This last weekend we drove over to Western WA to visit family and friends. It normally takes about 5 hours to drive but, Snoqualmie Pass (Cascade Mtn Range) was experiencing blizzard and avalanche conditions so it took us 7 hours to get to Gamma's house. It was worth the trip. John and I hung out in Seattle all day and evening by ourselves and then later with friends while Gamma entertained Sophia. We had the best sushi in a long time, and met with college friends for dinner (Mike, Bridget, and Shane). Later in the weekend, we visted with some high school friends of mine (Heidi and Brady) to enjoy dinner and tell horror stories to prepare them for parenthood. I wish we could have visited more people but, there is only so much time. We had to cut our visit a day short due to a potential job interview for me on Tuesday. We were able to make a quick stop to visit John's sister in Seattle before heading back over to Spokane. Katie was is town from Chicago helping a good friend move to the PNW. Welcome to the great state of WA Julia! Anyway, we did make it to the Pacific Science Center in Seattle. This is a huge science/interactive/fair/entertainment park. We met Mike and Bridget there for the morning. I think we all had a really great time exploring the exhibits and watching Sophia enjoying herself. I have included some photos of our activities below...
Bridget shows Sophia the proper way to get a good hand grip on the rock wall. Maybe in a few years. There is an excellent rock wall at the Spokane Valley YMCA.
Mike learned here that no sooner did he complete his masterpiece building before Sophia-the-Destroyer would run over with arms flailing and giggles squealing to knock it down. They did this several times.
Everyone really liked the live butterfly exhibit. The atrium was 85-degrees and humid (air thick). There were tropical plants, goldfish, and beautiful butterflies everywhere. Yes, those on the tree trunk are really real. Note the child's head for scale. They were huge! I'd hate to see the size of their catapillars...eeeuuuwww!
Sophia loved this food-bowl covered with butterflies. She knew that they were eating things that she recognized like banana and orange. She was fasinated and we were able to look at them only inches away. Yes, she very muched liked trying to touch them. She knew we had to be 'gentle'. They flew right by her many times and she would just smile ear to ear and say "wow".
Just a few more beauties to include...
Bridget shows Sophia the proper way to get a good hand grip on the rock wall. Maybe in a few years. There is an excellent rock wall at the Spokane Valley YMCA.
Mike learned here that no sooner did he complete his masterpiece building before Sophia-the-Destroyer would run over with arms flailing and giggles squealing to knock it down. They did this several times.
Everyone really liked the live butterfly exhibit. The atrium was 85-degrees and humid (air thick). There were tropical plants, goldfish, and beautiful butterflies everywhere. Yes, those on the tree trunk are really real. Note the child's head for scale. They were huge! I'd hate to see the size of their catapillars...eeeuuuwww!
Sophia loved this food-bowl covered with butterflies. She knew that they were eating things that she recognized like banana and orange. She was fasinated and we were able to look at them only inches away. Yes, she very muched liked trying to touch them. She knew we had to be 'gentle'. They flew right by her many times and she would just smile ear to ear and say "wow".
Just a few more beauties to include...