Seattle

Sooo much to say. Portland was fun we ate at VooDoo doughnut which is a MUST when you go to Portland. You have to get the Maple Bacon Bar. Maple covered doughnut with fresh cooked bacon on top. Sooooo goooood! Joel's was covered in M&Ms and Chloe's was Blue Raspberry so it was dipped in Kool Aid Powder. We drove past the World's Smallest Park- Mill End Park. Leprechauns go there and they have snail races there.
We did the Portland Zoo which was very good and the kids loved the Fruit Bat exhibit-they were very active and interesting to watch.
Portland to Seattle was a good trip. We ate at a Brickoven Pizza Place and had incredible food and then crazy enough drove to a Laundry mat to finish our laundry. The dryer at the hotel did not dry it after 3 hours. So we left with wet clothes. The Laundry mat was not much better since we split the clothes and dryer 2 left everything in it covered in unknown grease stains. But it worked and we were on our way. Oh we did make one more stop at a Krispy Kreme for some yummy glazed doughnuts for our breakfast at the hotel.
Mount St. Helens is beautiful. We saw the Spaceneedle lit up as we came into town.
The hotel is called The Inn at the WAC. It is very swanky. Valet, doormen, frontdoor security to show card to before you can get in. Has a barber shop, spa, 5 floors of fitness stuff and a healthfood bar for lunch. Won't help with my ever expanding waste line(local foods along our trip have been very tasty) :)
Took the kids out and was very scared to even venture out the next day on my own because of the amount of homeless beggers, mentally ill screamers, drug transactions, street propositions and of course the Gentleman's club. The McDonald's has a 30 minute wait limit(and I am sure I saw Paul or atleast a couple of his friends several times over in there!) Which Hey Paul tell all of your friends it is great to buck the system, but be respectful of others and keep the profanity (especially the F word) off the clothes. Thanks! Kids like Chloe don't need an explanation of what that word means and why it is not ok to keep saying it in McDonald's. Got to explain about strangers trying everytrick to lure kids away as one tried to lure a few a way in McDonalds with a GForce Movie. Needless to say I was soo upset with Seattle I just wanted to stay in our room. Oh which we did the first day we were here cause the kids wanted to. That was the first day while Tom was in class. When he was finished we went walking with a request for Chicken Nuggets. That is when I saw it all and was frightened.
Oh and Seattle, love the whole grunge thing, but even I can "look" the part and still smell good. Something to be said for a little soap, water and deodorant. :)
Well, I ventured on and went out today and walked the kids to Pike Place Market. It is 2 blocks over and 6 blocks down from our hotel. The kids had such a great time. They saw them throw fish, buy a turtle(toy of course), see lots of homemade items(Shannon, Chris and April we could soo have a booth here), buy yummy Monster Chocolate Chip Cookies made with organic and vegan products, see the Gum wall(I just couldn't let them push theirs on with everyone elses pretty gross), beautiful flowers, musicians, free samples which I recommend the dark chocolate pasta, and see cheese being made. I must say if you are ever here you have to eat at Breener's Cheese Shop and get the Mac N Cheese. IT was hands down the best Mac N Cheese Ihave ever had. Made with their flagship cheese and tonight was Mariachi so it had a little mild kick to it. Soooooo gooood.
Had snacks and lunch in the room and then went to the pool. Swam for awhile and then came up for more cookie and milk. That thing was huge! Tom came we went for dinner. Joel feel asleep so Tom carried him 9 blocks up hill. Went out for Ice Cream after a little while in the room and the Gelatio was closed so we headed back a different way and lo and behold a Hawaii License plate went passed. Once we got back to the room rain was forecasted for tomorrow so I got kids snack while Tom went to car for Umbrella and lo and behold an Alaska License plate sitting out front of our hotel. God is loving playing the game with us because he just keeps sending us at the right moments to do other things and puts them their in front of us. :) Dad you are right Rhode Island may now be the trickest we have. It seems the upper Northeast is our problem now. Rhode Island and Delaware as well.
Tomorrow I am walking the kids to the Monorail system and headed to the Seattle Center where we will do the Children's Museum and the Space Needle with Tom when he gets off work. Tomorrow's Dinner is at the Rock Bottom Brew House. If Tom or myself drank it would be the best place in town to get a "sample platter" of local brewed beers. Food looks good though.
Lots of ritzy places to shop right near us like Gucci, LV, Brooks Brothers, and regular places like Old Navy, H&M, Levi, Nike, and American Eagle Outfiiters. The stores are so huge. I love the variety in them compared to a mall.
I will tell ya it will be great Joel has his surgery cause we are all so tired of sleeping with him in confined space. His new name is Snorey McSnore. ;)
Chloe wants me to tell you she loves the jetted Steam Shower. We let her use it tonight instead of the large jacuzzi garden tub.
Cool thing-Tom decided since we will be in Yellowstone we should stay there, so despite price we have opted to stay at the Old Faithful Inn. As it has been said many times over "We are making memories!"
Which for those of you reading this that were in Seattle with me those many years ago, I am remembering so many things I had forgotten. Like my first HagenDaz bar was here in Seattle and I loved it. My dad offered to buy the homeless man food and he turned it down, my aunts and parents created a love of hershey special dark bars that I didn't even realize(and I would hide my bar too if I had been a grown up then), Super Mario was awesome and Ken you should have given me more of a chance to play it, Paul was so much fun to pull around in the Laundry basket and Uncle Gary was romantic to Give Aunt Lenore Roses.
See you all soon and will write when we can.