Seattle, WA

I redeemed my Christmas present this weekend.  A 3 night excursion to Seattle, WA without kids!  Tim and I left on Thursday evening after he was done teaching for the day.  We kissed the kids, boarded the plane and proceeded to enjoy our vacation.  We had a small meal on the plane but when we finally got to our hotel we were starving!  It was 11pm St. Louis time and we headed across the street to Peso's Kitchen and Lounge.  Mexican!  I would never eat mexican at 11pm at home, but this was vacation!  It was super yummy and we got appetizer prices.

A side note: my bible study Thursday morning was regarding our lives vs. the world and how/if they look different.  A few minutes into dinner late at night at Peso's in Seattle proved that my life does look different - at least physically.  There I was, no skin showing, wearing a striped sweater, comfy jeans and my TOMS. I felt very midwestern. We were waited on my a woman showing way too much skin.  We were next to a couple almost throwing their clothes off right there in front of us.  A serious make out session right.next.to.us!  It was dark with loud music coming from the bar section and I felt very uncomfortable there.  So we scarfed our food down and headed back to the room.   Their food was really good though, so the next night we ordered take out!

We stayed at the MarQueen Hotel located in the Queen Anne district.  It was so cozy and quaint.  Totally my style!  Hardwood floors throughout and beautiful history in the building.

We went sight seeing on both days and did a ton of walking.  We also learned how to use the public transportation and asked lots of questions regarding where to get on and off the bus!  We never got lost, but found some fun things along the way.  Like this sign that reminded us of our Ann Denny:

The first day (and the second actually) we went to Pike's Market.  Such a fun place to roam and shop.

Making Cheese.

Tim talked to this guy for quite a while.  Beautiful hand crafted boats by "Mark's Arks".

"The Fish Guys" where they throw fish!

We also saw some great scenery, thanks to our friends who are new to the area, but staying in a hotel that night.  They let us borrow their car for the afternoon and we drove to the mountains.  Simply breathtaking!  Thanks Brian and Kim!

Snoqualmie Falls.  Beautiful!

The Space Needle. 

Mountains that we didn't know were there the first day.  The second day it cleared up a little.

Some things I learned from our trip:
*my kids didn't miss me thanks to the fabulous grandparents that took care of them!  Even when they were sick (3 kids sick when we got home)
*I still LOVE being with Tim.  It's so nice to just *be* with someone.  To know you are loved whether you talk too much or just like to be silent.
*When you go to Seattle, don't bother packing sunglasses.  But it is in your best interest to pack an umbrella!

Seattle - you were fun!  Thanks for hosting us as we recovered from wrestling season and full time parenting.  Thanks for having cool stuff to see and providing entertainment for us midwesterners.  You were cold but beautiful and we will never forget our long weekend visiting you!