Seattle Part 4

Our final day was a doozy! We awoke in Poulsbo and hung out at our hotel until catching the 10:25 ferry back to Seattle. The ferry cruise was lovely as we stayed up top and enjoyed the fresh air and the sunny day.

When we arrived in Seattle we piled back into our rental car and browsed around the area before heading down to Pike's. We grabbed a quick lunch at a vegan restaurant called Veggie Grill. The food was great! The girls had macaroni and cheese. I had a vegan cheeseburger with coleslaw. Eric had some sort of cutlet with fresh beans. We were struck by how busy the place was as well as the variety of people who were eating there, all walks of life! I love seeing people who are either vegan or just receptive to vegan food. Living in Wyoming we can feel pretty isolated, but being in the city it sure was nice to see people who were considering what they ate on a deeper level.

After lunch we hit up the market for a bit and then became overwhelmed by the masses. We are definitely used to the wide open spaces and limited population of Wyoming. We retreated to the Japanese Gardens for a little peace. The gardens were absolutely beautiful! The whole family enjoyed meandering along the pathways in the dappled sun. A beautiful conclusion to our time in Seattle.

 

 












We returned our rental car, caught the shuttle, and checked in at the airport. A lovely security guard ushered us through the VIP line at security because we had young kids. When we settled in at the airport we grabbed dinner (dinner consisted of fries a granola bar and a fruit cup---not a vegan friendly terminal). Our flight left at 8:30, way past bedtime for the girls. Elise stayed awake just long enough for take-off before she fully passed out for the duration of the flight. Cordelia followed soon after. 

The flight was nice and easy until a very hard landing in Denver. It was late, the girls were tired. I carried a very limp and sleeping Elise. Cordelia was able to walk. We gathered our luggage and then Eric grabbed the car. We made it to our hotel by 1:30 in the morning, exhausted.

The next morning we awoke late and then grabbed brunch at Watercourse. Then we left the city and headed North and home to Wyoming. Nothing beats the feeling of returning to Wyoming after a crowded city trip, open spaces, fresh air, no traffic. Ahhh!

Seattle Part 3

Sunday was wedding day. The girls and I awoke and took a walk in the morning mists that are so very lovely in the Pacific NW. We wandered around the grounds of the resort and eventually made our way down to the rocky beach at low tide (Eric was watching Wimbledon finals). Cordelia and Elise were absolutely enchanted by all things beach. There were so many tiny crabs that we pretty much had to carefully wander as we watched them scuttle and hide. A while later we met up with Eric and grabbed breakfast before heading into Bainbridge.

 
Cordelia 

Hotel

 
Elise at the beach

We stopped in at the Bainbridge Art Museum which was free! The museum was really great and had a lot of activities that kept the girls interested and engaged. After the museum we wandered around Bainbridge before heading back to the hotel. 

Eric and the girls at the museum.

I made lunch in the hotel room and then it was time to get wedding ready.

 
Getting ready for the wedding.


Sisters 

Elise killing time between photos

With Charlotte.

 
We do love the water.

The girls were in a few pre-wedding photos and then it was time to head to Farm Kitchen. The location was near Poulsbo and it was just beautiful. I mean seriously the day could not have been more beautiful. The location was set at a small farm with gardens. Just breathtakingly beautiful. We wandered around after the girls were given their direction (they had missed rehearsal) and we just had to wait for guests to arrive.

 
Eric and the girls hanging out before the wedding.

 
Cordelia

 
Flowergirls.

 
Me


My mister.

Finally it was time to begin. We left the girls in line under and arbor. We spotted Charlotte who was absolutely stunning. Then we took our seats. The wedding party made their way in and finally it was time for the flower girls. They had a pretty long walk, but they made it up the aisle and to their seats with us. As they were walking I heard someone whisper,"I am not sure they are going to make it, but they sure are trying." They looked so darling and did a great job.

Jake and Charlotte got married. It was absolutely sweet and loving, just what you want in a wedding. I couldn't be happier for them both.


Charlotte and Jake


The happy couple.

Dessert

After the wedding we spent the rest of the evening enjoying Farm Kitchen. We ate, there were lawn games, dancing, vegan desserts. Finally it was time to head back to the hotel with two very happy kids.

Seattle Part 2

 

We arrived in Seattle at 8am local time, by that point we had all been awake for many hours. Eric and I were definitely tired, but thankfully the excitement of being in a new environment was thrill enough to jolt us into action.  We grabbed the car seats and caught the shuttle to the car rental place. I write that sentence casually, but if you are a parent and have ever traveled through an airport with young kids you know there is nothing casual about the experience. I was carrying Elise and luggage and trying to hold Cordelia's hand. Eric had luggage and two hefty car seats. The whole experience is not casual. Thankfully Eric and I are basically experts at team work and we somehow manage to accomplish a whole lot with little trouble.

Once we had secured our rental car it was time to meet Charlotte and Jake at a vegan restaurant called Plum Bistro for brunch. Oh can I just take a moment to bask in the glory of an all vegan menu?! The girls were so jazzed to order anything they wanted. Cordelia and Elise ordered pancakes and I had an absolutely delectable Tofu Benedict with an avocado cream sauce. We chatted with Charlotte and Jake who were in the final stages of wedding preparation. The wedding was the following day.

It is so wonderful to be in the company of two people who are so in love and excited to begin their lives together. We love them as individuals and as a couple so this marriage is definitely something to celebrate. After breakfast we parted ways as the happy couple had a lot to accomplish in the next day and a half. We decided to check out Seattle as it had been many years since we had last visited. We visited the Seattle Center and checked out the Experience Music Project, there were some really great exhibits. Highlights for me were the horror film exhibit and the exhibit which featured costumes from Labyrinth and Princess Bride.

Eric was so excited about the Star Wars costume exhibit (not sure why there were so many film exhibits up at the music museum, whatevs). 

David Bowie wore this!

Star Wars costumes

Ha ha ha! This photo!

We walked around the Seattle Center and took in the sights and sounds. I think Cordelia was shocked by the experience. She was mostly offended that we had to pay for parking. When we were done there it was about time to head over to the Bainbridge Ferry to catch our ride. 

















 

We made it to our hotel and checked in, grabbed food at the grocery store and made dinner in the hotel room. Then the girls crashed. The end of a long and lovely day.

Seattle Part 1

I think it probably began in 2004. Eric and I were taking a French Film class while working on our undergrad degrees in Missoula, MT. For our class we had to watch a French film each week and complete some corresponding coursework. The movies were often challenging to acquire back then, but Eric and I were pretty cutting edge with our Netflix delivery subscription. We offered to the class that anyone who wanted could join us at our place for a Sunday night viewing of the weekly film. Three women took us up on the offer: Tahra, Jesse  and Charlotte. We quickly discovered that all but one of us was vegan! Finding another vegan in that area is akin to spotting a leprechaun. So we all agreed to turn our French movie group into French movie and vegan food group. It was a really great time, but we had no way of knowing that we had made lifelong friendships.

Fast forward 11 years. Charlotte and Jesse are still in our lives. Unfortunately we all lost contact with Tahra as she is not online and has moved a ton. Charlotte is someone you have probably read about if you have been following my blog for long. She is a very dear friend who has always gone way above and beyond as a friend. So when we found out that she was getting married to an awesome man named Jake (we met him last summer and really love him too) we knew that we had to go to the wedding. Even more so when the girls were asked to be flower girls.

On Friday, Elise's birthday, we spent the morning enjoying birthday fun and then began to make our way to Denver. We gave Elise (and Cordelia) some car activity presents and hit the road. We stopped in Cheyenne and let the girls play at a park and check out a lake.

Mostly we worked to ensure that Elise had a very special day while we made our way to Denver. I had found a vegan restaurant in Ft. Collins that had a good looking menu. So we planned to hit that up for a birthday dinner. We detoured into downtown Ft. Collins and the city was hopping I began to worry that I should have made reservations.

We found parking close to the location and as we hopped out of the car I heard a clatter as something fell into the storm grate. I checked for my phone, nope it was in my pocket. Sunglasses? Nope, on my head. Then I realized it was my key. I peered down into the inky blackness and spotted my car key and fob about 10 feet down. It was surely lost forever. I suggested we just go to the restaurant as we were all hungry. We walked there only to find the windows covered in brown paper, under construction. By now it was getting a bit late and we still had an hour of driving. I was watching the clock as I wanted the girls to bed on time. We had to wake at 4 for our 6am flight. We decided we would just grab dinner at Whole Foods. 

As we walked back to the car I was still puzzling over the keys. I tried to think of anything in our car that had a hook. Finally I remembered that we have a zillion bungee cords for some reason. Each cord has a hook. We tied them together into a long chain and Eric leaned over the storm grate and fished around for the keys. 

It was a long shot....but it worked!

We hopped into the car and grabbed dinner at Whole Foods. Then we made the last leg of the drive to the hotel near the airport. The girls slept. 

The next morning I was up at 3:30. I woke everyone at 4 and we all prepped for a long travel day.  We got to the airport and had to carry our luggage, two car seats and direct two small kids. We got checked in and made it through security (side note: I saw three people this weekend lose their IDs and or wallets at airports. Hold on to those things people). We boarded our plane with about ten minutes to spare. 

Waiting at the airport.

Hanging out before the plane left. 

Looking out of the plane. Cordelia thought that every mountain out the window was certainly Mt. Saint Helens. The flight was uneventful, but beautiful. We landed in Seattle a little before 8 local time. 

I will share more tomorrow!