Chinatown-International District, Seattle, WA, USA
Little did we know at the time, but this would be the first of many traditional Chinese gates that we would come across when we moved to Japan the next day. (There are many standing at the entrances of Chinatown in Yokohama.) This 45' archway is a beautiful entrance to the city, and the one picture we have of it doesn't do it justice. I really like the details that went into making it, such as the color red for happiness and good fortune and the orb at the top, which is a fireball from heaven symbolizing good luck. Dragons and phoenixes were used in the design to keep bad luck away and welcome a good flow of air. Across the street from the gate, there's also a dragon wrapped around a light pole to keep a close eye on the neighborhood. It's all in the details!
Animals and fish seem to be the best entertainments for toddlers. Perhaps that's why I seem to find every zoo and aquarium in every city that we visit. While we were in Seattle, we decided to visit Woodland Park Zoo. It was a beautiful, sunny day to visit the zoo, but I guess everyone else in the city thought so, too. It took us 40 minutes just to find parking (despite their FIVE parking lots), and I didn't have any luck with searching the neighborhoods for parking either. Luckily, the zoo is pretty big, so at least it didn't feel too crowded as we explored around. Actually, on second thought, it was packed. Don't visit the zoo on Sunday unless you don't mind inching your way to the front in to see every animal. Here are a few animals that we found while we were there!
Jaguar cub
Keel-Billed Toucans
Western Lowland Gorillas
Reticulated Giraffe
Plain Zebras
Woodland Park Zoo
Hours: May - Sept (9:30 am - 6:00 pm); Oct - Apr (9:30 am - 5:00 pm)
Admission: Adults (13+): $17.50 (May - Sept); $11.50 (Oct - Apr) / Children (3-12): $11.50 (May - Sept); $8.50 (Oct - Apr) / Toddler (0-2): FREE
Now that the kids were older (TJ, 2, and CJ, 8 months, at the time), The Children's Museum, located in the Seattle Center, seemed like the perfect place to take them. It was the first children's museum that we have ever visited, and I was surprised to see how great it was. I almost wished we lived in Seattle so that we could take the kids here all year round. While we were there, we spent most of our time at the Discovery Bay, a safe place for little ones to touch and play.
It's a blurry photo, but TJ had fun sliding through the whale's mouth.
The toddlers had a great time playing with these stairs. 
CJ loved looking at the fish.
He enjoyed making silly faces at himself.
It is always NICE when the kids play together so well.
The table finally freed up, so the kids ran over to play with it.
He kept saying, "Whee!" as he moved the objects around.
He loved pretending he was the driving our family through the neighborhood.
There are so many different exhibits for kids of all ages. We were worn out with just the few we visited!
We needed some time to rest after The Children's Museum, but our next stop is Woodland Park Zoo.
The Children's Museum
Hours: Monday - Friday (10:00 am - 5:00 pm), Saturday - Sunday (10:00 am - 6:00 pm)
Admission: Adults & Children: $7.50 / Grandparents: $6.50 / Military: $6.00 / Groups of 10+: $6.00 / <12 months: FREE
Phone: (206) 441-1768
For most people, the first thing that probably comes to mind when they think of Seattle is the Space Needle or maybe even Sleepless in Seattle. For my hubby and me, it's the Home of Starbucks. To say we are coffee lovers is an understatement. My hubby loved Starbucks so much, he became a barista (despite my protests that drinking Starbucks coffee isn't the same as serving Starbucks coffee) while we were in college. After a couple of months of cranky people ordering a nonfat, extra hot, grande mocha latte with a half-shot of espresso and no foam (we get it, you can't function until you've had your first cup of the day just right, but, really, let's be nice to the people who are serving you your oh-so-complicated-order) and insisting that the order is not correct, working at Starbucks wasn't as much fun as he originally thought it was going to be. Nevertheless, it was great for me to study at Starbucks while he worked as he started making his own concoctions, which I gladly tested!
So, of course, we had to make the pilgrimage to the first Starbucks store while we were in Seattle! Conveniently located across the street from Pike Place Market, we didn't have to go far to find it. It was tinier than I expected, and every time we have visited, there's always a long line of people. (Which is probably why we haven't taken any pictures since our first family visit.)
Getting coffee from the first Starbucks store: Check!
Next stop? Taking our coffee to Steinbrueck Park.
First Starbucks Store
Location: 1912 Pike Place, Seattle, WA 98101
Phone: (206)448-8762
Website: http://www.starbucks.com
Right now, I miss Washington. The last few years, we've taken trips to Washington for the hubby's work. This year, though, the kids and I didn't join him. Mostly because I didn't want to deal with the jet lag—I have horrible jet lag whenever I go east, and it takes about 3-4 days for me to recover. What's worse than dealing with jet lag? Dealing with kids and no help while you're jet lagged. Not that my hubby isn't helpful; but when he's gone for work, it's just me and the kids. So while he's away, I think I'll reminisce about our previous trips to Washington (breaking down each location with a different post so I don't have one extremely long post)!
Whenever we're in Seattle, we tend to visit Pike Place Market first. When I first visited Seattle for my work in 2007, it was highly recommended to me to visit the farmers market because I could watch some cool fish tossing. That's right, the fishmongers at Pike Place Fish Market toss fish to each other when a customer has placed an order. It's pretty fun to watch; so when we made our first visit to Seattle as a family, I took us here first.
Do you see the blurred object in the middle right of the picture? That's the fish flying! And don't worry, a guy popped up behind the counter to catch it!
There's a lot of great produce, seafood, flowers, artwork, and local foods to buy! (Although, for a farmers market, the food is pretty expensive; and I was a bit surprised to see that some of fruit was imported from California! No wonder some of them were more expensive—they're not local.) My absolute favorite item to purchase here is the raspberry pepper jelly from Woodring Northwest. Mmm...Pepper jelly on top of brie sounds so good right now! (Trust me, I tested practically every pepper jelly sample from every vendor that sold them, and Woodring's had the best.)
We probably should try a new restaurant whenever we visit Pike Place Market, but we usually find ourselves dining at Lowell's. If you can't tell by now, we have an affinity for water; so if we can catch a view of the ocean while we're eating, then it's a bonus! Lowell's has three ocean view floors, and we always sit on the third floor giving us great views of Elliott Bay. Plus, their food is delicious!
Pike Place Market
Phone: (206) 682-7453
