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.