Seattle, Here we come!

Monday was the start of our Seattle adventure. We were all pretty excited. I've never been there. Our first stop was Missoula to get Callie. We had a tasty lunch at her hotel's restaurant before we continued on to Spokane.

We made it to Spokane! We decided to walk around a bit when we arrived and find some dinner. All the kids were happy to be out of the cars. Kyle and Teague are making lovely faces here.

Kids just can't resist walking on stuff. Luckily Callie was there to help Teagie.

We ended up at Red Robin - Yum! They were fast, and the kids liked these burger seats.

You can't go to Spokane without stopping by Riverside Park to see the big wagon. Unfortunately it got dark pretty fast.

These is a cute picture even though they all look like they have demon eyes!

Spokane is a pretty city.

And we're off again! We had two rental cars. Girls in one, boys in the other. Callie drove this leg of the trip, and I took a picture of this cool bridge we were about to cross.

We made it. Callie has some pretty great hotel connections, and this was the view from our room!

Then we walked to the Space Needle. It was a Tuesday, so it probably wasn't as busy as usual, but it was a long wait to go up the Space Needle. We decided to just walk around the base and the gift shop instead.

Abb and Jord were excellent helpers as usual. I'm really glad they got to go with us.

Just a quick picture inside a random mall. We did go to a pretty fun toy store there.

We decided we all needed a little caffeine. Luckily there is a Starbucks on every block I think. You can't be in the home of Starbucks and not stop at one!

We rode the monorail four times while we were there. It was pretty cool. All the kids loved it!

They really liked when they got to sit in the very front or the very back.

For some reason, this astronaut statue is outside the monorail. Why not take a picture with him?

Ave tried on a pretty cool Space Needle hat!

Landon made himself a Space Needle quarter. They all did eventually. We really didn't shop a lot. There was just too much to explore, and too many kids who were always hungry at different times! Kyle was sad because NikeTown was closed for renovations.

Jordan used her muscles to make a smashed quarter too. It's pretty cool how it works.

We decided the kids just needed to run around a bit. There are a lot of cool art pieces outside the Space Needle. They were perfect for a little playtime. Carter in his "bed".

Landon and Ave just sharing a little spot.

Teague being Teague.

He was very silly.

The Space Needle is very impressive looking. We kept saying, "If we only had more time." Kyle said next year wherever we go, we'll plan it out a little better.

Callie taking a picture of Abb and Jord by the Space Needle. She already took the picture, but she reenacted it for me. I like her commitment.

More climbing on a cool lightning statue.

We had a very late dinner by our hotel. Callie enjoyed a well deserved glass of wine. The next day was going to be even busier!

More Family Fun!

This was right before Joe and Kelsie came back from Philadelphia. Lincoln was in a super silly mood. He heard someone, probably me, say "Oh my God!" He thought it was hilarious and kept saying it and covering his mouth to laugh. He's so funny!

Kels and Joe treated everyone to a feast from the Pekin. It was delicious and took up most of the table! I like the irony of having our Chinese food on our 4th of July plates.

We had Nikki take pictures of the kids again. This was a random one I grabbed. I will post some of the real ones later. It was fun though, and the mine background was pretty cool.

We realized we had 9 days before 9 people drove 9 hours to Seattle to see One Direction!

My kiddos are pretty cute!

Another background

The Mountain Con is pretty neat - I love the Mile High, Mile Deep signs.

Almost forgot to get one with the cool sunglasses.

We went to Bozeman the next day to visit The Museum of the Rockies. The travelling exhibit was all about chocolate. It smelled so good! Also, this is a terrible picture!

We saw a sign that talked about burrowing dinosaurs, and Teague yelled "It's Orychtodromeus!" He was right! It amazes me how much my kids know about dinosaurs. Dinosaur Train is still one show they all like to watch together.

Some big boys doing a little fishing in the Yellowstone section.

Avery always likes to play in the little cabin area. She was an excellent chef.

Linky and Carter had fun doing some fishing too.

The peace sign is apparently cool for taking pictures now.

One of all the kids with Big Mike! Baby Hawkins was a little trooper as usual while we were there. He's such a good little guy.

Time for some fun on the cowboy swings at Clark's Park. Everybody worked on their muscles that day!

A cute family on the cowboy swings.

My kids always love the tire swing.

Teague doesn't like to go too crazy, so he and Lincoln had a calm ride together.

Carter had Avery fix his hair that day, he looked pretty cool.

My little climbing fool.

The thyme has gone crazy!

We had to say goodbye to our Alaskan buddies. It was sad, but not as sad as usual. We know we will see them soon. Kels got a teaching job in Watford City. Now both my sisters will be 9 hours away. I can handle that! Me and Link got to be good buddies this summer. I can't wait to see him again.

He had a happy morning jumping on Carter. Carter was fine with it as you can see! We hope all the moving goes smoothly for them, and we will see them in North Dakota in August hopefully!

Erica, Sean, and Hawkins went back to North Dakota Saturday morning also. Landon stayed with us for our upcoming Seattle vacation. We made a trip to the Folk Festival Saturday night just to get out of the house.

There were two sets of human statues there. The kids thought they were quite intriguing.

Two boys enjoying some Cajun music and a snowcone.

These two had a big one to share also.

Teague put his donation sticker in an odd spot!

We went up Sunday to check out the kids' area. There wasn't a whole lot this year, but the seed art was pretty fun.

Carter just drew some Transformers. Landon did too. It was a little windy at the moment though, so he didn't want to be in a picture.

I love this picture! My Teague has such a cute real smile!

Jordan and Terri joined us. Jord had just got back from Vegas the night before, where their dance company did amazing! They placed in every age group. The kids were very happy to see their buddy!