Seattle, WA

We did it.  We finally did it.
We have been talking about taking a trip together for YEARS!  We got married in the middle of a semester in college.  We were married on a Saturday and back to school on Tuesday.  Although we LOVED the laid back, no expectations, just be together vibe of our honeymoon- we have always wanted to go somewhere together.
BUT, life hit us pretty hard pretty fast.
In our first year of marriage, we were BOTH full time students AND part time workers.  We welcomed Afton into our family.  My dad got a liver transplant.  And we were busy, busy, busy (and beyond poor).

Then we moved to Colorado, spent a couple years establishing a career and adding to our family (both expensive and time consuming endeavors).

We wouldn't trade our life for anything.  We have been blessed beyond measure and I pinch myself everyday when I think of how blessed we really are.  Our little family is the best thing that has ever happened to me and they are worth a billion times more than anything money could buy.


 And now, since we put in some hard years, it was FINALLY time to do something fun for just the two of us!  And man alive it was so good.

We (ok, more like I) couldn't stand the thought of leaving our girls for more than a few days.  I had NEVER spent a night away from either of them and was a little concerned about how I would hold up.  So, we decided to go somewhere relatively close, easy going and interesting.  We didn't want anything too planned or too busy.  We chose Seattle.  (I know, strange location for the beginning of October but I would highly recommend it.  The weather was perfect- not too hot, not too cold and there were no tourists!)

Here are a few of our favorite events from the trip.

OLYMPIC SCULPTURE PARK

This place was pretty funny actually.  It was top rated as a place to visit in Seattle so we were excited to check it out.  Maybe our expectations were too high?  It was one of those are parks that has junk in a pile that is called art.  We kept reading the descriptions of the sculptures thinking we would appreciate it more after understanding them, but they said things like, "the emptiness is always full and the solids are always empty"  Needless to say, we didn't get it!
But, my husband is the best and makes the best of everything.  We decided to act "artsy fartsy" and take some abstract pictures.  haha.  Did we nail it?  Who knows- its art!

PIKE PLACE MARKET

Pike Place Market is a classic right?  Our friend who lived in Seattle gave us some tips about visiting the market which made it all the more fun.  We looked around at all the vendors and found the girls some presents to take home to them (it may have made me a little homesick but thats ok).  

We visited the bakery across the street and got some incredible pastries.  And we visited the gum wall.  This thing was disgusting!  haha.  We bought gum before hand so we could add it to the wall.  We started chewing it before we approached the wall but when we got there, I have to spit mine out because it was grossing me out too much to be chewing what was on that wall (and, all the old gum smells really bad)- it might have ruined gum for me all around.  haha.  As you can see, Kenton was only brave enough to stick his gum to a business card that was stuck to the wall.  And look at that face!  haha.  That is a genuine face.  He was that grossed out!  

And this is what happens when you hand someone your nice camera.  Oh well, we were together at the wall- I guess thats all that matters :)

FERRY RIDE

This was our favorite!  It was so relaxing and carefree. Just the way we like things!
I am sorry for all these pictures on the ferry.  They are pretty boring but the light was so amazing I just had to post them all!  Seattle has this grey light that makes for the most amazing pictures!  We may have spent the whole ride taking turns taking pictures with the incredible light.

Gosh I love this guy!  As if it weren't enough that he rocks at being married and makes me so incredibly happy, look at him!  I seriously scored big time- how did that happen?

(he is a photographer but he gets so uncomfortable in front of the camera (hence the crazy face)- ironic huh?)

When Kenton gets bored of taking normal pictures, he goes for the double exposure.  I thought these were pretty cool.

A few things we don't have pictures of that I still want to remember.

.our incredible sandwich from the corner convenient store by the house we stayed at.  Italian chicken, salami & pepperoni amazingness.  We have never had a sandwich like that and we both crave it all. the. time.

.dinner at The Pink Door.  Yep, you guessed it, a cabaret bar with the occasional burlesque performance.  Don't worry, there was no performance while we were there.  BUT, we did get to sit at the table that was two steps above everyone else making us look like the biggest pervs.  But, the food was INCREDIBLE!  I had THE MOST amazing lasagna I have ever had!  Simple and unique and oh so yummy to the very last bite.  Kenton had some sort of fish and he said it was awesome too.

.walking and walking and walking.  We took public transit to get around and we got lost a few times!  Our super lame phone (with our gps) would also not hold a charge if its life depended on it so it made for some interesting situations.  The best was that after eating fish n chips by the dock, we decided to take a bus to try to make it to the Ballard Locks before the sun went down.  The sun went down as we rode the bus for 45 minutes.  But, we had to do to the locks anyway because it was the only way to get over to the other side of the water (where the house we were staying at was).  We got off the bus, took 30 minutes figuring out which street we were suppose to be on, turning our phone on to check directions and then off to save battery.  We had walk down a narrow path with bushes on both sides (a rapists dream- my mind always goes there), then across a creaky wood bridge, then through a park with bums, but we finally got to the locks.  But, the gate was locked!  We check the sign, it said that they were open until nine at it was only 7:30.  And then we saw it...the locks were closed due to the government shutdown!  A quick survey of the situation: the only way to get over the water was to walk over the bridge at the locks (which wasn't possible) or ride a bus for another 45 minutes around the water.  Our only option here was the bus.  Slight problem tho- our phone was dead and we had no idea where to find a bus!  We COULD go back through the rapist paradise but we figured there HAD to be a bus stop closer than that.  So we started walking- in a direction that seemed appropriate.  And then we found ourselves walking down the streets with warehouses all around.  Yep, that's right, we were in the middle of nowhere.  We caught one set of workmen as they were entering their building.  They simply told us that they had no idea but we weren't close.  Then Kenton had the guts to go up to a man who had just got out of his car (obviously I thought he was a rapist and was hesitant).  The nice guy got out his phone, pulled up his gps and found us a bus stop!  I could have kissed him!  There is still good in this world!  After about an hour and a half of walking- and through the straight up ghetto of Seattle, we hopped on a bus and were headed in the right direction!  We thought we hadn't had enough for the night and decided to go to a late movie.  It wasn't far from the house we were staying at BUT we did have to walk all the way there.  So with sore feet and tired legs, we walked all the way to the movie theater.  Did we see a movie?  Nope.  Of course not.  The latest show time was 7:30.  What kind of movie theater doesn't have a 9:00 showing?  Oh yeah, the one we wanted to go to!  At this point, we were done, the night had won.  We went back home and watched movie on our iPad in bed.    
Gosh, I love my man.  I know I say that all the time but it is so true!  Vacationing with him was incredible.  The alone time was incredible.  To not have to focus on taking care of kids but just being with my man- it was oh so nice.
But, I must also say, it made me realize how incredibly amazing our life at home is.  How much joy and happiness our little girls bring us.  How Kenton still takes the time to spend one on one time with me every single day- and it doesn't feel foreign to be alone with him for a few days.  I am incredibly blessed.