Seattle 2006: Meet the Nieces

The Pacific Science Center

Sun, 13 Aug 2006 18:28:57 -0400

Sunday, we went off to the Pacific Science Center with Kevin, Stef, Ella, and Mia. We parked a couple blocks away and waked up to the Science Center’s entrance. While waiting to buy tickets, I got a couple of shots of Kee with some purple flowers.

Once inside, we got to play in the courtyard, a variety of fountains and water pumps and particular games with water. And a little further on, a section devoted to bubbles of all kinds. We spent a good bit of time blowing bubbles, trying to catch them and making the pop.

Eventually, we went inside to a collection of scientific games that demonstrated different principles. We tested our flexibility, saw how the heart pumps, saw how facial symmetry affects the way we look. Ella got to play in water for a bit, and then we went off to the Butterfly Room.

The Butterfly room is a special habitat for butterflies from all over the world. It is kept warm and moist to protect them. Visitors are let in in small groups and pass in and out of the room through an air lock area to prevent the butterflies from getting out. Everyone is inspected on the way out to ensure that no butterflies are hitching a lift on their clothing.

Kee loved the Butterfly room, especially when the butterflies would light upon her for a moment. She had great fun keeping other visitors from brushing off or hurting the butterflies. Lots more pictures of Butterflies in the Seattle Gallery.

After the butterfly room, the kids were tuckered out, so we headed over to the Center’s food court and got lunch. At that point, the kids were fairly tuckered out, so we headed back to the cars and went back to Kevin’s.

Since we were flying out just after midnight, that night, Kee and I took a nap for the rest of the afternoon, then we had our last dinner in Seattle, said goodbye to the nieces, and finished packing up our stuff as they were put to bed.

Kevin drove us back out the airport. Of course, things were a mite tougher now, as while we were in Seattle the FAA decided to ban all liquids and gels on flights as a security measure. We knew this had happened so we were prepared and didn’t have to throw out any fluids. The lines weren’t bad, and we got through security fairly easily.

Compared to the flight out, the flight home was relatively uneventful, although just as painful. We had to frequently request water for Kee to keep her hydrated, but they didn’t give us much of a problem.

The problems actually started after we got on the ground at National. It turned out that one of the luggage returns was broken and the airport staff had four full flights being channeled through one baggage return that kept jamming. It took the better part of two hours for our luggage to finally appear, the last of the four flights worth of baggage despite the fact that we were the first plane on the ground.

By the time we got home to our kitties it was well into the afternoon. Naturally, we collapsed and slept. Home again.

RenFaire!

Sat, 12 Aug 2006 17:23:49 -0400

Saturday we headed off to the Gig Harbor Renaissance Festival. We headed out for a long drive. We had to drive south from Seattle, around the sound and around the northern end of Tacoma. The drive was a bit longer than we thought it was going to be and we were beginning to wonder if we’d managed to get lost when we finally began to see signs for the faire.

Actually The Ninth Annual Washington Renaissance Fantasy Faire at Gig Harbor, it is situated in a large field off the side of the road. Fully half of the field is set out for parking. Beyond that is a combination palisade wall and chain fence dividing the parking area from the tent city that is the faire.

My first thought going into the faire was that the vendors needed to learn a few things about hawking their wares. The first few booths were mostly for T-shirts and other faire sponsored trinkets. We quickly moved past those.

The booths at the faire were a mixed bag. Some of them had very nice things, but most were filled with cheap, crappy trinkets that appeal only to the most un-discerning of buyers. We did find some nice stuff, though. I got a nice leather pouch with a secure twist lock on it. We found a leatherworker who specializes in some really nice hats, but I refrained from buying another leather cavalier hat. Kee found a clothier with a lovely gown that fit her, but the price for it was much too dear for our wallets. I did find a clothier who actually had shirts sized to fit me, and picked up two new shirts.

The Ale Houses are fenced in affairs and alcohol is only available and consumed within their boundaries. The Ale Houses were all quite crowded, so we never went in to try the libations.

We had heard that The Bedlam Bards were supposed to be at the faire that weekend, but we never did manage to find them. We caught part of the Thryce Wycked Wenches show in passing a pub, and part of a BoOM show (Brotherhood of Oceanic Mercenaries) while passing a stage. And while sitting down to lunch, we were entertained by Adria M. Moskowitz, a juggler. There was also the Knight Academy where patrons were taught to fight with padded weapons and shields.

And like an idiot, I forgot to take a single picture the entire time I was at the faire. I carried my camera all day, but forgot to pull it out and take any pictures.

The day was hot and lines for food and drink were both long. We didn’t last out the run of the faire, deciding instead to return home to Kevin’s place. After changing clothes, we went out to TGI Fridays for dinner.

More shopping! And Pioneer Square.

Fri, 11 Aug 2006 18:12:12 -0400

Since we hadn't hit everyplace in Seattle that we'd wanted to on the 10th, Kee and I went out again on the 11th to hit the last few places... or so I thought.

We started out by heading back to Bellevue Square for lunch at the PF Changs China Bistro there. Yes, lunch. We got up rather late that morning. We had a delicious lunch at PF Changs, and managed to play a game of cribbage while waiting for our food.

After lunch, Kee wanted to stop by the Coldwater Creek store in the mall. I should have known better. I'm such a soft touch. We walked out of there with a number of new outfits for her, and a new purple suede jacket. It's not fair. She just looks SO GOOD in all of it...

From the mall, we made our way up to East Side Harley Davidson and bought the obligatory t-shirt or two. This place has absolutely the nicest bathrooms of any Harley shop I've ever been into. Shocked me, even for a boutique shop! As I was washing my hands, I heard an engine kick over. I come out of the bathroom and a salesman has just turned off the ignition on a 2006 Heritage Classic and is pointing out various features of the bike to a customer. I walk over to point out that he's managed to blow-back exhaust through the bike's air cleaner. Turns out that the customer has just bought this particular Heritage. I had a very nice chat with the two of them, pointing out features and describing my experiences with my own Heritage. The salesman thanked me for coming over and helping him cover all the aspects of the bike.

We climbed back into the car and set out towards our next destination: Pioneer Square. Pioneer Square isn't exactly a square, it is the original downtown of Seattle from back when it was a major route for the logging industry in Seattle's early days. It is also a tribute to poor planning. When we were last in Seattle in 2002, the tour bus we were on pointed out Pioneer Square's chief attraction: The Underground. It had started out as an underground comfort station for travelers, coupled with the results of an ordinance that allowed building owners to expand underground right up to the curb line. The result was a labyrinth of underground passages connecting the older buildings of the square.

By the time we got to Pioneer Square, most of the shops had closed. We wandered around, window shopping and stopping at the few open stores. One of which was a used bookstore (with underground cafe) that appeared to have started in one townhouse and then spread to assimilate the entire block. Bad timing kept us from actually taking the Underground Tour. After roaming the streets down in the square we were getting pretty hungry. Unfortunately, most of the restaurants in the area are Italian places. Carb city. So... we needed to find a place with food that Kee could eat.

And back we went to Bellevue Square, to try to get into The CheeseCake Factory. Try being the operative word. They quoted us a 70 minute wait. We said forget it. We went across the hall to the Red Robin and were seated within 10 minutes. A good dinner, although with cribbage interruptus. Then back to Kevin's house and to bed.

Shopping!

Thu, 10 Aug 2006 21:22:50 -0400

Today’s adventure was shopping. Kee needed a slip, as she’d neglected to pack one, and wanted to get a new carry on for the flight home. On the way out, she used a duffle bag, and it proved to be a real drag (sometimes literally) when trying to get it onto and off of the plane. I was interested in getting a set of Ear Jams for my iPod earbuds to try to get them to fit more comfortably in my ears.

Our first stop was a nearby Target, where we came up with a big goose egg. iPod accessories, but nothing like the Ear Jams. The store didn’t even have any slips for Kee. And while they had luggage, neither of us trusted a $10 carry-on to survive even one trip on a plane.

Next, Kevin took us to Belleview where we checked out the mall. I never got the name of the mall. We found some nice bags at a luggage store, but were shocked at the prices ($500+ for a 21 inch carry on bag? Gah!). We looked at some other bags in Macy’s, but Kee didn’t really like how any of them were put together. And it’s ridiculous the standards some manufacturers have for “expandible” bags. Unzip this zipper and the bag expands a half an inch. Woo.

Kee went off to Macy’s to look for slips, I went off to the Apple Store to look for earbuds, and Kevin, Stef, and the girls went to play at “The Boat”, a play area near the Apple Store.

The Apple Store wasn’t really crowded, but people always seemed to be very interested in standing right in front of the display that I was trying to look at. Finally, through much perseverance, I was able to see what they had available, and alas, no Ear Jams. Instead I ended up getting a set of Apple’s in-ear Earbuds, in the hope that they will prove to be more comfortable on the flight home.

I met up with Kevin, and Stef at the boat, Mia sleeping and Ella playing her heart out. After sitting with them for a while, I noticed that several parents were sitting with bags that said Lego Store on the sides. I was pointed to a store down the hall and made a brief sojourn into the Lego Store. Alas, the wicked witch lego set I was looking for was not in stock, but there were a number of interesting sets there at exceptional prices. Alack, I didn’t have room in my bags for any of the sets I was interested in. I returned to The Boat to find Kee waiting victorious from her slip finding mission.

We had lunch at the Nordstrom cafe, where I finally pulled the camera out and took a few pictures. Good food, and it filled us up just enough.

After lunch we went back to the ruinously expensive luggage store and got Kee one of the least expensive of the carry on bags they had. Hopefully we can get sufficient use out of it.

At that point the girls were late for their naps, and we were all generally tired. Back to Kevin’s we went. We adults opted for a relaxed afternoon in and did some quiet chilling out. Stef cooked a lovely salmon dinner for us. I helped by stir-frying some leftover rice. After dinner, it was bath and bed time for the girls. Kee and I relaxed together and watched some TV, then turned in to bed.

Snoqualmie Falls and Vita Lady

Wed, 9 Aug 2006 19:38:43 -0400

We woke up this morning at about 7 AM Eastern time. We enjoyed lazing about in bed as much as possible. I think somewhere around 8:30 or so we got up to take our showers.

For breakfast, the lot of us piled into the van and went up to Snoqualmie Falls to have brunch at the restaurant there. The restaurant had a nice view overlooking the falls and the runoff basin. Brunch was very good, although it took a bit longer than the girls were really willing to put up with. Mia did well, as she pretty much slept through it all, but Ella did get a little fussy as she had had enough sitting around while the rest of us talked.

After breakfast, Kee and I stopped off to shop for a bit in the lodge’s gift shop. They had a number of nifty things, but not very many that really shouted out “take me home”. In the end, we got a cheese set for Kee that she can use as eating gear for RenFest. It’s a small knife, fork, and spoon all done in the same style of bent wirework.

After dropping our purchases off at the car, we took a little walk out to the observation platform. the view of the falls is impressive, but one doesn’t really get a feel for how tall they are, or how far above them one is, until you look down and see other tourists climbing about on the rocks in the runoff basin.

We headed back to the house just in time for the girls to get their naps. We had an early dinner and then Kee and I got on the road to head down to Puyallup for the Wednesday night Vita Lady gastric bypass support meeting.

Traveling through the Seattle area, we noticed that almost all the streets are named using the same naming convention. Basically, it goes like this [random number]th [synonym for “road”] [random direction]. In some places they mix it up by chaning it to [random direction] [random number]th [synonym for “road”]. All of which makes it impossible to tell if you’ve gone past the street you’re looking for.

So, by a remarkable stroke of luck, we arrived at the right place at the right time and only had to turn around twice. Vita Lady is a mail order business run out of the founder’s home. She had gastric bypass surgery in 1994 and found it hard to get a hold of the things that she needed to stay healthy after the surgery. So, to help herself, and other GB patients, she started a business to make the needed proteins and vitamins available in the right forms for a reasonable price. She also runs a weekly support meeting out of her home and welcomes visitors from all over the country.

The support meeting went well, with a number of GB veterans and a few folks still planning their surgeries. Kee passed around some pictures from before her surgery and people were suitably supportive of her success.

We then headed back to Kevin’s place and went promptly to bed.