A Day in Seattle

(Ainsley in the top left corner on his shoulder)

 Saturday, January 24 was a wonderful day!  Some dear friends of ours in the ward, the Honors, were sealed that day, and I really wanted to be there.  Since it was two days before Brinnley's birthday, we decided to make a day of it.  That is our family's tradition, rather than a fancy party we take a day to explore an area around us.  It's something we all look forward to.  We weren't necessarily planning on going to Seattle, but it just worked out that way.  The sealing was at 12:30, so we left P.A. at 9:00.  Chant stayed in the parking lot with the kids while I went into the sealing.  We brought the kids' pillow beds and the computer so they could put the seat down and lay in the back of the van watching a movie while I was inside.  It worked out great!  They had a good time outside and I was able to be there to witness the beautiful sealing!  I felt so honored they invited me.

As soon as I was out of the temple, we started our Seattle adventure.  I had done some research and found a few things that sounded like fun for the kids.  The first stop was the Fremont Troll.  He is literally a troll that lived under the bridge.  Getting to him is pretty fun.  He is at the top of a hill where he becomes the dead end.  We had to drive a few blocks over to find a place to park.  He's a popular guy!  

Brinnley peeking out from his shoulder.

 The next few pictures are like playing Where's Waldo?

Porter, king of the troll.

 This picture shows it a little better, but the kids are sitting on top of his hand and he is holding a VW bug.

 They had so much fun climbing all over him.  They were so dirty afterwards!

 Next was a boat dock just down the road from the neighborhood troll.  It was gorgeous out and we enjoyed looking at all the different types of boats, from little row boats to sail boats to this big red thing.  It was beautiful!

 We all look awesome because we were looking right into the sun.

After the ships, we drove through the rest of the neighborhood and checked out some things.  Definitely a place to come back to.  Later I found a place online that is a flea market kind of thing and it looks huge!  I will be visiting that place some day!

Before starting the drive home we ate dinner at IHOP, where kids eat free :)  And you would have thought they had died and gone to heaven.  We don't get out much, but when we do they sure do appreciate it.  It's the little things like strawberry syrup that make life sweet.