First family trip

Like the title says, we took our first trip as a family of 5 last week to Seattle. Surprisingly, it was probably the best trip we've had so far! Everything, including all plane travel, went smoothly. There wasn't any travel anxiety, which is usually what happens when we all try to go somewhere that we're not familiar with. I think the key was going without any kind of plan. Here's a few highlights and funny memorable moments from our trip:

1. Briggs got wine spilled on his head on the flight into Seattle. By this time though, Ted had consumed about 3 free drinks, and I had at least 1, so we were feeling pretty relaxed about the whole thing. The flight attendant went ahead and gave Ted another free drink to make up for our clumsiness.

Up early enough to see the sun rise

"Hooked up"

Holding some precious cargo

2.  Beer toured at Pike's and Fremont breweries. We were captivated by Fremont's atmosphere. Super laid-back, kid friendly (they even had a toy box), free pretzels and apples, and enclosed by barrels that were turned into planters. We loved it so much we took home a couple really neat pint glasses and a growler.

They gave us like 20 of these stickers

Belgian Tripel style

3. We got to hang out with old college friends, and really got a feel for what it's like to have a puppy in the house. We also were sold on getting a new couch from Ikea, and plan on doing that the next free weekend that we have. And Portage Bay had an amazing breakfast!

4. Mesmerized with all the green glowing grass and moss. It was refreshing to see things so alive compared to what we have at home.

5. Lucy and I spent an afternoon at the coolest spa ever! I'm so going back again the next time we visit. There were different rooms made entirely out of elements. For instance the Salt room, Mud/Jade room, and the Charcoal room all had properties that were good for the skin, body, mind, etc... Elven stone seemed to line everything in the pool area and shower heads. 4 different temperature pools. A hot steam sauna, and a dry one too. An area where we got our entire bodies scrubbed to perfect cleanliness. And finally, we both got hour-long massages. We both walked out of there feeling fuzzy-brained from all the pampering.

6. Got to play on a cool playground, equipped with a couple zip-lines that the boys and the adults were able to ride on. This Kompan company really knows how to make a playground seem like a challenge course for kids. Very weird ladders, rock-climbing walls, and things to slide on.

7. Hiked 4 miles on Rattlesnake Ridge with the boys, uncle J, and aunt L. I wore Max in the Ergo and he slept most of the hike. Ted wore Finn in the backpack carrier, and Briggs walked by himself. Everyone was completely exhausted by the time we arrived home that night. So we stuffed our faces with pizza and watched Howl's Moving Castle.

Chillin' with 100 other hikers at the top

8. Explored the city on our own the day that L and J had to work. We found several parks that we had never been to. Gasworks was a neat place and also houses all the homeless, as we discovered several "camps" in between the metal sculptures. The sky was so clear that day, and juxtaposed against the bright green grass made for a beautiful picture (see below).

A bunch of metal things