Seattle

We had such a great time in Seattle this past week. We rented a condo and split the expense with Dan and JaNeil and their family. JaNeil and I went to a continuing education course together two of the days, (which was great), and the rest of the time we saw all of the sights. Penelope had a great time with Lane and Owen and was asking for them for days after we got home. She also does a really good impression of "silly uncle Dan." Overall, a great trip and I took so many pictures. The only thing I didn't get pictures of was the Museum of Flight, (the dads took the kids while the moms were at the course).

The day we arrived in Seattle, we had to kill a little time before we could get into the condo we were renting, so Tom Tom found a mall for us to go to. At first we were a little disappointed because it looked a little deserted, but then we happened upon this awesome childrens museum. There were so many fun things for the kids to play with, and the dad's had some fun too. :)

I had a hard time getting Penelope to pause long enough to get a picture.

Eleanor had a good time feeling the different textures of the rugs in the baby and toddler area. Lane and Penelope at the Seattle Zoo.

Our family at Pike Place Market. This window had a great view of Puget Sound, but you can't really tell from the picture. We bought the girls these matching hats at the market.This restaurant in Pike Place was in the Sleepless In Seattle movie. The restaurant had little plaques on the counter where Tom Hanks and (I forget the other guy's name) sat in the movie. We were sitting by the entrance and we had a big window that looked out into the market. It was kind of fun to sit there and people watch.This is a shot of Puget Sound from the aquarium. My favorite part of the aquarium was the dome where you could see the fish swimming all around you. I could have stayed there for hours watching them swim. I also really loved watching the sea horses swim. The kids liked seeing the fish that looked like Nemo and the scubadiver who was cleaning one of the tanks. The guy gave each of the kids a "high-five" from inside of the tank. They thought that was really cool.Daddy and Penelope getting attacked by an octopus at the aquarium.

This is a picture of the toddler area at the Pacific Science Center. It had some amazing exhibits. I wish I would have gotten some pictures of the butterfly room where butterflies flew around us.Aaron and Penelope getting attacked by a giant praying mantis. I love Penelope's scared face.They had so many interesting things to play with at the PSC and of course the kids are allowed to touch it all, which Penelope loved. I got a kick out of the giant chair and table. Penelope; not so impressed.They had an IMAX at the PSC and a movie was included with our tickets, so we went to see one about the ocean in 3-D. It was amazing. Penelope had to take off her glasses a few times. She found that having the fish that close was a little too scary for her.We stayed at the space needle long enough to get a quick picture and then went back down. This was our last day and everyone was a little tired. Most of the time we cooked dinner at the condo, but we decided to eat out the last night we were there. Aaron taught Penelope how to crack the peanuts and then swipe the shells onto the floor. (Yes, it was allowed in this restaurant.)

We had such a great time. Thanks to Dan and JaNeil for planning everything and changing their original plans to include us. Hopefully we can do it again soon.