Project Life - Week 34

Welcome to Project Life 2015! If you are new to my blog, welcome! I hope you will stay a while. I'm Jessica, wife to Juan, mommy to 3 year old Maddie. I am also an electrical engineer by day and I am participating in Project Life, a different way to record our lives by taking one photo a day. This was inspired by the fabulous Becky Higgins.

I am using a digital kit on Shutterfly. This digital version is SUPER easy to use! See my completed pages for 2012 using the Shutterfly - Project Life Turquoise Edition HERE and my 2013 album using the Shutterfly - Project Life Childhood - Mayfield Edition HERE I will hopefully be posting my 2014 pages soon.

And finally, my POTW (pictures of the week) - 

Thursday - Day 4 on our Washington vacation. We headed to Port Townsend planning to take the ferry this morning from Port Townsend to Seattle. We walked around Port Townsend for a bit and explored the Fire Bell Tower - built in 1890. Unfortunately when we arrived at the ferry dock we were told that it was sold out for the day. We decided to try our luck in Kingston. That worked and we were able to take the ferry from Kingston to Edmonds. Maddie loved the ferry and we explored everywhere, although Daddy stayed in the car and napped. When we docked in Edmonds we walked along Olympic Beach to have lunch at Arnies on the Pier. It was delicious and we even splurged on dessert. After lunch we walked out to the Pier and watched all the people fishing and they showed Maddie their catches for the day. Then we headed to Hiram M. Chittenden Locks - the Lake Washington ship canal. It was a marvelous feat to watch and we saw the salmon swimming up the salmon ladder. After that we headed on to Seattle to our hotel, the Hotel Vintage. 

Friday - Day 5 of our Washington vacation. Today we finally met up with Miriam. It has been years since I have seen her and I was so excited. We had muffins for breakfast in Post Alley. Then we headed to the original Star Bucks established in 1912. It still has the original emblem, a mermaid with boobies. Then we walked down to the spinning umbrella and to check out the totem pole. We walked through Pike's Market and took in all the colorful flowers, fresh fruit (Maddie got to sample some fruit off her fingers), and we watched them throw fish at the Flying Fish stall. We even purchased some fresh shrimp cocktail. Maddie climbed on Rachel the Pig and donated some change, then we headed down to the Gum Wall. This was really gross. The walls of the alley were completely covered in used, chewed gum. Maddie was so excited to chew her on piece and add it to the collection. She chose a spot on the door. Juan and I stuck ours on first and then she stuck hers on with ours. We continued on down Post Alley to the Pier and stopped for a little fish exploration at the Aquarium. They had an amazing touch pool with water right out of the ocean. They also have a fabulous octopus! After exploring the Aquarium, we took a spin on Seattle's Great Wheel at Pier 57. It was a great view. Maddie told us about where baby's come from: "First the baby is inside the mommy's belly for like 6 or 4 weeks and then she goes to the dentist and the baby comes out her cochito." I think she's the premise right! We laughed quite a lot. Then we let Maddie take a ride on the Antique Carousel at Miner's landing. Maddie LOVES carousels and this one went super fast. It was making me dizzy just watching them go round and round. Next we headed over to Argosy Cruises and took a harbor cruise around the city. Miriam and I stayed on the top deck and basically cracked ourselves up with goofy photos. Juan and Maddie went downstairs to get popcorn and never returned. We found them on our way out, with Maddie sound asleep on Juan's lap. I think we've worn her out. After the cruise, we headed to Elliott's Oyster House and I ordered my first whole crab. It was really hard to eat, but delicious! Maddie loved it too. It came with this little bowl of clear liquid. I asked Juan and Miriam what it was for and they told me to dip the crab in. I dipped a couple of bites, but it was weird so I didn't eat anymore of it. I then tried the other little bowl and it tasted like butter and was yummy. When the server returned we asked him what the first bowl was and he said it was tea water to rinse your fingers in. Juan and Miriam thought that was hilarious. We walked back to Miriam's car and she drove us to our hotel. It was a great, but exhausting day.

Saturday - Day 6 of our Washington vacation. We were planning on taking the Monorail near our hotel down to the Space Needle to meet up with Miriam this morning. We left extra early to stop at the Olympic Sculpture Park. Unfortunately when we arrived, the Monorail was not open for another hour. We decided to just walk the 1.2 miles to the Sculpture Park. The park was ok and there were a couple of neat sculptures, but there was not a whole lot to see. Miriam picked us up from the park and took us to the Space Needle. We wanted to make sure and be there when they opened. It was a good thing we did as the lines formed very quickly. Miriam brought her niece Emma who was almost 2 years older than Maddie. They became quick friends and had a fabulous day together. There was an ap while we stood in line at the Space Needle that showed images through the floor - the girls thought it was amazing. The Space Needle was fun, the girls enjoyed looking through the telescopes. Once we perused the gift shop and ran quarters/pennies though the penny maker, we headed off to the Chihuly Garden and Glass. The had huge outdoor flowers that whistle when you walked through them. They were really neat and the girls kept jumping all around them. Inside it was a bit harder to keep the girls under control. They wanted to touch all of the beautiful glass sculptures. There was even a huge outdoor sculpture area. There was Chihuly everywhere you looked. Juan disappeared to take his own photos and we didn't see him until the very end. As we returned to the car, we passed the International Fountain. We told the girls they couldn't get wet, but Emma showed Maddie how to run through the fountain without getting wet. Within minutes Maddie was on the other side of the fountain - quite a long way away. I was very nervous and kept telling Juan that she was too far. On her run back, she got trapped by the fountain and even though she ran as fast as she could, she did get wet. Everyone ended up laughing. We decided to head to Alki Beach for lunch and to let the girls play in the sand/ocean. Lunch was at a little Oceanside cafe and was phenomenal. Maddie asked for crab, she has become obsessed with fish and specifically crab since we arrived in Washington. The adults had yummy fruity beverages and delicious seafood. Emma had spaghetti noodles, which she called "sucky" noodles as she slurped them. I think Maddie will always refer to them as sucky noodles from this point forward. The beach was a huge success. We brought gallon ziplock bags for the girls to collect seashells and treasures. Maddie used her bag to catch "the whole ocean." There was a lot of laughter and little girl screams. The water was pretty cold, but they didn't seem to mind. Miriam and I hunted for sea glass and found quite a few. Maddie even showed Emma how to make a "sand" angel! Then we went to see Miriam's house. She lives in the lower level of a big house and has her own private patio. There are wild trees growing across the street down by the lake. The girls picked pears and plums. It was a fun and wonderful day!

Sunday - Day 7 of our Washington vacation. Miriam picked us up at our hotel and we headed to Freemont Street to see the famous Freemont Street Troll. It was pretty sandy, but Juan and Maddie didn't have any problem climbing all over him. Daddy even showed Maddie how to pick his nose. Then we headed to the Woodland Park Zoo. It was a neat zoo, they had a lot of animals we don't have in Texas zoo's, like black bears and white wolves. The only downside to the day was we lost Maddie. We were watching the gorilla, she was right at the window and suddenly Maddie was gone. Juan and I spread out and started calling her name. It took a few minutes, but we finally found her around the corner looking at the same gorilla from another window. We were all pretty shook up and Daddy was pretty mad with Maddie crying. We talked to her again about the importance of staying with us. Then we headed to Bug World. Maddie loves bugs and was so interested in seeing all of the creepy crawlies. They had a solar powered Carousel, that of course, Maddie had to ride. She LOVES Carousels. They also had a great little obstacle course that had a little zip line. Maddie actually did it all by herself. I was so sure she was going to fall at the end when it hit and she was so high; but she hung on tight until Daddy grabbed her. She is a little thrill seeker. At the wolf area there was a little cave that Maddie crawled into with another little boy. She started howling like a wolf and pretty soon they were both howling uncontrollably. We were all cracking up. The howling continued off and on the entire rest of the day and the vacation. After Miriam dropped us off, we rested and then headed out to dinner. The hotel recommended The Brooklyn Seafood, Steak and Oyster house. It was fabulously delicious. The crab cake was amazing. Even Maddie loved it. We were too stuffed to walk back up the hill to the hotel!

Monday - Day 8 of our Washington vacation. We started today back at Pike's Market. Daddy wanted to get more of the delicious fruit. We bought Maddie a huge sunflower. She loved the fruit stands and asked again if she could get raspberries for her fingers, she remembered from the other day. We also went back to Rachel the Pig and Maddie wanted to return to the Gum Wall and stick on another piece of gum. She went right to the spot we used last time and "added to it," making a person of gum. Then we headed to The Crumpet Shop. Mariam had raved about it. It was delicious! After breakfast, we headed out to Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. They had seals to make rubbings and Maddie completed the Junior Ranger program and received another badge. She had to find all sorts of treasures throughout the building. We walked around the area headed toward Pioneer Square, stopping at the Waterfall Garden Park. Maddie was throwing coins into the waterfall and making wishes. I asked what she wished for and she said, "a new daddy, one who wasn't mean to her." Then she made another wish and wished "God would make me not be bad." We stopped and talked to her about listening and how much she is loved. We then stopped for lunch at the Merchant's Cafe, Seattle's oldest restaurant from 1890. We walked around Pioneer Square and saw the Pioneer Building, the Pergola, and the totem pole. We continued on our wandering way and found an awesome glass blowing shop, The Glasshouse Studio. They were firing glass and creating beauty as we watched. We ended up purchasing three fabulous glass flowers. How we would get them home without breaking them? We headed back to the hotel for a rest and then walked to the SAM (Seattle Museum of Art). We didn't get very far before Maddie found the kids play area and met a friend. The two girls played pretend for about an hour before the Museum closed. There were pretty neat touch screens to create paintings. Daddy enjoyed those a lot. After the museum we had a light dinner at Purple Seattle and headed back to our hotel.

Tuesday - Day 9 of our Washington vacation. We ended our Seattle stay with breakfast at Tulio's in our Hotel. It was a really expensive French restaurant, but the breakfast wasn't bad. We headed out on the 2 hour drive to Longmire at Mount Ranier National Park. We were staying at the National Park Inn, but couldn't check-in until 4pm, so we set off on a few hikes. We started on the VanTrump trail, only 1/4 mile in to see the view of Christine Falls, then we drove around to the base of the falls. We stopped at Narada Falls and had a picnic lunch. Maddie was very excited about the picnic. We decided to hike the Narada falls Trail. It was a 2.97 mile loop. I told Juan that before we started and he said ok. We hiked for almost 2 hours and Maddie was getting exhausted and not moving very fast. We ran into another Mom and Daughter (about 8 years of age). They mentioned to watch out for bears as they had been spotted at Sunrise and those trails were shut down. That, of course, freaked Juan out and he started yelling at Maddie to hurry up. He also got really upset at me saying that I couldn't read a map and there was no way this was only 3 miles. The last hour of the hike was long, tense, and frustrating. Juan finally put Maddie on his shoulders for about the last 1/2 mile. I pretty much ran to keep up and twisted my ankle at one point. We finally heard and then saw the waterfall. I was very happy to be finished with that hike. We drove on to the Sunrise Visitor Center. Juan was adamant that we were not even hiking to the base of the traill. Maddie completed yet another Junior Ranger Program and received a badge. As we drove out of Sunrise, there were cars just stopped on the road. We finally saw what they were looking at, a bear. It was a mama black bear and two baby cubs. They weren't afraid of the cars or the people. There was even one crazy lady who got out of her car and was walking along the road towards them with her camera. She was probably grandma's age. Juan got out of the car, although he stayed behind the door - that was enough for me. As we continued on our drive, we saw more cars stopped and saw yet another black bear. Juan got out and got a bit closer until I got angry and told him to get back in the car. We also saw our first Marmot. Once we checked into the Inn, we went down to the front porch and hung out in the rocking chairs and rested our weary feet.   

Wednesday - Day 10 of our Washington vacation. We woke up before Sunrise intending to be at reflection ridge for the sunrise. We didn't make it, but we timed it perfectly as the sun had just barely risen. It was breathtakingly beautiful. Maddie loved watching the water. After taking some fabulous photos, we headed up to Sunrise Visitor Center. When we arrived, the visitor center was not even open. We decided to headed out for a hike, it was a 1/2 mile hike on Silver Forest Trail. Emmons Vista was .1 miles in. It was beginning to get cloudy, so the vista was a bit overshadowed. We returned to the Visitor Center and had a snack before heading back down the mountain. We returned to the Inn and walked the Trail of Shadows - a 1/2 mile trail around the old hotel and the hot springs. Maddie found some more sword ferns. We were exhausted and had an early night after dinner at the the Inn.

Thanks for visiting!