A one day tour of Seattle.

Seattle is amazing. I'm sorry if I say that every day. But each day there's something new that is also amazing. 

We started our long day navigating downtown to a parking lot. As luck would have it, we parked right outside of Pikes Place Market. We walked through the confusing maze and stumbled on the fish throwers. It struck me as absolutely silly that we were watching people throw fish but it was quite captivating. 

As we made our way out of the market, which we swore we'd come back to, we found ourselves at the super disgusting and somehow beautiful gum wall. 

We didn't have any gum to add of our own, so we stage gagged our way down the road until we found some stairs that would take us to the aquarium. 

At the aquarium, we saw sea lions, puffins, octopus, every color fish, river and seas otters, and much more. They also had fabulous touch tanks where we all touched anenome, sea cucumbers, starfishes, and some prickly creature. 

Next up was the Great Wheel. It's a big enclosed Ferris wheel that cost a small fortune to ride. Lucas and Jason were shaking in their boots the whole time!

We promptly exited the Great Wheel and headed toward our harbor cruise by Argosy. It was just an hour long but we were able to see and learn about the cityscape, major landmarks, barges, the sound, and cargo ships (which were bananas up close). 

Next we ate some much needed but mediocre food at the pier and hoofed it to city center and the Space Needle. The line for the Space Needle was kooky. But we got our tickets and found a Starbucks for something cool. Except Jason. He got a hot Latte, with sweat dripping down his face, because he's a weirdo. 

Finally we ascended the Space Needle. The views were spectacular, but the boys were not overly impressed. We spent twenty minutes at the top and sped down. 

With the City Passes we'd purchased we could still hit up two more attractions at the city center. First we chose the EMP Museum which held the boys' attention just long enough with the Star Wars props, the opportunity to play real musical instruments, the fantasy movie props, and getting to play indie video games. Marcus, once again declared, "you don't see that every day." No sir, you do not. 

Now, we were hitting a hunger wall. And the wall was tall and sported barbed wire fence at the top. With no regard for taste or quality we ate at some BBQ place. But it was food. And it was good because it provided us with nourishment. 

Once refueled, we crept around the corner to a super cool playground where the kids ran and played until they were red hot and dripping with sweat. Then we wandered to a huge fountain, where the boys could run through and cool off. We told them not to get too wet. In fifteen minutes they were drenched. At least they had a ball. 

We ringed out shirts as best we could and headed toward our final destination, The Chihuly Glass Garden. On the way Marcus started to cry because he had "poison ivy" on his inner theighs. Welcome to chaffing small one. Jason ended up carrying the not so little Marky through the garden (which was completely unbelievable) and the whole way back to the car, which was over a mile away. 

Once to the car, we all exhaled. Whew. That was one wild and crazy day! 

We navigated our way home and slept like dead horses.