First at the Park

This summer we spent several days at parks.  There are so many around here that I think we probably could have gone to a new one every day and had no repeats through out the summer.  Towards the end of summer Thor joined in on some of the fun too!

He was not too sure about the swing when it first started going.  He actually had a look of terror on his face but within minutes he quickly started to enjoy it and found it very fun!

He was also able to go down the slide for the first time with Grace.

Farm Park

There is a local park here that has a farm on it, or maybe it is a local farm that has a park on it, which ever way it is we went to it a few weeks back.  It was actually a very nice place with several different trails to hike.  The girls of course loved the animals and while we were there a hired hand or volunteer was there feeding the animals and let several of the kids pet some of the animals.

While we were looking at the horses he came in and put hay right next to the fence for them to eat so we could get an up-close look at them!

There wasn't much for a playground there but they did have some swings and these tire swings.

We actually spent most of the time hiking on the trails there.

Here are some cool looking trees we saw on our hike.....

T-Ball

This summer Grace's sports class also covered t-ball.  She did pretty good hitting the ball but throwing, as of right now, isn't really her strong point.  However I found it interesting that when she did throw the ball she threw it with her left hand.

Baseball!!

What is summer with out a baseball game?  To us it just is not summer if we don't hit up at least one game.  Usually for us it is a not an issue of what game or team we want to go to however, this year was a little different.  We moved to a city that is in the American League and we follow a team in the National League!  Do you see our issue?  So it came down to these questions...when would be a good time to go, who is on our fantasy baseball teams and do we really care to see any of them play?  We came up with the Toronto Blue Jays!  Why Toronto....Mark had RA Dickey on his fantasy team & wanted to see him play.  Plus as an added bonus Dickey use to play for the Mets and Jose Reyes is on the team and he is one of my favorite players and also use to play for the Mets!!  For us it was a win win!

 The view from our seats.  We have found out with the kids it is better to be higher up.  It keeps their attention more and when the game has lost their attention they can watch the big screen.  As a bonus we were in the row right next to the railing so nobody was in front of us blocking their view!  One of the smartest things I have ever done and will probably always go for these tickets in the future.

 Special treat for the girls for doing so great!

 Thor some how was able to fall asleep right around his normal bedtime!  We actually stayed at this game the longest we have ever stayed at one.  I think two things played a part in it.  First those giant snow-cones or snow-cups above and second the fact that we had no one in front of our seats!  To top the night Toronto won!!  As for next season we already know what game we will be going to....the Mets are coming to town!! Every year the AL & NL teams will play each other but I won't go into detail how they decide which teams they will be playing.  Regardless, they are coming to town and we will be there!! :)  (Maybe one day we will cheer for the home team again.)

Leavenworth

Leavenworth is a little German town on the east side of the mountains.  I'm told back in the day it was a struggling town and was not doing well so they towns people got together to talk about and decide what they could do to bring in business and keep the town thriving.  They decided to make it a little German town and gave the town a huge make-over and revamped it.  As they say, the rest is history!

Now is that little story true? I have no idea but it only adds to it!  It was a very cute place to visit.  Probably not the most fun for the kids but as an adult it was great with tons of little shops to go in and out of, great authentic German food.  Although Kings Biergarten in Pearland, Texas was better, at least compared to where we ate.  Not to say it was horrible food it was delicious!  Mark and I just thought Kings was a little better.

Sorry Ma & Dad, I know not the greatest picture but for some reason none of the pictures with people in them turned out to be that great. 

Anyways from the pictures maybe you can get an idea of what the town was like.  I didn't take too many pictures this day.  Probably cause it was hotter than anything, I was wearing a baby making it hotter and I just was not in the mood to snap any pictures.  I'm told it is beautiful at Christmas time, maybe if the pass is open we will head over for a day and take a look this year.  I would love to go back and spend more time there!  Now to just figure out what to do with the three little munchkins so we can really enjoy it and take our time walking around.  Hmmm......

Falls

Yes I know we have also done Snoqualmie Falls and yes my parents have too but it is just so beautiful how can you not do it more than once!!  Plus the last time we went with them it was getting really dark and it was raining.  It looks way different when it is sunny out!  Just soo beautiful!!

Trip to Seattle

Ok so we have done Seattle but my parents were not able to the last trip out.  It was winter, cold, wet & we had a newborn.  However, this trip was summer, beautiful temps, and a 7 month old.  A little bit easier conditions to do sight seeing!

Of course the 2 highlights for the girls and a must see, according to them, the giant in front of the art museum and the pig in the market!  Look closely in the picture above Papa, Grammy & Grace are in it! :)

The market is always a fun place to go.  They have the place that throws the fish, great food, flowers, and little booths selling pretty much anything!  It is also a great place to go people watch cause you just never know what you will see.  Apparently there are a lot of interesting things above our heads too!!  This is pretty much how Thor went through the market this time! Hehe :)

For lunch we stopped at the restaurant that was in the movie Sleepless in Seattle.  You know the one where Tom Hanks and Rob Reiner have lunch when they are talking about dating.  The picture is a little blurry but these are the stools that they sat on when recording that scene in the movie.

After the market and walking around a little more in the city we went to the famous over look of the city at Kerry Park.  We decided not to go up in the needle because well we did it once and basically you are up there looking at the city and one of the most famous parts of the skyline is the needle and you are in it so you never get a good picture of the city with it.  To us, anyways, it makes no sense paying a ton of money to go up really high and see the city when you miss seeing one of the greatest parts of the city.  On this day you could even make out Mt. Rainer very faintly.  It didn't really come up in the pictures below but if you squint and look to the right of the city you may see something whitish that could be clouds...the is Mt. Rainer. :)