Seattle, Birthday, Etc.

So I finally made it to Seattle. It was 2 am once I finally laid down in bed. But training was really good and it was fun when Karl, Carson, my Mom and Dad, and (surprise) my sister Jessie came on Wednesday. Jessie just got back from Jordan so it was fun to see her.

I had a lot of fun taking Karl around to all the tourist Seattle places he'd never seen. We did Pike's Place, Ivar's, Space Needle, Seattle Center, the Locks, Gas Works Park, Underground Tour, the temple, etc, etc. Unfortunately, our camera broke a day into the trip. I've pulled some we took off my parents' camera and I'll see if Jessie has any need-to-post pictures later.

Ivar's is a fish fast food restaurant right on the water. It's good, but mostly it is just tradition (oh, but really good chowder). You can sit inside or outside. Beware - outside means attacks by the seagulls. But in someways, that only makes it more fun. We chose inside, but then went outside after to feed the birds a few french fries. Here is a pic of the sign outside and then a pic of Karl, Carson, Ivar, and Me.

Here is a video of Carson feeding the birds, until I get attacked. And another of him yelling "hey" at all the birds.

The locks are cool - watching the boats go to and from the lake/ocean. Carson just loved when we went below and he could see all the fish swimming (although sometimes he would point at algae and yell fishy).

I love the musical street performers at Pike's. I could watch them for hours. The market was really crowded though and Carson was being a pill so we didn't stay long. No pics - but a must if you are going to Seattle. The flowers they sell are huge and gorgeous and cheap. You can get really cool spices and nuts too. Also - you can get a lot of junk, skip those vendors.

The underground tour is cool - you walk around under the city and they tell you the history of Seattle and why you are able to walk around under the city. Karl felt the tour was a little long. Here is a picture taken from under the sidewalk. You can literally see people walking above you.

For the flight home, Karl and I were on different airlines because the one I was flying for work wasn't the cheapest when we bought Karl's ticket. So I took Carson with me since Karl had done the flight up. It wasn't awful, but it is still not my idea of a good time. Carson did pretty good. By the end of it, I'd lost some of my patience and I was trying to juggle two huge, overloaded fun bags and a 2 year old. As we were walking to baggage claim, every time the ground would have a slight decline, Carson would get down on the ground and log roll all the way down. I just kept telling myself to pick my battles as I tried not to think of the germs and grossness. All that mattered was that we were moving forward. Every one that passed us thought it was pretty hilarious though. It was actually pretty funny, I just had to ignore all the thoughts of germs.

We got home and a few days later we celebrated Carson's 2nd birthday. The morning of he got donuts for breakfast as is Karl's family's tradition. They usually write Happy Birthday on the donuts, but I figured we would do that once he can read. We forgot to buy candles though, so we just used the one from last year...hence the "one" candle. In twenty years we'll look at the pictures and think he was the biggest one year old ever. When we lit his candle, he just kept saying "Hot" and leaning back as far as possible from the flame. He enjoyed dipping the candle in the chocolate and then licking it off though.

We also had a little party with Karl's family. I made a train cake (not as good as my snake last year) but pretty good...good enough for a two year old. It kind of looked like an alligator though. Carson kept calling it a truck...oh well. He loved all his new toys and would want to play with each one immediately. He got pretty good at unwrapping the gifts. It was a pretty fun night.

Now that looks like a happy boy! I can't believe my little guy is two. He is such a joy and I am amazed at how much I love him. Also, he has great fashion sense - as seen with the goggles he wouldn't take off. The green outfit was the first outfit he's picked out by himself and insisted on wearing...green pajama bottoms and a green top.

Our sweet Carson.

My Romantic Anniversary

For those of you looking for a romantic comedy post...please insert sarcasm into my title and read it again. Note: the lack of a romantic anniversary is not at the fault of my husband. In other words, this is not a bash on the husband post. This is a "Kasey, sometimes your elevator doesn't go all the way to the top floor" post.

So for my sixth wedding anniversary, which is today June 7th, I had/got to fly to Seattle for audit training. I'm excited about my training, so besides the fact that it required me to leave on my anniversary, nothing negative to say about that.

And let the story begin...

I procrastinated getting ready to go till the morning of. My flight left at 1:30, so I figured I would have enough time in the morning to do two loads of laundry, pack, and get out the door. Because I'm amazing, I did the above three things and I was 5 minutes ahead of the schedule I had set for myself. I did not put on my checklist anything like check the flight, check in, etc. So after waiting in the check-in line at US Airways for 25 minutes, I was a little surprised when they said they didn't have a reservation for me. Hmmmm...I pulled out my lap top real quick and checked my confirmation. Oh, I fly out on Alaska, not US Airways. Perfect. So I catch the shuttle to terminal 2 and run to Alaska check in. Well, the flight had already started boarding so they wouldn't take my bag. If I hadn't had anything to check I would have been fine. Being my emotional self, I started crying - which only makes me want to cry more because then I'm embarrassed I'm crying over missing a flight. So they booked my for a 6:30 pm flight. The funniest part is that the girls behind the counter felt really bad as I started blubbering that it was my anniversary and I had no way of contacting my husband. They told me my hair looked cute, that I was too pretty to be sad, and then they brought me tissues. That was nice...but we're still not friends. To make my anniversary an even better day, I had forgot my cell phone at the in-laws so Karl had given me his. So I couldn't call him. I called my mother-in-law and she was sweet enough to come get me and drop me off at home. So Karl was quite surprised to see me on the door step, but on the bright side I got 3 more hours with my hubby on our anniversary.

Fast forward 3 hours. I get all checked in and I'm headed to security. Some strange German guys stop me and ask if they can give me a hug and all they ask is that I pass it along. Too weird, I say no...I'm not comfortable with that. I was so sure they were going to slip some weapon into my pocket. As I'm leaving one of them says "Let us explain so you don't leave thinking you're a bad person." I reply "Oh, I don't think that...bye." Did that really just happen?

I get through security, stop for a water and some magazines as is tradition, and make it to my gate. Oh...my flight has been delayed till 8:50 pm. So I get to hang out in the airport for two more hours...and I don't get into Seattle till 11:45 pm. I have training the next morning at 8 am.

So I am blogging my wonderful anniversary experience as I sit, uncomfortably, in the airport...wondering if anyone on my flight hugged the weirdos and now has a bomb in their pocket. Hopefully, I am blogging about my fun Seattle trip in a weeks time.