A cool August field trip

I am now moving backwards to catch up on our summer fun. My parents came from August 2ND-14Th to visit us in our new home. It is so nice when they come because my mom comes with all sorts of nifty projects to sew or cook or craft with the kids. Dad comes with his tool belt ready to get involved in lots of handy projects. (actually this time he wished he brought his tool belt.) They did so much this visit to make my life easier. Dad put up shelves in a closet, shelves in the laundry room, he fixed all the towel rods and toilet paper holders in all the bathrooms that kept falling off the wall. He painted our red butler's pantry to match our kitchen color and he finished painting our family room area. I know he did LOTS more stuff but at the moment I am amazed that he did all those things. Marc arrived on the 4Th to join in on the fun. He and Dad went to a Mariner's game together which was a super highlight for them both...eating hot dogs and peanuts, throwing the shells on the ground. Dad admitted that he was reliving his childhood. Even though Dad was focused on crossing off my list for him we were able to enjoy a few family field trips. We went to West Seattle visiting one of the few lighthouses in the area. Our tour guide happened to be a guy named Hyrum Smith from Provo...a Mormon guy ya think? Much to our surprise (not really) it was a chilly, breezy day. Marc and I kept an eye on this sailing cruise. It had us freaking out that it would take on water and go under. It seriously was sailing with 1 side nearly in the water and the people huddled together on the high side probably praying for their lives.

Because of the steep steps and balancing act once inside the lighthouse kids until 6 could not go up. Emmy and Kaden were good sports anyway.

Marc with his mommy.

We're huddled together only because we're freezing!

We next went to Alki Beach. On a sunny day this would have been lovely to sit and let the kids play in the sand for a loooong time, but sometimes you have to get used to disappointment

We had reason to believe because of some familiarity and because of a coffee shop named Sleepless in Seattle that this was an area where the movie "Sleepless in Seattle" was filmed. There was a fish 'n chips place that someone told us to go...so we did. YUM! Even though there were outside tables 10 feet away from us, for some silly reason we stayed in the car, squished and ate.

We then drove to North Seattle and found a fish hatchery/gardens place with outdoor music. The bad news was that as we were pulling into the parking lot the rain started pouring down and the music quit early. It was pouring!! Rain doesn't stop a true Seattlite from anything. We hopped out of the car and ran to see the Salmon returning. It was fascinating. The Salmon were huge! It was neat to see them in an observation room as they swam around. My only regret was not getting the "after" picture of us totally soaked. Our shoes sloshed and our eyelashes were dripping.

Kaden loved that he could almost touch those Salmon that were almost as big as he is.