Spring Break, Part 2

This year's spring break was two weeks long so we decided to keep the fun going by staying in Seattle while everyone else headed home from the beach.  Ed was in Denver so we had a couple days on our own before he joined us.

The ferry ride over was pouring rain, the ride back was gorgeous:

The bay was super busy so the ferry took the long way around, which gave us a chance to check out all the awesome houses and soak up some sun.

Then we headed for Ikea.

Ava and I left the kids in the kid care and went to (a very quiet) lunch and then hustled to shop before our time ran out.

Which it did. 

So we picked these guys back up and powered through: 

See all the tables and no chairs?

That's Ikea...we like you just as long as you're shopping...after that, get out.

We finally got to our hotel and discovered it was under major construction.  We were pooped so we unloaded anyway, hauled all our gear up five flights of stairs, got to our room, and then came to our senses.  So we hauled it all back down, told them we were moving back to our favorite Bellevue hotel and hit the road at rush hour.

We checked in, the kids threw on their pool gear and waited for me by watching them set up the free food and drinks: 

we were starving.

And thirsty.  Particularly for margaritas: 

The next day we hit the zoo.

(clearly my most loved child at the zoo)

this one's not too bad.

and we couldn't live without that goober.

but this one is always the biggest help.

Then we headed to Red Robin for lunch before our afternoon cruise.

And we waited and waited. And our food arrived about two minutes before we were supposed to board so we took it to go, ran down the dock, and got the last five seats.

And all the stares.

The cruise had a talking tour guide for most of it and it was actually really interesting.

The kids are shooting at invisible targets here.

Back to the hotel for more food and drinks before bed.

And then sometime in the middle of the night, daddy joined the party.

Just in time for the next day's fun:

Imax.

Science center.

Space needle.

Aquarium.

I really wanted to take the kids on the Big Wheel, but the last time Ed and I had done it, the line was crazy long.  So I snuck off to check it out and then called Ed and said if you hurry, we can get right on!

He took that seriously and they all sprinted right over:

this one of course loved it.

Henry warmed up by the very end.

The next day was the market:

Ed and Ava insisted on Starbucks (and a crazy line) so Henry and I took off on our own, which is pretty much always a good decision:

I mean seriously.

Whew.
I think we covered pretty much every Seattle tourist hotspot.
I was pretty sure I needed a vacation to recover from my vacation.
But I will say these kids are so.much.fun.