Pike Place Market

Another highlight of our field trip was definitely our hike up to Pike's Place.  The girls each chose a princess crown as their souvenir, and as they were posing on the brass pig for their picture, they caught the eye of another photographer who was shooting for a tourism magazine insert that goes in the local hotels.  We couldn't say no, so she shot about 100 pictures of them on the pig and getting their balloons from the ever present balloon man. (I couldn't believe that guy was still there!) At the fish throwers, one of the men working there commented that the fish he was throwing was almost as big as Amarra, and held it up for comparison.  He started talking to the girls about the Monk Fish, who they did not believe jumped all by itself when people touched it, so he let them all go behind the counter and take a turn pulling on the string to make it move.  Elora and Amarra, amidst the shrieks of joy, even did the sound effects, imitating the noise the fish thrower did when he pulled the string.  They received quite an ovation from the crowd of onlookers! (I forgot how much nicer people are in Seattle than in Portland.  Even the homeless men bowed to the girls as they walked up the street with their crowns on.  Elora curtsied back at all of them.) Next we, of course, took the girls to the *gasp* first Starbucks ever before heading to get ice cream.  From there we moseyed back to the train station.  Elora commandeered Annette (Danielle's grandma) and held her hand for a mile or so, talking her ear off about everything under the sun.  Amarra was such a trooper she didn't even need to hop on Daddy's shoulders until  3 blocks before we got back to the train station. We couldn't have asked for a better day!!

Hello, Seattle!

The girls had an amazing time on the waterfront, riding the carousel and playing at the fountains.  Amarra could hardly contain herself!

"Crazy" Ivar's

As soon as we decided to have lunch in Seattle, I could practically taste the halibut fish and chips!!
Our first stop was at the Ivar's on the waterfront, where feeding seagulls is highly encouraged (the pidgeons, not so much) and you can watch the ferries come and go.  The water and sky are full of very loud birds ("Mine!  Mine!") asking for your extra fries, fish, chicken strips....whatever.  The girls all giggled in glee as they sat at the edge of the water eating and sharing with the seagulls.  They both tossed their food for the sea gulls to catch and held out bites, which the scavengers gladly came and took from their hands. (Yeah, I never did decide how I felt about that, but I did have my trusty hand sanitizer with me.)  Once the girls ran out of scraps to give, pretty much every other person eating out there shared with them...some gave them entire plates of fries which Elora broke up into pieces to make last longer....and clapped every time a seagull got one out of their hands or caught one in midair.  Quite the show!

Schools On Trains

Yesterday we had the pleasure of taking their first real (not counting the Zoo Train or Mt. Hood Railroad) train ride.  We took Amtrak from Vancouver to Seattle and back with a group of about 75 Home Schoolers. The trip was about 3 hours each way, but everyone was having so much fun that no one ever fell asleep...even on the way home way past bedtime! The girls made some lovely new friends, and Seleia got to spend the day with her friend Danielle.  We can't wait to do it again!