Our visit to SEATTLE!

Alvin and I planned a spring break trip to Seattle to visit Cody, Chelsea, Carter and Cash. We decided we would take Gretchen with us and then invited Chandler and Cooper so they could be reunited with their cousins since they haven't seen them since October. The boys were rather excited for their first airplane ride! We left Tatum, Chelsea and Stephen home so they could finish painting the interior of their home.



We spent four days going strong with late night bed times but all the kids were just great and didn't mind being taken from place to place. Of course everything we did was "kid friendly." Upon arriving on Wednesday around noon we rented a car and drove to Gig Harbor where Cody lives. Alvin met up with Cody and followed him around for the afternoon with things he had to do for work. We checked out our "cabin next to a lake" which wasn't the greatest. The location was beautiful but the cabin itself was just OK. Anyway, we didn't spend much time there! We bought groceries so I could fix breakfast each morning, went to Target and then went back to Chelsea and Cody's home to have a cousins birthday party. When Cody and Pa returned home we went out to look for "star fish." This was the most important thing to do in Chandler's mind.




Thursday we were lazy in the morning and didn't arrive back at Cody's until way too late. Carter and Cash had been waiting not so patiently for us to return. Anyway, we headed to downtown Seattle via the ferry which was a 1 hour ride. It was fun.



The Space Needle intrigued the little boys and they rode it to the top with Chelsea and Gretchen.




On Friday we headed back to downtown Seattle. There is so much to do there and in two days still didn't see it all. We all really liked the downtown area. Alvin referred to it has a "calmed down New York". Alvin and I visited some public art facility where they give ceramic lessons and everyone else went to the Pacific Science Center. Everyone must know that when the Pace's go anywhere we have to always visit a ceramic facility or view a ceramic exhibit. Gretchen says the science center is way bigger and better than the Phoenix facility so they spent a great deal of the morning viewing most everything but not all.


We rode the monarail.


We visited the "troll under the bridge" which was in the art district of Seattle. This is a sculpture project many years ago that was sponsored by some art group so we added some culture to our day. However, they need to clean the troll area - it was very dirty - could have been a nice thing.

And, anyone going to Seattle must visit the Pike Place Market and see the flying fish. We did see it, ate cookies, and pasted gum on the gum wall. Also, a fun place.







Saturday was a sunny day all day and we spent the morning on a beach looking for interesting fish, shells, rocks and wading in the water. The afternoon we walked the downtown streets of Gig Harbor to see all the boats and creatures in the water and then returned to Cody's big yard so the kids could finally run and play.


We had a great time visiting Cody and Chelsea and the boys and like their new area so much we will visit often. Thanks guys for a very good visit!