Busy, Busy, Busy

We have all had such a busy week this week. We started last Saturday the 9th by taking the monorail to the base of the Space Needle. We rode the speedy elevator to the top and wandered around the observation deck taking-in all of the beautiful views. It was a clear day, but very windy and cold, so we spent a lot of time in the indoor part of the deck. A. and Z. sat on Santa's lap and got a candy cane and then proceeded to the craft table to make a snowman mobile. We all decided we were hungry so we left and took the monorail back downtown to get a bite to eat. We decided to wander around the downtown area for a while and I was surprised at the number of people all around us. It reminded me of the pictures you see of Times Square and the crowds of people walking along the sidewalk.


We took Stucco to the airport on Sunday for his flight to Boston. He had a class this week so we had to do without him. :(

Tuesday, A., Z. and I decided to head to the Woodland Park Zoo. It was a mild, sunny morning and after we drove around the park a few times, I found the entrance. Seattle got it right when they decided to put the zoo in the middle of an area with a lot of trees and a natural setting. It was such a beautiful experience to walk around with the air smelling of evergreen trees and rain. The animals are grouped according to region and there are a few areas for children to play indoors (smart because it did start raining while we were finishing our visit!) All in all, a very nice day! We will definitley be returning soon for another visit!

On Thursday we ventured downtown for a visit to the Seattle Aquarium. It was raining really hard so we drove in the truck vs. taking the bus. We brought A.'s umbrella but it turned inside-out in the fierce wind (we need to get better umbrellas!) The aquarium was an educational, and exciting experience. We learned so much about the lifecycles of sea stars, fur seals and sea otters. We must've watched to sea otters for a half hour alone. They are so funny. They are almost like dogs in their mannerisms. A. and Z. loved the area where they could touch the sea stars, anemones, scallops and urchins. The greatest thing we found out was that the creatures all came into the indoor area on their own. The indoor "ponds" are connected to Elliot Bay directly, and they migrate indoors with the tide. After we were finished, we found a restaurant by the Sound to have lunch. We watched the ferries come and go while we had lunch. Then it struck me that we needed to get home before the Seahawks traffic closed us in. But it was too late! We were stuck in a horrific downpour of rain with blowing winds. It took us an hour to make it home (usually a 10 minute ride.) That was the night of the "hurricane-like" storm. We were lucky that we only lost power for an hour.

The worst of the "hurricane" came at about 10:00pm. The sustained winds were going at about 40mph and the gusts were about 60-70mph. It was crazy! It felt like this house was shaking and going to seperate from its foundation! The basement flooded and I was glad we hadn't set-up the office yet. Nothing of ours was destroyed. We surveyed the storm damage on our walk with the dogs on Friday. A lot of people lost portions of their roofs and whole sections of fences. Many people are still without power and it is cold here. Hopefully they will get power back soon!

We are picking Stucco up from the airport tonight. We all can't wait to see him! We hope everyone is having a fun holiday season.