Museum of Flight

Friday morning we went to the Museum of Flight. We stayed there 2.5 hours and could have easily stayed 2.5 more. There were planes and aircraft from all genres along with interactive displays and a kids' play area. It was awesome! And also very educational.This was a simulated space station. Aiden walked through this several times.Here he is "looking down" to Earth.I knew this place would have planes, but it was beyond what I expected. Planes on the floor and covering almost every inch above us.There were a few that had cockpits open to the kids. Aiden would patiently in line and say, "Wait your turn! Wait your turn!". Usually this meant, "Kid in front of me please hurry up so I can have a turn!".The kids play area had some interactive displays that taught flight dynamics, etc. Aiden as just glad he could run and play!We decided to eat lunch in the cafe because we knew Aiden would start getting cranky and we didn't have time to leave and come back. He had the biggest, softest PB&J and ate almost the entire thing.There were also several planes on display outside. We were able to walk through a retired Air Force One.
The last part of the musuem was WWI and WWII planes. We pretty much had to ruch through this part as we had to catch a ferry to the peninsula. The main purpose of this trip was to see Andy and Lisa get married - and they did! Did I capture a single pic? Nope. Aiden slept through the ceremony (just like he did at Alex and Amber's wedding) and most of the reception. It was a pretty wedding and we're glad to have Lisa in our family!

A Waterfall and Some Trains

Thursday morning the plan was to pick up Alex and Amber from the airport. However, Alex came down with a bad case of the flu and strep throat. That meant the best decision was for them to stay home. So, we decided to head to Snoqualmie. We visited Snoqalmie Falls and the Northwest Railway Museum. It was beautiful weather in the morning so we were able to enjoy the falls. After lunch it rained, so that kept us from walking around to all the trains. We did get to look at some though.Aiden loved this part of the trip and was quite proud of himself when he learned to blow his train whistle. The gift shop was full of Thomas the Train toys so he had a great time looking at those too!

To Market, To Market

Wednesday after we picked my parents and Austin up at the airport we headed to Pike Place Market. It's another one of those places that you just have to visit while in Seattle. We've been here on each of our three three trips to the city. I could walk around all day and not get bored. So much fresh food, concessions, and unique one of a kind items. I picked up a beautiful Christmas ornament - one of my favorite souveniers to get on trips. I love decorating the tree every year and remembering all the fun places we've been.That afternoon we got on the ferry again and headed to Bremerton to meet Lisa's parents. Aiden thought he was driving the boat!We had planned to come back to Seattle via the same ferry so we could see the skyline all lit up. But, we visited too long and missed the boat. The city was magnificent in the daytime, I can only imagine what it would have looked like at night!
We enjoyed our visit at Lisa's house. I didn't get any pictures of Aiden exploring the barn and meeting all the animals. He couldn't get enough and wasn't scared of anything! There were goats, rabbits, chickens, a llama, and a miniature horse. He still can tell you all about Lisa's barn!

Olympic National Park - Day Two

Day two in the ONP was rainy, rainy, rainy! However, we enjoyed our drive. Who wouldn't?!? Look at how gorgeous it was. We stopped at Ruby Beach because, well, it was a beach. I don't like driving by beaches and not stopping. This was not a walk barefoot in the warm sand kinda beach, but it was ocean and sand (and a lot of rocks) nonetheless. It was cold, but I didn't care! Maybe sometime soon we'll visit a beach in a more tropical location!

What kid doesn't enjoy collecting goodies and exploring at the beach? He'll really love it when he can actually get in the water.

The brochure at the Visitor Center said that during high tide the logs are thrown about and can be deadly. I'd believe it. During low tide they make the perfect jungle gym.

We skipped the Hoh Rain Forest because it was raining (ironic I know). We'll save that for another trip. We may not be back soon, but I'm sure we'll be back.

Olympic National Park - Day One

Monday morning we headed across to the Washington peninsula. This included a ride on a ferry! How fun!! This was our first of several ferry rides for the week. It was a very cool and windy day so Aiden and I spent most of our time inside.He thought it was cool to watch the water go by.On our quest to hit all the National Parks, we visited Olympic National Park. The Visitor Center in Port Angeles was one of the best we'd been to. It had lots of displays and even a kids' play room. We had planned to visit Hurricane Ridge, but on the day we visited you had to have snow chains on your tires. There were drifts of snow up to 10 feet in some places! So we enjoyed a beautiful drive around Lake Crescent. Amazingly still water with majestic mountains in the background. God sure did create some amazing places!Outside of the park, we drove to Cape Flattery, the northwestern most point of the continental USA. The trail was about 3/4 mile long and looked nice and roomy at the trailhead. We had a jogging stroller for Aiden, so off we went. About halfway down the jogging stroller was no longer an option as the path narrowed. So, we ditched it and Aiden walked the rest of the way. Such a trooper! The view was breathtaking!
We headed to Forks, WA (home of the Twilight series) to spend the night. From there we toured the rest of the peninsula.

Downtown

Our second day in Seattle we went downtown after Sunday morning worship. We ate lunch at Chipotle (yum!). And of course we had to do one of the most "touristy" things in Seattle - the Space Needle. It's one of those things you just have to do. Kinda like going up in the Washington Monument in D.C. or going to the top of the Arch in St. Louis. If you're in Seattle, you have to experience it. So we did.The view from the top was gorgeous, of course. I hear it's even better on the rare day there is no cloud cover and you can see the mountains.Inside the observatory deck there is a camera that you can pan around and see the city. Aiden had a little too much fun with that.By the time we headed back to Andy's it was 4:00 and in a matter of seconds, Aiden went from this ....to this!

On to Seattle

The trip to Seattle was wonderful! Aiden traveled like a champ and even tolerated waking up at 6 to leave for the airport. The flights were not full, so we were able to bring Aiden's carseat on the plane. He loved sitting by the window and looking out. I brought lots of new stuff for him to play with so he was entertained (without technology!) the entire time. During our layover in Las Vegas we let him run off his energy so he was ready for a nap during the second flight. We told him it was time for a nap and he turned his head in his seat and went straight to sleep! The first morning he woke up at 4 with a messy diaper and then went back to sleep until 6 (which was 8 our time). By the end of the week he was sleeping until about 9!! It was great! These pics are at Kerry Park. We took them on our way to Andy's house from the airport. Great view of the city! More about our trip coming soon!

Some Stories

Here are some of the fun things Aiden's been saying lately:

*** A couple weeks ago I picked him up from school and asked him what he had done that day.
A: Time out.
Me: Why did you have to go to time out?
A: Table climbing. (Not surprising!)

Fast forward a couple weeks and we are with my parents. My dad asked Aiden why he got in time out at school. Aiden gave him the most serious look and I know he was thinking, "How do you know about that?". But he answered and said, "Climbing tables." Kid has a serious memory.

*** He tells me all about what he does at school on Thursdays. On the way to school he names his teachers and nearly everyone in his class.

*** If we go in the Post Office to mail something he knows the lady will give him a sticker.

*** We went to my brother's wedding in Seattle last week. Wednesday of the week we ate dinner at his finance's parents' house. They had some old kid toys and some stuffed animals that Aiden enjoyed playing with. We went back over there on Saturday night and remembered almost every toy that he had played with. He asked for each one by name!

*** When he gets out of the bath he says, "Wrap a burrito!". (He wants to be wrapped in a towel like a burrito.)

*** He can sing some of the words to several songs. His current favorites are Itsy Bitsy Spider, My God is So Big, ABCs, The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock, Jesus Loves the Little Children, and Jesus Loves Me. He can say the alphabet A-G and then will fill in letters when I say it with him. He knows most of his colors (still confuses brown, black, and white) and can identify the majority of shapes.

*** We bought him a train whistle while we were on vacation. For a few minutes he couldn't quite get the hang of blowing it hard enough to make noise. Right after he made it whistle the first time he looked at all of us and said (with a big grin), "Take a picture!".

*** He saw cake at Andy and Lisa's wedding and said, "Happy da birthday!".

*** I woke him up at 8:15 this morning to get ready for school. I asked him if he was ready to eat breakfast and go see Mrs. Kim. He rolled back under the covers and said, "No. I take a nap." Kid loves his sleep!

He has really developed quite the vocabulary in the past few months!