Squeezing out the last bit of summer! (caution picture overload)

As School time approaches I have been trying to squish in more summertime fun! So when my friend called and asked me if I wanted to meet her at the lake I was Very excited!

 Mallory is getting Really good at swimming and Andrew is starting to get more brave with his life jacket on!

 They LOVED Running to the dock and jumping off...Then we went to a friends house that had set up a HUGE slip and slide down a hill- too much fun!

 We wanted to go to another Rainers game before the summer was over...So a few weeks ago we did. Can you tell we got Free hats?

 We invited the Marini's family from church...Mallory couldn't care less about baseball, so it was fun to have her friend there to play with!

 Random picture- Our Spencer boy started Solid foods, this boy loves rice cereal!

 Last weekend we wanted to do a little weekend trip up to Seattle. Malachi and I both grew up here but haven't done many of the famous, tourist Seattle things...So we woke up EARLY Saturday and tried to see as much as we could!

 Our first stop was the Freemont Troll...it is pretty cool and the kids liked climbing on it!

 Then we went to Gasworks park. I had thought it would be HUGE considering how many people go there for the 4th of July, but it wasn't too big, and there weren't any toys, so we just ran down the arches (can you see Malachi on the top?)

 Then we ran to the top of "Kite Flying hill" that was pretty cool and a beautiful view of Seattle.

 They were doing a 10K so we ran though the finish line...

 Then we went and Walked around Green lake for awhile

 there were a few barges to play on

 we walked over to Woodland park, This was a fun park- it might have been the kids favorite part!

 Everywhere we went there were fun things to see and eat and smell...it really is a completely different culture- very interesting!

 Then we went to the Zoo...

 We saw some cute Monkeys in cages

 and hung out by the penguins- the Zoo really was cool. We love going to different zoos and seeing animals we've never seen before.

 After that we went to the Pacific Science center where they have lots of interactive exhibits where the kids got to learn and test out different Scientific principles.

 While we were there we watched a 3-D movie on I-Max. It was a butterfly movie and the kids kept putting out their hands like they were going to catch a butterfly!

 We saw all the exhibits at the Science center- but Malachi was disappointed that they had changed some of the things from when he was a kid!

 There is "Art" all over Seattle- and it all looks so fun to climb on, so we did!

 After that we went down to the waterfront (by FAR the most expensive parking) We did some shopping (they had a street fair) and walked though some of shops.

 Then we went to Ivars for dinner, I was planning on getting something fishy, but ended up getting Steak, but everyone else had fish- Seattle style!

After dinner we went on a 1 hour harbor cruise! This was a Very relaxing way to end the day. the sun was going down, we had been walking all day, it was nice just to sit back and enjoy the Puget sound and look at the scenery.

 The kids LOVED it, they thought it was so cool that we were on a BIG boat!

 After that we headed back to the Hotel and went swimming in the pool for a bit before we went to bed around 10- That's right folks, we did all of that in ONE day!

No time to rest- we need to have more fun...So we woke up early and had a very yummy continental breakfast at our hotel before heading out.

 First stop was the Space Needle- we went ALL the way to the TOP!

 Perfect time of day, just as the sun is rising and there were not very many people up there. ( Did you notice Andrew is using the telescope backwards? Such a cute boy)

 You would not believe it- we saw a real life Trolley- and we weren't even in San Francisco!

 Next we went to go ride the Ducks- I've wanted to do this for a long time and all day we kept seeing the tours go by, it looked like so much fun!

It was great with lots of fun music, Quackers, and everyone waved at you like you were on a parade! Then when we Drove into the water Andrew was SHOCKED!!! He was just certain that the driver had taken a wrong turn

 After the Duck tour we went over to the Seattle Children's museum.

 We ALL played pretend, Taco bar, grocery store, restaurant, theater, camping...

 A lot of it was geared towards younger kids, but they had a good time anyway!

 There was a whole section of different cultures...

 And Mallory's favorite toy ANYWHERE is the phone- silly girl!

After the Children's museum we caught the Monorail over to Westlake Center,,

We did some shopping at some of the stores and went to the cheesecake factory for lunch. The food was REALLY good. Malachi LOVED his cheese cake and offered the kids a bite...Andrew had a COMPLEATE tantrum because we wouldn't let him spit out his bite.

 Then we went over to Pike place market- I thought this sounded really fun but there were WAY too many people and walking though the crowds was stressful with two little children...we ended up buying some Pepper-jelly for Malachi and a bouquet of flowers for me!

 And of Course we HAD to see the famous gum wall- GROSS!

Then we headed home, it was such a FUN weekend. Just the four of us hanging out together! Okay now I feel like I am ready to get back into the routine of school. back to school night is tonight!