Columbus - Day 10

Girls, it is time to go home. This Gatorade isn't helping.

Uh huh

That's what I saw when I came out of the WC. almost puked again.

Fun....way fun

We got the cast and our friends....oh this is fun. Another round bitches...

Dirty

Still going. Rita Jean met a new friend, Samantha, and they are having a GOOD Time. I don't think she's really a woman. just sayin.

Columbus - Day 9

Starting with lunch at the New U. Dotster has joined us!

White Castle

This is only half of what we bought. Nobody passed out with french fries in their ears this time. We are eating our food in Rita Jean's room so ours doesn't smell like onion chips in the morning. We crowned old school night with a visit to the Trollmont (Le Tremont).

Fun times in the city and we're going to rinse and repeat tomorrow. Time for bed.

anonymous

do the math

Fun times

We finished Club D, Garretts, AWOL, and now we're smoking outside Pyramid II. Old School night in cmh

Columbus - Day 8

We're doing the old bars tonight and the new ones tomorrow. Here's Grace Kelly and Rita Jean at Garrett's Saloon. Tomorrow they are having a Trailer Trash Ball. We might have to come back even though it is an old bar.

Whidbey Island - Day 7

Our final full day on the island was yet another success. After breakfast at the house and a lunch that consisted of Dairy Queen Blizzards all around (hey it is vacation) - we drove down to Langley and went shopping. It is a sleepy little waterfront town filled with artist's shops and studios. As you can see from the picture, Timmy didn't take too kindly to the locals and threw some attitude.

Stop two was at the Admiralty Head Lighthouse. Baby Kenzy was getting fussy due to some fresh teeth that are coming in so they stayed in the car while Whitney and I toured the lighthouse. We even got to climb up to the top of it on a spiral stair and ladder. Unfortunately the glass is so aged that we couldn't take pictures from inside of the view, but I did capture Whitney climbing up behind me. We also did a quick walk through of the museum in the lighthouse and bought some gifts in the shop.

The lighthouse is in Fort Casey State Park which has views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The historic military "Fort Casey" is where An Officer and a Gentleman was filmed. There are still two huge guns on display. Back in the day, there were dozens of them on the 400+ acre site. Today, the main houses and barracks are used for a conference center. Most of the bunkers were open and it was surreal to walk through them.

A quick drive through Coupeville and a stop to view the Penn Cove shellfish farms finished out the day. Early to bed tonight for a flight in the AM to Ohio where we'll drop Whitney off and spend the final three days of our vacation.

Whidbey Island - Day 6

We got up this morning and officially decided we were exhausted from the travels and didn't want to venture to the mountains today. Instead, Chandra made pancakes and we relaxed until about noon. We drove to La Conner and did some shopping. Unfortunately the one thing I've been wanting to purchase on this vacation was far too expensive. It doesn't make sense to spend $800 on a jewelry box, regardless how awesome it might be. I guess my DG sunglasses from Seattle will have to serve as a vacation memory. We had some ice cream and a nice lunch. This pic is of Whitney standing in the fish bridge.

On our way back to Oak Harbor, we stopped at Deception Pass for some photos and decided to take the boat tour. We were the only ones on it for the 6 PM run so we had the full attention of the tour guide. Chandra tried to pimp out her daughter since the guide was a hot 22 year old. Unfortunately Hannah didn't go along with us so I'm not sure how well that will work out. This photo is taken from the overlook along the road. It was stunning. On the tour we saw Seals, Bald Eagles, and a variety of birds and other wildlife. Chandra and I both captured some great pics of the scenery.

The last pic was taken on our way back into the town. It is the plane at the entrance to the Naval Base where Kevin works. We took lots of video of our adventures and will be sending it to him in Iraq where he is stationed for a few more months. It really is beautiful in the Northwest and I can see why so many people love living here. I didn't mind at all that we needed a light jacket today. It beats 100 degree weather and sweltering humidity all day long. Tomorrow we're going to do another artsy little town and possibly have dinner with Chandra's friend, Linda.

It is 8:30 now and we're back at the house making sandwiches for dinner. Hopefully tonight we won't get caught up in a marathon. Last night it was Miami Ink and LA Ink that kept us up too late!

Seattle/Whidbey Island - Day 5

Starbuck's muffins and treats started the day. It really is no exaggeration that there is one on every corner in Seattle. Not to mention the dozens of other coffee companies and they are all busy all the time.

We couldn't convince Tim to go with us to the Seattle Art Museum - they call it the SAM, so we left him in the hotel while we went. The museum just reopened after a big remodel. I don't know what it was like before, but it was nice. I like the fact that they have a fairly large free public area with a cafe, etc. I didn't understand the dozen or so old Ford Taurus cars they had hung in the lobby, but you are able to photograph in the public areas so we grabbed a couple of photos. We didn't have a ton of time so we only spent a few hours in the exhibit area.

We checked out of the W and drove to Mukilteo where we had lunch at Taco Bell. For whatever reason, all four of us were craving it! We took the ferry to Whidbey Island. It was Whitney's first time on a car ferry. While this picture is horrible, I had to place it here. It was so cold outside that I ran out to quickly snap it.

Chandra cooked an awesome dinner for us and we spent the evening relaxing and chatting at her house in Oak Harbor. We are trying to decide what to do on Wednesday. Originally we planned to go to the mountains and a town called Leavenworth, but we realized it would be a 3+ hour trip so I think that idea is squashed.

Still having fun! Vacation is about half over :-(

Seattle - Day 4

As you saw below, we started Monday with a diner breakfast in Pioneer Square and then did some shopping while we waited for our Underground Tour at noon. Whitney and Hannah weren't too excited when they talked about rats, spiders, and dirt, but it ended up being very fun. I got sucked in from our tour guide, Jo, and bought one of Speidel's books. Funny how the book was $8 something and a little picture of us taken in the underground was $17. Supply and demand I suppose.

We walked to the famous Pike Place Market where we watched the fish being tossed and purchased coffee from the original Starbuck's restaurant. I love the original logo with the boobies hanging out. Cracks me up. It is amazing how busy the market is, even on a Monday afternoon. We were glad that we avoided it over the weekend.

The Freaky Fremont was a quick drive by on our Saturday trip but we decided to check it out for a late lunch. The tour driver said it wasn't worth spending time there so of course we went back. Essentially it was to see the Troll, but the town has called itself, "The Center of the Universe." Check out the link - they have a statue of Lenin, the Fremont Troll, and several other oddities. We went into a few shops and walked around. It isn't very large and it looks like it would be alot of fun at night. Unfortunately most of the restaurants weren't open until dinner or were closed completely on Monday. We settled on Mad Pizza where we each had a few decent slices of pie.

Whitney wanted to go back to the Ballard Locks so we randomly drove along the lake until we found them. On our other tour we had entered from the Magnolia side. There was a huge park and visitor center on the Ballard side. We were fascinated once again by watching the boats go. Afterwards, we drove across the bridge and casually drove around Magnolia and Queen Anne. If we lived in Seattle, these would be likely contenders as we loved both neighborhoods. Tons of mid century modern homes and homes with fantastic views.

We finished the evening back at Pacific Place where the girls wanted to shop on their own so we strolled across the street to Von's. After they were done, we all went to Gameworks where Whitney and Hannah played and we had a couple of beers. At 10 PM it became 18/up so we had to roll out. Whitney didn't want us in the room so they could chat. I think she really likes having an older friend to hang out with. Timmy and I complied and sat at the W bar. Of course we met some queens and had a good old time blabbing away for a few hours.

Breakfast!

We booked an underground tour at noon so we have an hour and a half for breakfast. Found a cute little diner (Java Diner) where we are about to grub.

Seattle - Day 3

We woke up early and checked out of the Sheraton. A shuttle took us from the Park & Ride to the Chevrolet Cup and Key Bank Air Show site. This is the culmination of the Seafair festival! We watched several hydroplane races and little airplanes doing tricks. We left after the Blue Angels did their big airshow. I was so exhausted by 2 PM that I slept on the shuttle bus back to park & ride.

The W Hotel is phenomenal. We checked in and then drove out to Mt. Vernon to meet Chandra and the kids. Despite my desire to avoid chain restaurants when we travel, Tim wanted to eat at Red Robin. I agreed, only because the restaurant was founded here. In fact on our Saturday tour, we drove past the original one near Washington University. Chandra's baby, Kenzington, is adorable and very well behaved. We kidnapped Hannah who came back to the city with us.

We closed the day with a walk. We started on 4th, walking past the famous Seattle Public Library. We then strolled down to Pioneer Square and a took a trip up to the Chinese Room atop the Smith Tower. Timmy was not amused with the open elevator showing us every floor, and the little elevator operator dude was rather strange. It was the original Smith Typewriter building and historically had the best views of the city. Today it doesn't really show quality skyline views, (all the buildings are taller,) but you can see the Southern end of town with superb views of Safeco Field, Quest Field, and the headquarters of Starbucks, Amazon.com, and Harborview Medical Center which is one of the best burn trauma hospitals in the NW.

A quick stroll up the waterfront past several piers and then we crashed back at the hotel. Despite our efforts to quickly fall asleep, we got sucked in to a Gene Simmons Family Jewels marathon. Tragic! Looking forward to tomorrow.

Seattle Day 2

Another exciting day! We got up this morning and ate a hearty breakfast at Denny's. I haven't had a grand slam in ages.

We drove to downtown Seattle and parked at Pacific Place. This is a fantastic mall with all the best stores. We took the Monorail back to Seattle Center and did our day visit to the Space Needle. We apparently timed it just right because the Blue Angels were taking off for their Saturday show at Seafair and they buzzed by the Space Needle several times while we were up there. Quite amazing to hear and see them so close in the air.

The Monorail was experiencing technical difficulty so we took a taxi back to Pacific Place where we caught a 2 P.M. Grayline City Sites Tour of Seattle neighborhoods. The driver was 800, but fortunately had years of interesting stories about the city. We did downtown, Pioneer Square, West Seattle, The Waterfront, Magnolia, Queen Anne, Fremont, Ballard, University District, Capitol Hill, and South Lake Union. Not necessarily in this order, and I may have forgot some, but it was well worth it! One of the highlights was watching Salmon in the Salmon Ladder at the Lake Union Locks. Whitney had never seen a working lock before so she was quite interested in seeing the boats go through. We saw the most amazing views of the city from every imaginable angle and captured some very memorable snapshots. Despite the fact that our schedule has been too packed to experience the ship tours, (part of Fleet Week,) we did drive by Pier 91 where the US / Canadian Navy ships are docked this weekend to snatch a photo out the bus window.

We sat outside on the roof deck for dinner at Mexico Restaurant on the very top of Pacific Place. The food was absolutely perfect and our waitress just the cutest little thing. Despite our readiness to leave, Whitney wanted dessert and chose the Lava Cake. We questioned the 15 minute bake time and the cost of her selection, but she reminded us that it was a very 'reasonable' price for a princess. I gave in to the cake, but I did not give in to the bracelet she wanted at Tiffany's. The princess line, yes she tried it there too, does not work every time.

We did our own drive through the heart of Capitol Hill and then realized we were too exhausted to get out and walk around so we came back to the hotel. It is not even 10, but Timmy has crashed, Whitney is ready for bed, and I am next to brush my teeth and fall over.

We plan to spend all day tomorrow at Seafair. Chandra and the kids are joining us for dinner tomorrow night! Very excited to see them.

Seattle Day 1

We got our rental car, a nice safe Volvo, from the itty bitty airport and drove towards Seattle. We are staying across Lake Washington in Bellevue for the first two nights. Timmy wanted Pizza so we jumped of the freeway and drove until we found Bellevue Square. It looked like a nice new shopping mall and we thought for sure we'd find a pizza joint. Turns out we found an awesome one called Pagliacci Pizza where I took this picture! A Vespa on display! Daddy happy.

We checked into our hotel. After a little bickering about the fact that we didn't have our two-room suite, they gave us the Olympic suite which is sweet! I'm sure it won't compare to our next hotel, but better than a regular room! Tim and I took well needed afternoon naps and showers after going non-stop for 1 1/2 days. Clean and refreshed, we then decided to start our fun part of the day at Seattle Center.

We started with the Experience Music Project which is so very cool. It is the curvy silver building. We bought a family membership which was cheaper than paying individually. The place is filled with music history and has an amazing studio where you record an album for free. After going from sound proof room to room and adding each piece (keyboards, vocals, drums, guitar, etc.) you can listen to your work and buy it if you like. We didn't buy, but we may go back and try tomorrow since we have a year long membership!

Next we had some appetizers and milkshakes (Timmy had a beer - shock) at Revolution Bar & Grill and then looked at all sorts of memorabilia at the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame. It is in the same building as EMP and the membership covers both. While I'm certainly not a Trekky or anything like that, there was some really amazing stuff and like EMP, very interactive and media overloaded. For you F.O.D out there, they currently have on display the hat worn by the Wicked Witch of the West in 1939 and the batman suite worn by George Clooney. Not sure why those two things stuck out, but anyways.

Everyone hates me for it, but I can't resist the madness of these cutesy cut-out tourist trap photo opportunities. This particular one was the back of a park bench in front of the musical fountain by the Key Arena. We walked all around the various buildings and attractions at Seattle Center before meandering a few blocks down to the Olympic Sculpture Park and by pier 70. I really enjoy going off the beaten path and through the fabric of the city.

At dusk we went back up to the Space Needle and took some fantastic sunset pictures. Timmy hates the exterior elevator and crouched in the corner like always. He'll have to do it again tomorrow because I bought the 24 hour tickets so we can see the sights during the day as well.

We were beat and didn't even desire dinner so we drove back to the hotel and crashed around 9:30. I got up at 6:00 and did a few hours of work (yuck) before writing this post. I'm going to try and avoid it for the rest of today, in fact, my PDA is on silent so I can't even tell when I get an email. I backdated this post so it appears at the end of the correct day. My boy and my baby are still sleeping.

Hope all is well in your part of the world!

Bellingham

We arrived safely. Tiny airport. Check out the woman handing luggage out the window...not even a belt in baggage claim.

Old School Air

We've boarded the flight. Despite open seating (think Southwest) and being in the last boarding group, we are seated together.

Skybus is old school with ladder steps and all. Whitney does not approve of this budget air selection I've made.

Grumpy

We have collected Miss Grumpysleepyhead and are on the way to the airport.