Seattle

 We took the long way to Seattle from Brush Prairie, Washington where we spent the night but it was so worth it.  We went through Mt. St. Helens National Park and Rainier National Park and both had some beautiful views.  In Mt. St. Helens National Park, Ollie, Grace, and Joe all hiked a mile and a half through Ape Cave which is a lava tube underground.  They hiked in the pitch black dark with just a flashlight, iPhone, and iPod for light.  They climbed over 27 rock piles and scaled an 8 ft. wall, then had to climb a ladder up to the surface at the end of the cave.  Hannah and I tried to do the short walk in the short cave and both panicked and had to go back to the light.  So, she and I hung out at a picnic area and colored pictures and listened to music.  I was a nervous wreck knowing that 3 of my family members were hiking underground.  They made it just fine and have quite a story to share!

 This is the entrance to Ape Cave.

 Above is Joe admiring two of his treasures from this trip--a big garnet and a geode slice.  He also collected a cool lava rock in Ape Cave.

 We got to my friend's house in Seattle around 8 or so and spent the evening visiting.  Actually, I stayed up visiting until 2 am!  We were staying with my friend, Tracy.  I nannied for her family for 5 years while in college in Albuquerque.  I started babysitting when her oldest 2 were 4 and 2 and was there when she had twins and continued babysitting until I moved when they were 3.  I was so happy to see that one of the twin's visit overlapped mine by a day so we got to hang out and reminisce and tell embarrassing stories about him as a toddler.  Her house was in a good location for getting around, she was in walking distance of a number of coffee shops, the big Gas Works park, and a bus to go into the city.  The girls and I spent the Fourth of July at her house mostly with the exception of a walk to get coffee and see the park.  Ollie and Joe went on a big adventure all over Seattle.  Hopefully I'll have some pics of that later when I get some of Ollie's pictures.  They were back in time for fireworks...we got to see them from the top of a building and had a perfect view of the city and the fireworks.

 On Friday, Ollie and Joe went on another big adventure, this time to the coast while the girls and I and Tracy did some sightseeing ourselves starting at Lighthouse Coffee shop.

 We went to Pike's Place Market and saw a couple of fish being thrown and enjoyed walking around seeing the sights.  We were part of a huge crowd of tourists so it was a little overwhelming but cool to see.

 After leaving Pike's Place Market we took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island for lunch.  I had desperately wanted to see Bainbridge Island, I have recently read a couple of books set on the island.  It was NOTHING like I expected and was a pretty big disappointment but we had a good lunch and it was a cute city so I got over it.  And, they had a store with the sign below in the window...who can't be happy when they see that?

 Above, the girls are playing a game of Tenzies while we waited for the ferry.

 After Bainbridge, we took a detour on our way home so that we could see the famous bubble gum wall.  It did not disappoint!  It was quite a sight to see.  The girls got to add their own gum to the wall too.

 We stopped for ice cream for dinner on our way home and it was probably the best ice cream I've ever had.  I got Earl Grey and Honey Lavender and both were delightful!  We spent the evening playing a hilarious game called, Telestrations.  It's sort of a mix between telephone and pictionary...here's an example.  I was given the word "Soap Opera," so I write it on the first page, flip to the next page and draw it.  Then I pass my book to the left where Grace looked at my drawing and guessed what she thought it was....

She guessed "Tapwater Opera," so she wrote her guess and then passed the book to Hannah who drew "Tapwater Opera."

 Then Hannah passed the book to Tracy who guessed, "Singing Cow."  We each had a book and each did a step and then passed the book so each round takes about 5 or 10 minutes, then everyone shows the drawings and sees how far away from the original word the whole thing got.  There is a method for scoring but we didn't score, we just played and laughed a lot.  This is a great game!

Ollie and Joe didn't get home until about 11:30, we all stayed up and talked for a little while and then headed to bed for a few hours... we had to be up by 5:30 to go to the airport for a long day of traveling!