Ski-attle, Part Deux

We visited the Pacific Science Center, which is conveniently located next to the Space Beedle. They had a special exhibit called "Animal Gross-ology" which included every disgusting thing you ever wanted to know about animals, plus a lot more.

Here I am encouraging T to look through the binoculars in the exhibit. He was supposed to identify which scat came from which animal. I am such a good mom, encouraging scientific learning like I do.
Here is my sweet little Ali about to be devoured by an Allosaurus. We have added Allosaur to her collection of nicknames beginning with the letters Al.
I am looking slightly startled to see that there is a dinosaur over my shoulder. I was retrieving pennies from my pocketbook for Seth to use in the penny-smashing machine. I love those machines. You can get a small souvenir that you make yourself for for 51 cents. We have quite a collection.
Okay, this is not Ski-attle, but it was part of our vacation. We also spent a day at the Evergreen Air and Space Museums (aka: The Museum for Men, Boys, and the Women they Drag There). They have Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose housed in there. It's humongous.

The boys loved every minute spent exploring the museums, but after 3 1/2 hours of looking at engines, props and flight simulators, I was sending text messages to friends and family letting them know where to find my body after I died of boredom. Part of the problem with marrying a genius is that you wait around a lot while he learns stuff . . . which pretty much defines our entire 10 years together.
On the other hand, if I were a single 75 year old woman looking to pick up a handsome senior citizen war vet . . . this would definitely be the right place to hang out.

We Skedaddled to Ski-attle

Michael had the week off for our tenth anniversary. Since we spent all of our discretionary money (and then some) on Dora's transmission we significantly scaled back our celebratory plans.

So we took the kiddos to Seattle, or as Thomas called it "Ski-attle." And now we all call it "Ski-attle," and we probably all will for the rest of our lives, because that is just how things work around here. Witness the fact that we also refer to flowers as fowders, Parker's Maple Barn (a pancake house in Vermont we used to go to during maple syrup season) as Partur's Maykle Barm, and binoculars and binok-lee-ars . . . well, you get the idea. From here on out the Space Needle will also be referred to as the Space Beedle. Sorry.

Here's the fam at the Space Beedle. Seth is taking a picture posing cue from Alice and is determined to attempt a karate move in every shot we take.
No trip to Ski-attle is complete without a stop at the wackiest gift shop in the world. Buy paper made out of recycled elephant poo and see the stuffed carcass of a two-headed calf all in the same place. It's just like Wal-mart, only better.
Mugging by the waterfront.
The famous (I guess they are anyway, I didn't know anything about them until I saw one) Pike's Place Pigs. Behind the pig is what we thought was an elevator. We made the mistake of riding in it before realizing that it is actually Ski-attle's most popular urinal disguised as an elevator.
No Cheerio family vacation is complete without clam chowder.
We also went to the Woodland Park Zoo, but I forgot the camera. I do that sometimes. Alice was in heaven because they have snow leopard cubs at the Woodland Park Zoo. We stood there and watched them for at least twenty minutes. That child is nutso for big, wild cats. I can't complain, at least she isn't into Barbies or those hideous Bratz dolls.

More Ski-attle vacation report to come. Keep your eyes peeled!