!
We purchased Seattle's "City Pass" which saved us a ton of money on visiting so many of the attractions we wanted to take Ben to. Living here we rarely check out some of these sites and a few Ben had never been to, so this was the way to do it.
We started at the Aquarium. Ben has never been much into the zoo or the aquarium, but recently his summer camp took a field trip there and he was REALLY excited to go back with us.
Next we grabbed an early lunch and then hopped on an Argosy Harbor Tour - 60 minutes around the Harbor. We had the most perfect weather for it, too.
Then we walked up to Pike Place to wander around. I had wanted to see the newly renovated waterfront side, and we were happy to discover a new brewery there to sit and relax for a few.
We also stopped for gelato:
We were wiped out after that, and our meter was up, so we went home to grill and relax.
On Tuesday, Greg got up for an early round of golf while Ben and I hit the gym. Once we were all home and ready, we went down to the Space Needle! Ben must have asked us 15 times if we were going to the "very top". We kept replying "yes", until I realized he was asking if we were going to the tip of the needle, which is why he continued to ask - he was terrified! Happy to have figured that out, we reassured him before we got in the elevator that everything was safe! I'm also pretty sure that he thought the elevator was going to DROP (like the Tower of Terror did in Disneyland) so he was freaked out on the way up.
After the Space Needle, we of course found ice cream again because that is apparently what we do on vacation.
We went to the Museum of Pop (formerly the Experience Music Project). It was really fun to wander around for awhile. Definitely another thing I would never think to go do living here, but very cool.
Our City Pass had tickets to the Chiluly Gallery, but knowing Ben and Greg, I suggested they hit the park in the Seattle Center instead of joining me there. It was fun to walk through and very impressive and beautiful, but not of much interest to any of us really - especially the boys!
Next up was the fountain:
On the way home, being very hungry, hot, thirsty and tired, we stopped for pizza at The Ridge Pizza in Phinney Ridge (so good)!
Our day ended with Ben's first soccer practice! 1.5 hours with a coach and team who are NOT messing around. Ben joined a team that had been practicing for 2 weeks already. I had asked to have him reassigned because our team still didn't have a couch assigned. We definitely joined the right team! This coach makes the kids run laps if any of the kids touch the ball with their hands, only allows water breaks at the scheduled times, and will NOT be giving out trophys at the end of the season unless they actually are WINNERS. LOL. Greg and I are kind of loving it! The kids really love him and I can tell are going to learn so much this season - and we were so proud of Ben for jumping right in there and hustling the entire time.
This kid LOVES sports and it's pretty clear that given the opportunity, he would like to play and try to dominate any and every sport.
