Amazing Vacation Day 2 Part 3

One thing we like to do as a family is visit temples so of course we had to see the Seattle temple.  Our original plan was to stop by on our way up to Vancouver but we decided to go that night.  It was still relatively early and even though we were already pretty tired from our busy day, we decided we'd rather do it that night so we could head up to Vancouver first thing in the morning.

It had been raining pretty much all day but it cleared up in time for our visit to the temple.  It was really nice.

 It was a lovely evening.  Everything was wet, but the sky was clearing. 

 The Seattle temple has really pretty grounds, with statues and everything.

 Either the ducks were super fast, or there was another duck couple just down the lane.  Apparently, they like to visit the temple too.

 Here's our official temple picture, now we can check this temple off our list.

 There were so many pretty flowers.  It was getting late so it was hard to get a picture that didn't automatically set off my flash.

 My favorite part of the Seattle temple grounds is this grove.  It full of trees and flowers with a little path.  Love it.

 Since it had been raining all day, there were blossoms everywhere.

If they hadn't been wet, it might have been kind of magical.  But since they were, they stuck to the bottom of our shoes and had to be scrapped off.  Not as magical.

I'm so glad we stopped by the temple that night.  It was perfect timing, and it gave us more time in the morning to get to Vancouver.  With that, our busy day in Seattle was done.  We had dinner delivered to our hotel room so we could relax our tired feet.  It was a fun day.

Amazing Vacation Day 2 Part 2

Our day in Seattle really was so busy, I think I'm going to break it into 3 parts.  Here is what we did in the afternoon.  After driving through downtown we made our way to the Space Needle area.  The Pacific Science Center is close by and we went there first.  We were able to get in free because our Planetarium membership has a passport program.  We were able to get in to the Museum of Flight free too.  Pretty sweet.  So we went in then decided we were hungry and walked right out the other side and over to the food court.

On our way to the food court we walked through the science center courtyard.  We saw this pigeon walking around.

Jonathan wanted to get close.

Nathaniel tried to help him, but shockingly enough, it flew away.

It was fun to get a picture of the boys in front of the same dinosaurs that we took our picture by on our last trip.

We also had a sweet view of the Space Needle from there.

After a delicious lunch Jaaromy needed to use the rest room so I took the boys downstairs to the Children's Museum.  This wasn't planned but it was open to the food court above and Jonathan wanted to go down to see what it was.  It looked like it might be expensive but it turns out that it was only open for another hour so admission was donation based.  Just as we were about to go in I realized that I didn't have my camera.  I texted Jaaromy and he didn't have it either.  I told Nathaniel to stay there with his brothers while I ran upstairs to the table we ate at.  It wasn't there!  I asked a janitor if he had seen it or where the lost and found was.  He told me where the security office was so I went there and they had my camera right there.  I was so relieved!  I went back down to the boys and Nathaniel was in tears because he was trying to physically hold on to the boys instead of just watching them and the museum people were trying to help them find their "adults".  I couldn't help but think they were judging me, but I didn't let it bother me.  I paid $10 and we went inside for a bit.  Turns out it was pretty fun for the boys.

 Right in the middle was this big mountain trail and they had these little "rocks" that the kids could lift up and see various insects, reptiles, and critters.

 There was a little slide,

 and a cool tunnel.

 Jonathan and Brigham had a lot of fun with these vacuum tubes.

There were a lot of other fun little things to see and do.  I took these with my phone and I couldn't get a picture without his eyes glowing.  We didn't stay long, but since I only paid $10 I didn't feel too bad.

We finally made our way back to the science center.  I didn't realize how late it had gotten and it was almost time to close too, but I think we made it to all the best parts.

 We made it to the dinosaurs.  Gruesome.

 They were actually robot dinosaurs and would move around.

 If you can tell, it was kind of rainy so we were a little wet from our walk over to the center from the food court.

 They even had a robot skeleton that you could control.  The boys thought that was cool.

 Of course we made it to the space area.

There were a lot of fun exhibits.  There were a lot of other fun non-space exhibits too, but honestly I was tired of taking pictures.  It really is a fun science center.  Jaaromy and I came here on our first trip and we were excited to bring the boys.

Finally, we went to the Space Needle.  This is what Nathaniel was most excited about.  It was still pretty rainy, but there was no way we wouldn't go up.

Right before we got on the elevator we passed the photo area.  I really didn't want to pay for a picture but they said it was free and they would just email it to us.  I thought that was pretty nice.  Apparently, Jaaromy's shirt was a little too blue.

We happened to share the elevator with some teenagers.  They were very...teenager-y, and were very loud on the way up.  Luckily, we got on the elevator first so the boys were able to stand by the windows and watch us get higher and higher.  When we got to the top we had to go outside and take a look.

So, yeah, it was pretty blustery.

But that didn't stop me from taking pictures.  Here's Safeco Field again...for Kelcey.

The beautiful Seattle skyline.

I love how Jonathan was still so excited to be there, even though we were wet and tired.

We were happy to just sit and look outside for a little bit.  We were getting pretty tired.

Brigham had a lot of fun dancing around by the elevators.

Here's a really pretty flower we passed on the way back to the car.

Another shot of Safeco Field...for Kelcey.

Part 3 of Day 2 will be next!

Amazing Vacation Day 2

Our first full day in Seattle started with a tasty breakfast in the hotel lobby.  We've never taken advantage of the free breakfasts when we stay in hotels.  We're not usually up and ready to go in time, but this time we made a point to be ready to go eat and I'm so glad we did.  The breakfast was very tasty and there was something for everyone, even Brigham.  Jaaromy took a shuttle to the car rental place while we finished up breakfast.  When he got back we were ready to start a busy day of sightseeing and fun.

We started with the Museum of Flight.  Jaaromy and I came here when we visited Seattle almost ten years ago and I was really excited for the boys to see it.

 There were, of course, many cool planes.  Just like last time.

Including this awesome car-plane.  (sigh) Someday...

Something that was new this time was their space exhibit.  They had so many fun things to see.

Like a lunar rover!

And a Command Module!

They also had a Lunar Module hanging from the ceiling and also a full size replica of a laboratory on the International Space Station.  I wish I had taken a picture of both of those.

On the way out of the space exhibit area we saw this astronaut picture.  Of course the boys each had to take a turn.

They had a lot of fun hands-on exhibits too.

Nathaniel and Jonathan both tried this fun hang gliding simulator.  They had to try and land on a target.  It was pretty tricky.

I love this one!

Unfortunately, since it was raining, we didn't go out and see any of the outside planes.   That's too bad, it sounds amazing.

After the Museum of Flight we drove through downtown to see all the cool buildings.

 Uncle Kelcey is a huge baseball fan and wanted us to go see a game for him while we were there.  I politely declined but I did try and take a picture of Safeco Field for him.

 This is Rainier Tower, I remember seeing it on our first trip.  I knew Nathaniel would get a kick out of it's strange design.

 Here's the library.  I wish we had had more time to go inside these buildings.

 When Jaaromy and I came here the first time, this was the Science Fiction Museum, now I think it's the Experience Music Project.  Very strange building.

And of course, the Space Needle.  That is for another post.  This super fun day is just getting started.