Seattle!

I'm writing this late - but pretend we just got home. We were in Seattle from Wednesday until this Tuesday. Kris had his yearly LFM (MIT) conference. It was a interesting and fun trip for everyone, I think. I'll give you a run down of what we did and add pictures to coincide.

Wednesday - We flew out early in the morning. Ryan didn't like keeping his seatbelt on, but loved the tray tables. He spilled orange juice all over me and managed to poop 3 times during the trip (luckily for 2 of those we were still in the airport). When we got to the hotel, we both took naps and roamed the hotel until Kris came in. He put Ryan to bed and then went out to his MIT thing.

Thursday - Kris had day 1 of his conference. Ryan and I went to the childrens museum and played all morning. We had a great time there. Ryan loved the fire truck and bus. He played grocery store and taco stand as well as Japanese house. He had a great time and didn't want to leave (but McDonalds for lunch made up for it). After nap, we played at the hotel until early evening. We walked around the fish market area until it was time to meet Kris at the bar/dinner. Ryan was very shy there and told everyone that I was 'my momma'.

Friday - Kris had day 2 of his conference. Ryan and I played at the hotel in the morning then met Kris at his conference. We went to the zoo in the afternoon with other families from the conference - and unbeknownst to us Kris joined us. So we had a great afternoon with him. We got a special treat in getting to pet a beaver and a sloth! Ryan also got to ride in a car without a car seat (yes illegally). He was getting pretty used to it though because of the taxis and did well. After the zoo, Kris and Ryan went to the LFM dinner and I went back to the hotel to rest.

Saturday - We went to the fish market and walked around doing a little shopping and ate lunch. After nap time we stayed at the hotel and went swimming.

Sunday - We went to church then split up. Kris and Ryan went on a tour of Safeco Field which is where the Mariners play. Kris said Ryan had a great time walking around and even ran down on the field (when he wasn't supposed to). I went on an Underground tour. Seattle is currently built about 12 feet higher to sea level than it was originally. Back then it flooded badly, so after the Great Seattle fire (which they let burn most of the town), they rebuilt the streets at a higher level, but the sidewalks and buildings were originally built lower and people had to take ladders down to do shopping. Now they have covered over everything, but a lot of the sidewalks are hollow underneath. So the tour showed you some of these. After I took the tour, I met up with Kris and Ryan and took Ryan home for his nap, while Kris took the same tour. After nap we watched Monday Night Football (I like it at 5:30!) and played.

Monday - We took a Duck tour. We had taken one in Boston at Kris's graduation, so most the Harpers and my parents know what I'm talking about. It's a tank that can drive on the street and can also swim like a boat. They do pretty good tours. Kris was happy about getting out on the water. After that we stopped in the Experience Music Project for a few minutes, had lunch and then went up into the Space Needle. We did manage to lose Ryan in the needle, but since its a circle and not big, we found him within a minute. Unfortunately, that day it was too cloudy to see Mt. Rainer, so a little disappointing. Also by then our camera batteries had died so no pictures. Monday was actually the first day that it rained on us, everyother day it was just overcast. That night we went out to dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory and went home to pack. Amazingly, after 5 days, we NEVER stepped foot in a Starbucks - but they did provide it at the hotel!

Tuesday - we got up early (6am West coast time) to start our trip home. On the way out we had a 3 hour flight to Minneapolis and then a 2 hour flight to Seattle, but on the way home we had a 4 hour flight to Detroit and then a 1 hour flight to Cincy. The 4 hours were a little much, especially when we ended up circling because of a plane that was broke down on the runway. This time it was Kris with pop all over him because of Ryan. We ended up missing our connection and losing our luggage, but we did make it home. We let Ryan play with his trucks when he got home since he was so happy to be here!!