Day 39: an uncounted number of miles... on foot

Today, the boys and I set out to explore Seattle.

There are not a lot of pictures of the journey - just a few destinations where it was safe enough to look at the boys through a viewfinder and they couldn't run into traffic. So let me paint a picture of the rest of the day: Gusty was in a Boba carrier and Bear walked beside me. Until he didn't. Then Gusty was in a Boba carrier and I held Bear. We walked miles. I might have the benefits of altitude on my side because carrying 80 pounds of boys for 10+ city blocks at a time really wasn't that difficult. It wasn't the most pleasurable thing to do, but I did get to have some great conversations that might have been lost among the city noises.

I realize that after hiking in mountains with kids, it seems weird to brag about carrying them through a city, but I think it is harder to give them freedom and keep them alive in a city then it is on a mountain. More cars. More distractions. More traffic.

Let's get to some pictures.

Breakfast: Top Pot doughnuts

The kids asked to go to the State Control tower. I don't know where they came up with this plan but since it is a bit chilly for a trip to the beach, off we go to the Space Needle.

And because it was in the same neighborhood, we headed to the Children's Museum. Okay. I am going to be honest - this place is maybe not the best place to spend your time and money. I know they need money and bodies to fill the place and so me saying this is counter-productive. BUT if you have an afternoon and are used to childrens' museums like Boston's Children Museum, or Kohl Childrens' Musuem, COSI or even the Virginia Discovery Museum or you want the most bang for your buck, you will be disappointed here. Things are broken, missing, old, beat up, dated... you get the picture. Good news? They had a few bins of legos to play with because of a special exhibit (?) and there is construction on the building as the entire city gets ready for the 50th anniversary of the Space Needle - perhaps they will do a complete makeover or some maintenance soon. Maybe?

We walked through a few of the neighborhoods, picked up some food at Whole Foods, headed back to the hotel (with meltdowns in progress), rented Cars 2 and unexpectedly napped. Since bedtime was going to be late, we drove up to Delancey for dinner. They were nice enough to wrap up all of our pizzas once we figured out the boys were not going to make it through dinner quietly. (The pizzas and atmosphere and people were wonderful. Wonderful.)

We did it.