Seattle May 2010

From May 14 to May 18, 2010, we took a family trip to Seattle, WA to visit my dad and watch him graduate from law school at Seattle University. All four of us, along with my brother Brad, stayed in my dad's tiny and overpriced apartment. We had a great, jam packed vacation.

May 15 was graduation day for my dad. My grandma and my cousin Holly also attended the graduation. It was at Key Arena. We are pretty sure my dad was the only graduate with white hair. We are proud of him though. The ceremony itself was a bit brutal with Grant and Cole in tow but we did survive, barely. I would post a shot of my dad in cap, gown and hood but he returned it before he came outside the arena to meet us. I didn't get any shots of him hooded. You can see the back of him below with his fellow graduates.

My face in this picture shows you exactly how difficult it was to keep the children under control during the ceremony. I heard very little of the ceremony but thankfully did not miss my dad walking across the stage and being hooded.

For a brief moment, toward the end of the ceremony, we managed to get both boys to sit quietly on the steps and eat an apple. It didn't last long though.

After the graduation, we drove out to my cousing Holly's house in Redmond for a few hours. We had lunch and chatted. We have never visited her before. She has a great house, set back from the road with lots of lush, green land for the kids to run. Grant and Cole had a great time playing with Erin, Harrison and Rose.

(This is Brad relaxing in Holly's living room)

After spending a few hours at Holly's house, we headed to the Seattle Locks to watch the boats come in and see the salmon in the salmon runs.

(Grant napping on the ground at the Locks)

(The Mellen family at the Locks)

We were gearing up to head out on May 16, 2010 for Pike Place Market. I packed a backpack for the kids so I didn't have to carry a ton of junk in my bag. I put it on Grant to have him help with it and Cole lost it. He demanded a backpack of his own so I had to empty the other backpack and put it on him. He then lost it because he wanted to go and, as usual, Brad and Chad were taking forever to get ready to go.

Pike Place Market is a great place. I love it there. I love the fresh fish, the fruits and veggies, the people and the whole atmosphere. It's a crazy busy place. Grant and Cole were enthralled with the fish and learned a lot about seafood on this trip. My dad bought a delicious salmon filet that I broiled for dinner a couple of nights later. There is nothing in the world better than fresh seafood. We ate seafood almost everyday while on this trip.

(Lindsay and Grant at the entrance to Pike Place Market)

(Grant on the giant piggy bank at the entrance to the market)

(I took the boys to get some ice cream while Chad and Brad waited in line for drinks from the first Starbucks, found at Pike Place Market - Grant chose blue bubble gum ice cream. He had the bluest mouth you can imagine when he was done with that.)


(This is Cole napping while Grant was eating his ice cream. He through the hugest fit in the Market about 20 minutes before this was taken. We had to strap him in the stroller and literally let him scream himself to sleep, he was exhausted. He got a good nap out of the effort but it sure was torture for us.)

We purchased Seattle City Passes that enabled us to go to the Science Center, Space Needle, Woodland Park Zoo, the Aquarium and on a Harbor Cruise. We did it all.

From Pike Place Market we went to the Aquarium and wandered around until it was time for our Harbor Cruise. After our Harbor Cruise, we went up the Space Needle then headed home.

(Grant petting a starfish)

(Grant pretending to be a jellyfish)

(Grant and Cole snacking on the back of a whale)

(Cole as an ocotpus)

(Chad and Grant with the starfishes)

We saw some great views of the Seattle skyline and the water industries in Seattle on our Harbor Cruise. They did give a narration of what we saw while on the cruise but that was impossible to listen to with the boys.

(Papa and Grant on the cruise)

(Lindsay with Grant and Cole on the cruise)

(Cole throwing a fit on the cruise for some unknown reason)

(Lindsay and Cole on top o fthe Space Needle)

(Chad on top of the Space Needle)

(View of Space Needle from the base)

On May 17, 2010, we started the day at Snoqualmie Falls then headed back into town for the Pacific Science Center, an Imax movie and a celebration of Grant's birthday.

(Cole very unhappy that I put him in a giant dinosuar footprint)

(Grant, Papa and Brad all having fun squirting things with the giant waterguns - fun for boys of all ages)


(Snoqualmie Falls from the base)


(Papa, Grant and Cole resting after our hike to and from the falls)


(The Mellen Family at the base of the falls)


(The Mellen boys on the hike back from the falls)


(Cole and Chad hiking back from the falls)

(Grant blowing out candles from the first of three four year old birthday cakes - Papa was nice enough to purchase a cake mix, frosting, sprinkles and candles so we could celebrate with him)

(Grant opening the birthday card from Papa, with Cole's help)

On our last day in Seattle, May 18, we didn't leave until the afternoon so we had time to go to the zoo in the morning and have a final seafood feast. We wore Papa out from the previous two days of crazy sightseeing so he passed on the zoo and met us for lunch. Brad came with us to the zoo. I really like the Woodland Park Zoo. It has great animals and really cool, natural looking habitats.

(Cole and Grant on the hippo statue - the zoo actually had hippos, how cool is that?)

(The zoo had a tapir too. Grant was so excited and actually took this picture)

(Grant petting a goat in the petting zoo - it really did have everything)

(Grant on the kimodo dragon statue - it even had real dragons)

(a petting zoo goat gnawing on the rake handle - the funniest thing was that the ladies just kept talking as if it was no big deal. We also saw goats eating the plastic lawn chairs and were told that a goat had eaten the better part of a $20 bill a few days prior to our visit)

(Cole enthralled with the goats - he really liked them)

(Enjoying our final seafood feast at The Crab Pot - the dish we ordered only came with bibs, mallets and wood slabs - no plates, traditional utensils or anything)

(Our feast - it was brought out in a metal bowl and literally dumped on the table in front of us. You can see our wood slabs and that little crab fork was provided after my specific request. The feast included shrimp, mussels, crab, red potatoes, sausage, corn and clams. It was so much food, we were throwing shelled seafood and my dad and Brad to have them help us eat it all. Grant had a great time smashing shells with the mallets, although he wouldn't try any of it and didn't even touch the burger we ordered him.)

(The Mellen boys at the airport waiting for the plane to take us back to good old A-Z.)

(Cole with the remnants of his blow pop. Chad bought a bag and gave each boy a blow pop just before we headed through security at the airport to keep them occupied and distracted. On the flight to Seattle, Cole threw a fit at security when we had to collapse his stroller and bolted into one of the security offices. The blow pops really worked well.)

(Grant sipping water from his cup from The Crab Pot waiting for the plane to come)