We tried to explore the city as much as we could, but with have a toddler and me being 7 months pregnant with bad tailbone pain this time around, it wasn't too easy. My tailbone/sciatic nerve pain really flared up during our trip. It must have been a combination of the long car ride (I tried moving around and getting out as much as possible), walking everywhere, and not being in our own cozy king bed at home. But nonetheless, it was fun to explore Seattle!
The drive went surprisingly well with Carter. We drove through the night on the way there and that went just fine. I drove for the first 4-5 hours to Boise, then my mom drove a few hours, and Ricky drove about 7 hours the rest of the way into Seattle. We hit a few sketchy parts with thick fog. The infamous "blue pass" or "deadman's pass" was especially crazy! Ricky was driving and couldn't see too far in front of him because of thick fog. And the roads were snowy.
On the way back, I was having too much tailbone pain that I didn't do any driving (it was hard to even shift around at all) so my mom and Ricky switched off. We laughed, gossiped... I mean, er, ate snacks, and just had fun. We also stopped at Cafe Rio in Boise on the way home to eat. It was nice to get back to where things felt "normal" and things weren't so busy and expensive!
Some fun moments from our trip include the incredibly expensive dinner an Din Tai Fung (I think that's how it's spelled?-- and yes, we were trying to do it cheaply, so this was not anticipated... but my brother insisted we eat there. Thanks Derek! Grr! haha), walking around Pike Place Market and seeing the gum wall (which had recently been steamed scraped off, but there was still some gum on it), exploring Lake Union, and visiting the Locks (where they manually control the water levels for boats to go in and out of Puget sound). And we can't forget the craziness of driving around downtown Seattle (a VERY liberal city) in a huge Diesel truck. Let's just say... we didn't "fit in". And Ricky really disliked driving that truck around in a crazy city! We also visited the ABC Kent branch (Ricky's company he works for) and it was fun for him to see that.
OH, and let's NOT FORGET Carter's microwave phone fiasco! We weren't even in our hotel room for 15 minutes when Carter found the microwave. He was putting things in there (mostly harmless things) and I kept managing what he was doing. Well, the housekeeper lady stops by to bring sheets and I had my back turned for a moment when he grabbed my iPhone 6 off the bed threw it into the microwave and pushed start. My mom happened to walk by and see what was happening. It was only in there for a few seconds (3 tops) when she grabbed it out. The case had started to melt, the microwave smelled like burned electronics (and then eventually the whole hotel room), and the phone was dead. Luckily, it still turned on. But we had to go straight to the Seattle downtown Verizon store and after 2 hours, it was decided I had to buy a new phone (Thanks, Younique!). Luckily, I was able to back up my old phone to my computer and transfer everything. But NOT GOOD! Good thing he's cute:)
Here are some fun pictures of our trip:
Carter's ready to go!
He thinks it's so fun to grab out his camera and take pictures! Especially when we see something cool... he knows to take a picture!
Consider this my maternity photo:-)
*HUNK*
Cute banner my sister-in-law, Katie, made.
My good ol' mom doing her thang:)
Katie's SMOKED TURKEY... in Ricky's words, "the BEST turkey I've ever had".
My favorite Thanksgiving pie... my mom's chocolate cream pie! Mmmm!
Does this make me a professional/cool photographer?
My cute sis:)
Carter absolutely adores his uncle Derek. Derek is so fun with him and they are like two peas in a pod when they get to be together!
My mom trying to be fancy:) I love her.
Carter made a cute little friend when we were exploring. He is always SO friendly to other kids. He'll go right up and say, "Hi! My name is Carter! Want to play with me?" Most kids give him a weird look and walk off. LOL
Downtown Seattle, close to Pike Place Market.
View from Alki beach. So pretty with the space needle!
Derek & Katie
Another one of this cute guy, just because I love him.
IPHONE PICS:
