Bucket List #3 | Whale Watching

This blog has been neglected horribly, but we are truly winding down our time in Seattle (less than a year left!) and I want to follow through on our bucket list! It has been a fun way to spend our time here and we still have a lot to see and do!

Whale watching is one of the first things I added to our list - I've heard such incredible things and it seems like something you wouldn't want to miss living in the Pacific Northwest. I hadn't realized what an endeavor it would be - you've got to get out to the islands and it's fairly costly. Lucky for us, I have a fabulous cousin who planned it in as part of her destination wedding, so we were able to make it happen!!

We went on a chartered boat (thanks again, DiFrans!) and the trip lasted about 4 hours. Clearly Walt's upset about it:

It really was an incredible experience. We saw a pod of orcas, some seals, lots of birds, and other beautiful wildlife.

Our kids loved the feel of the boat and had a blast hanging out with cousins. (Second cousins? First cousins once-removed? I'm just never sure...)

I couldn't believe how BIG the orcas were. Fun fact: I'm terrified of orcas. For some reason when I was pregnant with Zuzu I would have this reoccurring dream about being stuck on a ferry that was being swamped by huge (and apparently very organized) orcas. Irrational for sure, but still horrifying. I think it's their human eyes that creep me out the most. But seeing them up close was actually fun! And they did not try and attack our boat, so bonus. :)

Definitely a beautiful experience that I'm glad we had. Thanks for including us Chel. Love you guys!

Bucket List #65 | Hike Mt. Si

We spent the summer of 2016 training for a huge adventure (more on that to come). The last step in our training was to hike Mount Si, which is the training hike for Mt. Rainier expeditions. They say that if you can complete the Mount Si hike in under 2 hours, you are ready.

It's not the kind of hike that you do with kids, or at least with a 5-year-old who is too big to be carried and too small to do that strenuous of a hike, so we enlisted the help of our very good friends to have Walt and Zuzu over to play one Saturday while we did the hike. It took about 6 hours total, with the hike and drive time, so - we're talking VERY good friends, here. :)

We had so much fun doing this hike together. It was my first time hiking with a pack and I think I did a decent job of it. 

We made it up in about 130 minutes - so not quite the 2-hour limit, but we weren't attempting to climb Rainier, so we felt pretty good about it! 

The view was beautiful and the long stretch of time spent together with no distractions was even better.

This is a great hike - probably my favorite we've done in Seattle. It is very steep, but not super long, so if you like vigorous outdoor things, you'd probably love it!

Bucket List #57 | Ballard Locks

At the end of preschool, Walt's little class took a field trip to the Ballard Locks, which ended up being so fun!

The locks are fun to watch -- it's an interesting process and it's always fun to see boats up close! It was very loud on that side, so we watch a couple of boats go through and then wandered off.

I didn't realize that the locks are actually within a park that has extensive gardens and a visitor's center!

We really enjoyed this experience and it's FREE! If you're in the downtown area go here!

Bucket List #66 | Mima Mounds

The Mima Mounds are a group of... well, mounds in Washington that no one can fully explain. Mysterious geologic formation? Obviously, it went on the bucket list! We finally got a chance to visit them on the way to Portland this week (more on that later). 

They were actually so much cooler than I was expecting! 

It's a beautiful site with prairie foliage and a fun little hiking trail. 

The morning we went, there were dense gray clouds and kind of a fog settled over the mounds, which made us feel like we were in Europe or exploring a fantasy world. Fun. :)

We spent about 45 minutes walking around, exploring and taking photos. There are more extensive hiking trails and a fun picnic spot, so we could have easily spent an afternoon there if we'd had the time.   

The mounds are "unexplained" in that no theory has proven how the mounds got there. Our resident scientist, Almost-Doctor-Landon, told us that it was probably a combination of geologic factors, such as a glacier, and biological factors, AKA ROUSs. Or ok, just regular gophers. But it's more fun to imagine that we were visiting the Fire Swamp. (Is anyone still with me? ;))

We definitely had fun visiting the Mima Mounds! We'll rate it:

Maybe we'll go back someday and take a picnic. Anyone want to join us? 

Bucket List #36 | The Pink Door

The last stop of my birthday tour was at a funky, fun Italian restaurant on Post Alley in Downtown Seattle. It's called "The Pink Door" and literally has no sign, just a pink door. You walk in and go down into the "underground" part of Seattle to an impeccably decorated bistro/hipster joint. It had live music and fantastic food.

The whole experience felt very Seattle-esque. It was a little funky, lots of hipsters hanging out, good music and lots of fun.

I LOVE going to fancy places where you need a reservation. I don't know why, it just makes me feel so cool. Like I'm in the "know."

We had a great time and I'm glad we were finally able to sneak away for a grownup meal downtown. We'll definitely have to do it again!

Bucket List #68 | The Great Wheel

The second thing Landon took me to do for my brithday was to ride The Great Wheel downtown. This is definitely a cheesy tourist thing - but it's one of those cheesy tourist things that you'd feel lame if you'd lived in a place and never done. It's not crazy expensive, but enough that I never really wanted to pay for all four of us to go - especially factoring in parking and a whole day downtown, all that fun stuff. So I was really glad when Landon planned it as part of my birthday extravaganza!

While it IS cheesy - this was seriously fun! We went right at dusk so we could still see the view over the water, but the city was all lit up as well. 

The scenery was amazing and it was kind of romantic and quiet and just us. Literally, because on a Wednesday night we were the only two people there! Which meant we got to go around a few extra times. :)

I probably wouldn't call this a "must do" in Seattle - but if you're looking for a fun date night we thought it was a blast! And we're really glad we went. We'll rate it: