Seattle Trip VIII: Zoo and Bainbridge Island

On our last full day in Seattle, we started out with the Woodlawn Zoo. We got to see a lot of animals that our zoo is just too small and cold to have including giraffes, hippos, and a lot of large monkeys and apes. Before our trip, Rachael had been asking to go to a zoo with elephants. Check that off our list. 

There were several preschool/daycare groups there that day, so we had to work to see some of the animals. We enjoyed how shaded the paths and exhibits were from all the trees. There were some secluded little shortcuts that the girls had fun exploring. All the walking was a little hard on Patrick, but we made it through. 

After we grabbed lunch, we decided we could just make the ferry to Bainbridge Island. The girls were excited about driving onto a boat. Rachael and I spent the trip there and back spotting jellyfish over the side of the ferry.

We visited a tiny historical museum on the island. There were displays that covered several eras of life on the island from native peoples through WWII. The girls liked pushing the buttons for the audio presentations, but they weren't too interested in listening. 

We drove a short way around the island to the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial. During WWII, the entire Japanese American population living on the island were forced to leave and live in camps far away. I knew about this event in US history, but actually being in the place where these families had to walk away from their homes and lives really struck me. It was a very beautiful memorial in a very peaceful setting. The story of this event was engraved along with the words of some of those affected on plaques along the winding wall that marked their march to the boats. All the names of the people who had to leave were accompanied by gifts and paper cranes made by family members.

On the ferry on the way back, we were treated to some great views of Seattle and Mt Rainier.

Seattle Trip VII: Tacoma

We spent our next day in Tacoma. We first visited the Museum of Glass. There was a small gallery with a neat installation of sign glass letters that were movable and okay to touch. We had a lot of fun making our names until it was my turn. There was no J. Go figure.

We then went into the hot shop and watched them make a glass bowl. It looks like it is pretty hot and tedious for the beginning stages, but toward the end it goes a lot faster when they start blowing and shaping. There was a balcony directly above the kilns that you could walk on and watch the team working from above. So neat.

While I visited the gift shop for some Christmas ornaments, Patrick helped the girls in the kids studio. They made the daily craft. They have a cool program in which children submit drawings and once a month one is chosen to be translated into blown glass. Rachael drew a baby in a high chair.

We ate a picnic lunch at a small grassy area overlooking the water. After finally finding somewhere to park, we went to the Children's Museum of Tacoma. It was more of a super educational play place than a museum, but we were totally okay with that by this point. There were toys and props for building, dress ups, water play, climbing, and painting to name a few. The girls loved the butterfly wings and water areas. Rachael was very intent on painting wood. A staff person informed me that every night they wash the wood pieces off and start fresh the next day.

Seattle Trip VI: Day at the Harbor

We spent this day around the harbor downtown. We took a harbor cruise (thank you City Pass) first thing in the morning. It was fairly overcast to begin with and it was pretty cold out on the water. Patrick was perfectly comfortable without his jacket which Rachael needed. The sun came out toward the end of the ride. It felt pretty good. 

This was the girls' first boat ride ever. We had to get after both of them for climbing up to far and leaning out over the railing. I enjoyed listening to the tour guide and learned some interesting bits about various landmarks and the harbor itself. It was neat to see the huge cranes of the shipyards and all the boats out on the water. 

After our boat ride, we stopped for lunch on the pier where the gigantic ferris wheel (our next stop) was located. The inside was pretty cute, but the bathroom was horribly dirty even though we needed to walk back and forth a few times just to get a code to get in. They clearly were not thinking of moms with small-bladdered toddlers in tow.

We then rode the Seattle Great Wheel (what a grand title). I purposefully chose my seat so I would have a view of the land and not the water. It was fine, except when Rachael kept trying to move all around and switch seats. Not so fine. It was just a little too wiggly for me knowing that I was hanging above cold open water. Rachael loved it. I don't think Anna cared either way.

We then walked over to the next pier and went to the Seattle Aquarium. Rachael was large and in charge with the aquarium map. She especially loved touching the sea anemones and starfish. She got to feed an anemone, but she lost interest because it moved so slowly while eating. I liked watching the tidal pool at work.

It was a pretty neat aquarium for its size. We really liked the outside area where we could see harbor seals and lots of other native fish. Rachael liked being in the dome under the water with the fish swimming over us. Anna liked the seals and sea otters.

Even with all this fun, if you ask the girls they would tell you that the hotel pool was the best thing from the trip. Here they are pretending to be starfish on the floor of our room after a day of touching them at the aquarium.