Seattle Underground Tour

One of the many things on our to-do list of local activities was the Seattle Underground Tour. It's something I've been wanting us to go and do for a few years now, but we just never made it a point to go. Well, we can officially mark that off our list! A few weeks ago we made plans with Mel & James to go on a family date. We had an early dinner at our house before making the drive into Seattle. When you first arrive, a gentleman will have you stand in front of a blue backdrop and take your picture (at the very end of the tour you have the option to view and purchase the picture). If you're early enough for your tour, you can relax in their little cafe and enjoy a drink or some food, which we did. When the start of the tour is announced, they take you into a separate room that looks like a saloon. The tour guides give a small speech before breaking you off into groups. For our tour guides that night, there was a guy and a girl. I liked the vibe and personality of the guy, so I made a point of making sure we got into his group. The tour is broken up into three sections, leading you to three different underground locations and learning the history of Seattle at that time and of that particular spot you're in. The entire thing is about 90 minutes long. Afterwards, the tour ends in the gift shop. Peter and I really enjoyed this, especially learning about the history of Seattle and how the fire started back in the day. This is something I would definitely recommend doing, though only once. I would only justify going again if we had friends or family from out of town visiting.

Clifford and Kristjan with Madeleine

 Enjoying some drinks and nachos before the start of our tour

 The room they take you in at the very start, that also has a kids play area in case they get bored

 Our tour guide. He was awesome.

 When asked what we thought this was used for, Kristjan got the answer right! (hold bottles)

An old bathhouse 

 Parts of an old elevator

 Our group photo from the start of the tour

National Night Out

Tuesday, August 4th was National Night Out. After our hike earlier that day and attending the monthly Lego build at the mall, Peter, Kristjan and I  (Clifford got dropped off at a sleepover) headed straight to Willis Tucker Park to check out that event. This was our first time attending. All three of us enjoyed it, so I think we'll start making it an annual event. Plus, the park  it's held at is only 15 minutes away from our house, so that's a bonus! There was free food of hot dogs, snow cones, corn on the cob and strawberry shortcake. Peter took advantage of feeding his empty stomach and went around each food booth twice. There was also 20+ booths with local businesses, each providing either kids activities, flyers or free giveaways for adults. They have a way to get you to go to every single booth. When you first arrive, each child is handed a piece of paper with squares containing the names of each booth. As you go to each booth, they will put a stamp or sticker on their square. Fill it completely up and you can turn the paper in to be entered into a raffle. Clever! The highlight for us was watching the rescue helicopter take off. It was a fun evening. I'm really glad Peter enjoyed himself. It can be difficult going places when it's during the work week. Peter (understandably) usually just wants to be home and veg out on the couch after a long work day.

 Ranger Kristjan

 Rescue Helicopter arriving for its appearance

 Peter and Kristjan getting their snow cones!

 I think they said this is a guinea pig. For the longest time I just thought it was a wig sitting in the middle of the table until Peter started petting it lol

 She was a cutie! I guess at one point, while Kristjan and I were still over at the booths, Peter had her in his lap petting her.

 Kristjan couldn't believe how heavy this was

 The only time I hope to ever see him in a police car ;)

 Touring a city bus

 Making our way to tour the helicopter

 Getting ready to leave. We have video of it, which is pretty cool, but sadly it's too large to upload on here.

Meadowdale Beach

For our hike this last Tuesday we kept it easy and local, hiking down to Meadowdale Beach. The weather has started to cool down a bit, so none of the kids played in the water (though Clifford did attempt to go in, but realized it was too cold and windy to stay in long). Instead, they opted to play football in the sand while the moms visited with one another.