Sleepless in Seattle

LITERALLY! Of course there are always adjustments made to sleeping patterns when we go on vacation, and that my friends is a really hard thing for me to get very excited about! It stresses me out when my kids don't get the sleep they need and I go through some mood swings when I KNOW they should be in bed but we are still in route to the hotel. Of course,mother nature doesn't help matters any when the sun doesn't even go DOWN here in Seattle until nearly 9:30 pm......AND THEN, guess what? It is on the rise by 6 am...the nerve!!

So, last night we decided to go do the Space Needle, hoping to catch some city lights before calling it a night....of course this is before we completely understood that the sun was not going down until way past bedtime. Well, before we went there we had dinner at IKEA and the kids enjoyed the 'free refill' portion of their dinners......ever see a 9 year old do the pee dance? Oh, well, we sure did! I think the same thing happens to me, but when we get to sea level, the ability to 'hold it' is greatly diminished....so anyways, luckily we travel with a menagerie of empty cups...got that emergency taken care of (this emergency happened while circling downtown looking for a parking place, so there was no place to just pop on in for a bathroom), parked, started walking, got there and got set up for a cool kids-in-front-of-the-needle picture when the 9 year old says 'I need to go again...bad'......so we found a row of portapotties, and that's where we spent the next 20 minutes because then the 6 year old had to go, then 3 year old had to go (and let me just tell you that we arrived at the portapotties about 7pm after a 'folk family fair' had been there ALL DAY......you can imagine the condition of said portapotties)...I made Bill take Luke because I did not want to stand and LOOK into that potty while he peed! Whew, aren't you haveing so much fun reading about potties?!

So, now we are on our way to purchase tickets to go up to the top of the needle when 9 year old says again 'I need to go'....OH-MY-GOSH...are you KIDDING ME? Then Laurel says she needs to go too, go figure. We did eventually make it up there, I promise! After going to the top of the Empire State Building, this wasn't nearly as impressive, but the kids thought it was great, and that's what counts. By the time we were walking back to the car it was 8:45 and I was getting very grumpy because in my head I was saying 'it is almost 10pm at home, what are we doing?! The kids behavior didn't yet reflect that it was way past bedtime, but mine was getting there! So it was 10pm after teeth were brushed and PJ's on.....for those of you that know me well, you know how tortured I was.......oh, and the best part is that our hotel room has no separation, we are all in the same room HAH HAH!! So Bill and I went to bed right about then too. And guess what time Luke woke up? One would rationalize, or at least silently pray, that since they went to bed so late, surely they would sleep in? Oh, no, since that beautiful sun began it's rise at 6AM...so did our early bird Luke, and then in quick succession followed the rest of them........but we've really had a good time so far :-)...I think.....

They are peacefully napping right now while I blog away and the older three are swimming in the pool with Bill. They will be going to bed at a more decent time tonight-I hope. Tomorrow we are going to see an old friend of ours. She was the drum major my freshman and sophomore years in high school (Bill's junior and senior year). She lives in Seattle with her husband and 2 little girls. I think we are going to go to Pike's market place (neato place to shop and watch them throw fi sh in the air) and then find something else fun to do.......

These were all taken today while we were riding a car ferry from one of the outer islands back into downtown Seattle. We have been blessed....the sun actually came out!! But is still a bit on the chilly side, and as you can tell, a bit windy on the ferry. Have a great day...check back in a couple days, I'm sure I'll have something to share.......