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 #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:

Bucket List #56 | Seattle Art Museum

For my 30th birthday, Landon wanted to make sure I knew that our adventures aren't going to stop just because we're getting older and more responsible. :) To that end, unbeknownst to me, he asked some good friends to watch our kids for almost the entire day so we could cross some things off the ol' bucket list. It was amazingly thoughtful and a great day!

The first place we stopped at was the Seattle Art Museum.

There are two main reasons it took us so long to go here. The first is that two young kids + priceless art = not the most relaxing time ever. The second is that we just always assumed that it was way out of our price range! Little known fact, if there are no special exhibits showing, the SAM is operated based on donations, and you get to choose the amount. So conceivably we could have got in for $1/each! Good to know for the future.

I should have taken more pictures...but I was too busy having a great time! The top floor has a great collection of African art, antiquities from Greece and Rome, and an Arabian/Mediterranean display. Plus some other cool stuff. :)

We also loved this cool "Italian room", which is an actual room moved from a house in Chiavenna, Italy, built around 1550:

And now I must have these windows in my library someday. :)
My favorite part was the glass display on the middle floor (which I didn't take a single photo of because I guess I was too amazed). Now I'm psyched for the Glass Museum. They also had some modern art, some of which we liked more than others.

I also must have a cool dictionary page hanging somewhere in my house.

All in all, we had a super fun time at the Art Museum, and will hopefully find our way back someday! We rate it:

Bucket List #88 | The American Girl Store

Confession again...I have been to the American Girl Store. Dozens of times, in fact. I can't help it, the 9-year-old girl in me just squees inside whenever I see those pretty dolls. I was lucky enough to have my own Samantha doll and a "Girl of Today" growing up, and they were some of my most-prized possessions.

Anyway, when my sister came we decided it was time to splurge and take the girls to lunch at the American Girl Cafe! So I guess it's finally time to blog about it, also. :)

It was honestly so much fun. I loved taking my daughter into what I'm pretty sure Heaven looked like in my mind when I was a child. The food was actually pretty good and not that expensive, either!

This was the first time I let Zuzu walk around the store also, and she definitely showed some interest. :)

I kind of can't wait to get her a doll of her own. :)

Bucket List #92 | Rattlesnake Lake

Right after we moved to Seattle, the guy who came to hook up our Internet told us about this place not too far away that is famous for several Bigfoot sightings. That was the first time I had heard about how the Pacific Northwest is the capital of Bigfoot. Maybe I had been living under a rock?

Anyhow, Landon and I have been looking for somewhere to get some elevation training in (we're planning an expedition this coming summer. :)), so for Labor Day weekend we tackled Rattlesnake Ledge.

It was a gorgeous hike - just the right length for us (4 miles roundtrip), since we were packing our kids up, and just the right amount of challenge. (1160 ft elevation gain on the way up)

The lake is super low this year, so that was sort of disappointing, but the view from the top was still spectacular.

We didn't see Bigfoot, but there were some mysterious tracks on the trail...

And this suspicious formation of rocks at the bottom of the lake bed. Maybe it's pointing to his hideout?

We really enjoyed this hike and would definitely recommend it. Get there early because when we got down at around 1pm, the parking lot was packed full and there were cars just circling, waiting for a spot.

We rate Rattlesnake Lake and the accompanying hike:

Not as spectacular as a few things we've seen, but super fun nonetheless!