Seattle, WA

Happy July 4^th and 5^th!

We spent the 4^th of July weekend in Seattle, WA, at Pete and Rhonda’s house. Pete is Lloyd’s brother and he is the president of a bank out there. They have a beautiful condo on the top of a building downtown. The view of the city is phenomenal! We spent lots of time at the infamous Pikes Market. The flowers and fruits and vegetables, and gourmet breads and baked goods, were incredible! The art and jewelry and crafts were also really neat. I bought some raspberries and postcards. Garrett bought a pack of Pokemon cards and Nicholas got a plastic robot character from the Simpsons show. It’s neat that my kids are so into local handicrafts.

As most of you probably know, Starbucks started out here. The chain was named after a ship character in Moby Dick. We went to the original Starbucks and it is the only “chain” store allowed in Pikes Market. We also did a really fun “Duck Tour” of the city and waterways and passed 37 Starbucks during the tour. The lure of coffee is pretty strong out here!

On the evening of July 4^th, we had a courtyard party with Pete and Rhonda’s neighbors. It was really nice. We met some really interesting and creative people and the food was super!

We did the Duck tour on Sunday morning. I wore the “Journey at Forty 2009” shirt that Bobbye gave me but the message didn’t show up well in the picture. We went ahead and paid the $20 for official photo. I would not have normally purchased something like this but it was actually a good photo, and it was my 40^th birthday and I figured that might be the best picture I get.

We spent the day downtown and later that evening went to the top of the Space Needle for dinner. Garrett fussed when he saw the menu ahead of time because he didn’t like anything on it and while they had hamburgers, they came with Gouda cheese. Garrett knew he wouldn’t like Gouda cheese! The idea that he could order a burger without it just made no sense to him.

By the time we got in the elevator and made our way up to the observation deck, things got better. I think the kids forgot we were there for dinner. When we were finally seated, the kids were thrilled to learn that the entire restaurant rotated, and they had a kid’s menu!! Garrett was able to get a burger without Gouda!! Nicholas had a small tenderloin steak with potatoes and fruit. They both had Italian sodas. Lloyd and I had a bottle of wine. The food was actually very good as was every drop of the wine! Lloyd and I split a few really good appetizers and a seafood pasta dish. Everything was delicious! Our dinner reservation was for 8:30 and this worked out perfectly for watching a beautiful sunset and a gorgeous night sky. We even had a perfect “Sleepless in Seattle” moon. Oh, we did see that neat Sleepless in Seattle houseboat while we were on the Duck Tour. It’s currently on the market for 2.5 million.

My 40th birthday was a really great day! I also loved all the emails, the facebook and blog comments, and the phone calls! While I am having a super time on this amazing trip, I do miss you all and your comments and good wishes make me feel connected and close to all of you. Thank you!