a good friend and a beautiful city

 Wednesday afternoon Geneva picked me up and took me to her beautiful house.  We were good friends in high school and junior high but our families have been friends for much longer than that.  Geneva is pregnant with her 4th child and it's a girl!  It's kind of funny that her kids are girl/boy/boy/girl and my first four are boy/girl/girl/boy, so they're the opposite.  We love talking design and decorating for her home and discussing our next home projects.  I can't wait to see what wallpaper she'll put in her guest bathroom and am so happy for her for finally painting her master bedroom white.  She's go me all inspired to work on our home more!

 I had a chance to feed her two alpacas, Lips and Coco.  How cool is that?!  They seem so laid back.

 Yes, I even got a kiss from one of them. :)

 Geneva has the coolest family and it was so fun seeing Alecia who was visiting.  Before heading back to the hotel we had to stop by Salt & Straw, of course!

 Wednesday and Thursday morning I had some time to walk around before heading back home.  This is where the Mozcon Conference was held.  Such an interesting piece of architecture.  There seems to be a bit of everything in this city.  I loved walking around and seeing all the different styles.

 Tree lined streets!

 Another Seattle favorite

There's nothing like a fresh crumpet!  I loved that you can see where they make them.

 Pesto, tomatoe, and parm!  We can actually buy crumpets at AJ's, although they aren't fresh, but this is a dish I want to repeat at home.

 Oh those views!  We need to go to the beach more often! ;)

 If you can't tell, I'm a big fan of the Seattle Public Library.  I mean, I already love libraries, but those glass walls are just stunning!

 And I have no words for this building above.  The bottom is half the size as the top?!  It just seems to defy gravity!

 This was a few from the floor of the hotel we stayed in.  That's the water peaking between those two buildings.

Thanks for a great time and good food Seattle!

 Here's a view of Mt. Rainier from the airplane.  Yes, I had a window seat. :)

Mom helped the kids make this welcome home banner.  So sweet!  We were happy to be home, but didn't miss the hot weather. ;)  We are also so grateful to my parents for taking care of the older 4 kids so we could have this time.

Seattle day 2

 Tuesday was such a slow easy going day.  It felt luxurious to sleep in and go out to a doughnut shop for breakfast.  We tried Top Pot Doughnuts last time and even tool some home to share.  You really can't go wrong with good fresh doughnuts.  Since it was breakfast I also ordered a yummy egg sausage pasty type thing that was also very delicious.

 It inspired me to try knew doughnut places in Arizona.  Andrew and I actually did try a new place in Tempe on our date last Saturday called Hurts Doughnuts.    Definitely going back again!

 What started out as a nap turned into napping, eating, and snuggling on and off for several hours.  I'm not complaining though!  Just soaking up this baby stage.  Around this trip Beatrix started to be more responsive.  She looks in my the eyes and focuses on my face more and she's smiling and laughing too!

So many nice stores right around the corner from the hotel.  It was so interesting being able to walk to these places on not drive.  There are definitely some perks to big city living.

 For lunch I ate had Shake Shack.  Andrew and I went there last time and it was pretty good.  We also went last summer in Missouri where Elliot had his first bacon cheeseburger.  Sounds funny but at the time it was what he wanted for his birthday so we got it for him a couple weeks early. :)

Good ol' American food!

We ended the day watching the Manning kids while Julie and James got to go out to eat and watch the new Han Solo movie.  Mom specifically requested a picture of the Mannings in front of their house. :)

Seattle date night

 Beatrix is such a sweet third wheel.  She was so good on this trip, whether on the airplane for her first time or being worn in the wrap while I walked all over the city.  She also slept well in the crib the hotel provided.

Andrew is patient with me and my need for elevator selfies. :)  We did this on our last trip too.  Last time we staying in the Men's Athletic Club hotel, around the corner of where we stayed this time; the Sheraton Hotel next door to the Seattle Convention Center.  That's where Mozcon was located.

 Mod Pizza for dinner.  Have you been before? I like that you can customize your pizza.

 Have you heard of Salt & Straw?  I thought they were only in CA but apparently they started Oregon and have a location in Seattle too, lucky for us!  It's a delicious and unique ice cream place.  Very popular for good reason.  The line was out the door!  They have classic flavors and monthly specials with some local ingredients. Checkout that cool chalkboard menu above.  Very impressive.

Andrew had the Strawberry with Balsamic Vinegar & Pepper and I got the Birthday Cake & Blackberries. 

It was so fun have a special date while we were there.  It ended up being our only one since Tuesday night we watched the Manning kids until late so Julie and James could go on a date and Wednesday night I was out late with Geneva and her sister Alecia who was visiting.  We try to make dates a weekly occurrence but that doesn't always happen.

The Emerald City

 When I first visited Seattle two years ago I had no idea how big a city it was. I mean, look at those skyscrapers!  It's such a cool city but like all big cities it has interesting people, interesting smells, good food, lots to see by just walking around, cool places to go to like museums and unique sights.

 The Market is a must!  So many cool shops to walk around.  There's a fish market, gorgeous flower bouquets, honey, homemade jam, food shops, etc.  Monday morning I enjoyed walking around and grabbing some breakfast.  It was just so nice to go places on my schedule and not worry about the kids.

 This is one of my favorite food stops across from the market.  This is greek yogurt marionberry crumble form Ellenos.  The lemon crumble is also really good!

 Just the prettiest flowers!  And so reasonably priced too.

Since I didn't meet up with Julie and her kids until lunchtime I went to the Seattle Art Museum to pass the time.  Not super kids friendly so once again, it was nice to meander on my own. :)

Ok, this painting was way more amazing and impactful in person but someone was nice enough to take a picture of my next to it.  The green trees, stormy clouds, and waves captured a scene nothing like home in Arizona. 

 Julie was such a trooper to bring all her kids into the city.  This was her first time so I got to show her around a bit.

 Crumpets are very English but it was so nice having them fresh with toppings for lunch!

 Everything was delicious, the only problem was that we all wanted more.

 So we got some Beecher's homemade Mac and Cheese.  Beecher's make yummy cheeses in store, you can even see the big vat they make it in.  Their Mac and Cheese has such a good noodle to sauce balance with a little bit of kick.

 Say hello to the gum wall!  It's actually a gum alley.  Thousands upon thousands of pieces of gum.  Gross, yes, but also fascinating and a tourist must-see.

 The city is right next to water and it was a lovely day!

 This is one of my favorite pictures I took.  Such a beautiful day!

 We hiked up this big hill so I had to take a picture of how strong Josie and Jason were.  It was not easy and they were getting tired of walking everywhere.  I barely made it up!  I'm so out of shape from not working out regularly since early pregnancy.

 Here's the Space Needle.  Andrew and I still haven't got to the top so it's another reason to come back to Seattle some time.  There's a really cool playground the kids played at near the Space Needle while we nursed the little ones and rested our legs in the shade. 

We took a monorail back closer to Julie's car and my hotel at the end to give the kids (and my!) legs a break.  It's a cook way to see a bit of the city in a different way.