Seattle and New Year's Eve

Erika decided she wanted to get her Washington driver's license instead of keeping her Colorado one with her "wrong" information on it.  So mom, Malachi and Erika went to the DMV in Chehalis for a few hours.  That gave me and Ben a few hours to get ready for another insane crazy long day.  We ate some food, got dressed and packed for the next couple days.  They got home just before 11.

I drove my car and mom followed behind us.  We were going to leave it at the Tacoma Dome train station parking lot since it was the spot that made the most sense.  We didn't want to drive two vehicles up to Seattle, we were leaving Erika and Malachi with Doug, mom was heading back home and Ben and I had to go to Puyallup for Michael and Eliane's party.  We all hopped into mom's car and of course I drove us all up to Seattle.  The traffic wasn't bad all the way up to Doug's place north of Fremont.

We got to Doug's house just before lunch time.  We all used the bathroom and talked to a few of his roommates.  This was everyone's first time to Doug's place except for me.  I've been here a few times.  We all got into mom's car and headed to the Fremont Troll.  Erika wanted food.  We told her we could do food after the troll.  Doug got us to where we needed to go and I parked in the spot I usually do when I come for the Block Party in August.

We walked to the troll and of course there were a bunch of Asians waiting to take their pictures with the statue.  We snuck our way in, took our pictures and was done within 5-10 minutes.

We grabbed the cache that was near the troll.  That is where Erika and Malachi got interested in it.  I had already found it but showed how fun it was and how awesome the places geocaching will take you.  We walked back to the car and headed to the Crab Pot, a place I've seen on TV and a place I've always wanted to go to.

http://www.thecrabpotseattle.com/

We made our way through downtown and hit the hill down towards the piers.  They've changed the way you parked down there.  Now you have to park in a garage instead of underneath the viaduct.  We made our way towards Pier 57 that included the Crab Pot, The WaterFront Arcade, Miners Landing and the Seattle Great Wheel.  Ben and I went into the Seattle sports shop just for a few minutes.  Everyone else hit up the arcade and carousel down the hall.

Ben and I got caught up on the sport shops owner's rants about certain coaches and athletes we kinda had to sneak our way out.  I saw that mom and everyone else had already checked in for a table.  We sat at the bar for a few minutes and the waitress took us to our table.  We took our color crayons and menus and enjoyed writing on our table cloth, which was butcher paper.  A few minutes later our waiter came by and got our orders.  Mom and I ordered the fish and chips (we're really not into crab all that much), Erika, Malachi and Doug ordered The Cove, a bucket full of shrimp, muscles, potatoes, sausage and corn.  It was a lot of food.  Ben ordered a crab inside of a bread bowl with some sort of sauce.  We all tried the Crab Pot Lager.  We were in there for about an hour before we paid.  When the bills came, the server had screwed up mine and Malachi's.  It was a matter of a few bucks so it didn't really matter in the end.

We all walked around the area.  Ben and I went and found the geocaches nearby while everyone else decided whether or not to get on the ferris wheel.  Apparently no one wanted to go with Erika on the wheel so she had a pouty face.  I actually thought no one wanted to pay to go on it.  I guess not.  We took a few pictures and then collectively decided to go up to Pike's Place Market.

We went to the gum wall and attempted to look for the cache on the wall.  It was moved since I found it back in June of 2011.  Erika and Malachi went to the Pike's Brewing Company and ordered a sampler while we all used the bathroom and hung out for a bit.  We walked through the market and out towards the main road where the fish and the pig statues were.  We walked by this couple and their friend who was taking pictures.  It looked like a proposal and it was.  As we walked by, I heard the girl say, oh, you're not doing this here right?  As she said this, her arms flung hitting the ring out of the poor guys hand.  It rattled on the cobblestone road.  I was embarrassed for the guy.  Who says that?  About a minute later Malachi yells, did she say yes?  The guy nodded as he hugged his new fiance.  And we got to witness that disaster.

We walked over to the first Starbucks.  I am really not a fan of coffee or Starbucks so some of us stood outside and some of us went inside to stand in the huge line of Asians and tourists to get a cup of coffee.  While outside, there was this guy, who was clearly drunk and possibly a bum, wearing a pair of crazy New Years Eve glasses asking and telling people Happy New Year.  He was scaring a few people here and there.  We thought it was funny.  He then turned to this Asian mom who had a baby in the stroller.  The baby was passed out.  He asked, hey...what's wrong with your baby?  I just died and I was glad someone else over heard this happening.  Haha.  Then Erika dared me to write boobs on someones dirty van with my finger.  Of course I did.  And then some people got in and drove away.  HAHA!

Our time was running out in the parking garage so we made our way back down to the piers hoping our ticket didn't expire.  When we got there we had plenty of time to spare.  We had to go check in Erika and Malachi to their hotel that they would be staying at off of Aurora.  It took forever to get to their hotel because there was a median in the middle of the road and we had to go clear back into downtown and turn around so we were going the right way.  I got frustrated.  We eventually made it to The Marco Polo Hotel and let them check in.  They said it was decent but not the best hotel they stayed at.  Well it was Aurora Ave where all the prostitutes roamed...

We took them all back to Doug's house and set them free to do whatever they had planned that night.  Mom, Ben and I drove back to the Tacoma Dome to pick up my car and drive to Michael and Eliane's party.  When we arrived we felt very under dressed.  But we did manage to remember our five pack of beer.  Haha.  This was the night Michael and Eliane decided to tell their friends they were expecting.  Of course Ben and I already knew.  Most of the night was spent with everyone in a bunch of groups talking about it.  I sat on the couch most of the night talking to some people that I've never met before.  Then Eliane wanted to play a game that was difficult with the amount of people we had but we managed.  By that time it was almost time to get ready to bring in 2014.  I was exhausted so I was excited to celebrate 2014 and then go to bed, haha.  We stayed until about one and drove back to Ben's house in Bonney Lake.

Happy 2014 everyone!!

Next Adventure:  Geocaching in Bonney Lake.

Voodoo Doughnuts, Multnomah Falls and Long Beach

A few months ago we talked about some of the activities Erika and Malachi wanted to do while they were here for Christmas.  Voodoo Doughnuts, the beach, Mount Rainier, Seattle, shopping were among the ideas that were thrown around.  We had no idea what the weather would be like while they were here, it was going to be winter time ya know, and she knew it.  Luckily, the weather was decent majority of the time they were here.

Mom threw out some ideas the day before we left.  She mapped out Portland, Multnomah Falls and Astoria/Long Beach.  I told her to keep in mind that it would be getting dark around 4:30-5, so we didn't have that much daylight to see these things.  If it were summer I'd say it was no problem.  We called Grandma to see if we could borrow her van and if she wanted to go.  She said sure and the trip would be fun.  Plus she would get to spend some time with Erika and Malachi.

We all got up around 6ish and were all ready and in Grandma's van by 7.  Of course I was going to be the driver.  I had no choice in the matter,  I knew it was going to be a long day.  I got the GPS out and put in Voodoo Doughnuts.  We were going to get there before 10.  We all started down the road and the van drove funny.  Dad said it was probably the air in the tires.  We stopped at the gas station in Tenino and aired up.  It took about a half hour out of our day.  From there it was smooth sailing to downtown Portland.

Getting there was surprisingly easy.  We followed Nuvi's directions and she took us right to the front of the shop.  We got a really good parking spot.  Grandma got out and a lady started talking to her and handed her a slip of paper.  Grandma got back in and explained that the lady was leaving and wanted to give us her remaining time on her parking pass.  That was really nice of her.  We got a pay it forward in Portland.  We all got out and stood in the not so short but not so long line in front of the shop.

The building was covered painted and then covered in glitter.  We admired the glitter part of it because it was weird.  As the motto states, keep Portland weird.  They do a great job at that.

We didn't have to wait in line that long.  Erika had to pee so they wandered around trying to look for a bathroom.  By the time it was our turn to get doughnuts, they showed up just in time.  It was cash only so we got our cash out and decided what doughnuts we wanted off their detailed menu.  I came for the maple bar with bacon on it.  Ben ordered a peanut butter one and a Bavarian Cream filled doughnut.  Erika got a bacon maple bar, Malachi got a fritter, mom and dad got normal maple bars and grandma got an Mexican hot chocolate doughnut and a old fashioned one.  They were all tasty according to everyone.

We all got back in the van and ate our doughnuts.  They were delicious and they hit the spot.  From there, we made our way to I-84 towards Multnomah Falls, which was roughly 30 miles east of Portland.  We were hoping since it was winter there wouldn't be that many people wandering around the falls. 

We got there just in time.  When it reached noon everyone and their dog was at the falls standing in the way.  We took a bunch of pictures with the falls in the background before we walked up to the concrete bridge that's been there since 1914.  I had no idea we were going to actually walk up to the top of the falls.  Dad, Erika and Malachi walked ahead.  Mom, Grandma, Ben and I stayed behind walking with Grandma who doesn't walk all that fast.

 She made it half way before she decided to turn around and head back with mom.  Ben and I trudged on up the hill.  When we got to the top I took out the GPS and we went and found the one I found back in June of 2011.  It was still there.  I had him find it while I got out my camer and our cougar/husky stuffed animals, that were soon going to be trackables.  We positioned the camera just right and took a few pictures.

Unfortunately during one of the self timer, run to the spots, my foot slipped and got wet in the river. Lame.  We took a few more pictures along the way to the platform of the falls.  There were lots of Asians.  We took our pictures and got a phone call from mom saying we should head down.

It took us less time to walk down than it did to walk up, but everyone knows that, duh.  We found them down by the lodge and we decided to take a few more pictures before we left for good.  When we got to the spot to take pictures there were tons of Asians doing some sort of zumba/dance moves right where everyone wanted to take pictures.  Some how we snuck mom and dad up there for a picture without Asians being in the way.  we walked back to the van and decided everyone was hungry.

The next major town west of us was Troutdale, a very infamous truck stop along I-84.  I've been here a few times to get gas in the past.  It's still very weird to me that it's not self serve in Oregon.  I lived here for a year and never got used to it.  We stopped at a family diner for lunch and to make our pee pee girl Erika happy.  Every where we've went today so far she's had to find a potty.  We definitely stayed too long at Multnomah Falls and this diner.  It was already one-ish and we had to get to Astoria/Long Beach before it got dark.  It took I-84 west and back over the 405 bridge towards the industrial area/St. Helens on Hwy 30 towards Astoria.  I believe we were going to make it before it got dark.

This is where I wished I was a passenger instead of the driver.  I got so tired between Scappoose and St. Helens.  I just about fell asleep.  I fought hard to stay awake.  Everyone else was napping and I so badly wanted to.  Of course along the way dad criticised my driving.  I told him if he wanted to drive I was perfectly fine with pulling over and letting him drive.  We got through Rainier and into Claskanine where I finally got to pass a moron in front of me.  Astoria got closer and closer but our daylight faded and faded.  It was getting close.  We arrived in Astoria and we had enough daylight to get Erika and Malachi to the beach before the sun went down.  We hung out at the beach took a few pictures and we all got cold.  The wind was chilly.

We found a few caches near the boardwalk before we all got in the van and drove towards Raymond.  It was very dark when we arrived in Raymond.  We decided to get gas to make it home and eat something because it was dinner time and by the time we got home it would be too late to make anything.  We found a diner off of the 101, Slater's Diner.  It had a bit of everything.  I wasn't that hungry so I had waffle fries and a Dr. Pepper for that boost home.  Erika and Malachi had a calzone and a wrap.  Mom, dad and grandma had burgers.  Ben had a few of my fries.  We finished and headed home after that.  We went through PeEll and Adna on Hwy 6 to I-5 in Chehalis.  We pulled in around 9ish.  Fun times but a very long day.

Next Adventure:  Seattle, Fremont Troll, Crab Pot and New Year's Eve

Pictures, Holiday Party and Nicole's Birthday

I spent the night at Ben's house the night before.  His parents wanted me to come over to have a mini Christmas get-together.  So I left after a long day at work and got there around dinner time.  We ate dinner and then opened presents in the living room.  His dad gave me a 2001 Husky calendar as a gag gift.  He took it back after seeing my reaction.  My real present was a 2014 Cougar calendar.  Ben got me two stuffed animals, a cougar and a husky to put trackables on and send them around the world with a story.  It was a nice relaxing evening.  We watched movies and fell asleep knowing we had to get up at seven to head to Yelm for family pictures with Jenna.

Link to Jenna's Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/jennaleephotofun

The alarm went off and it was way too early.  Ben took a shower and I didn't really want wet hair so I just decided to do without one. I did my hair the best I could, put some make-up on and got my jeans and pea coat on.  I made sure I had all of my Sounders stuff ready to go as well.  We packed up the car and headed back towards home.  Mom called asking where I was, I told her we just left Bonney Lake and we would be there around 9.  She said it was a zoo at the house with everyone getting ready at the same time.  We got to the park and talked to Jenna for a while.  I thought they would beat us here.  I guess mom locked her keys in the car, haha.

Jenna had us walk to an area with a pond in the background.  She had us take pictures as a family, couples, singles, females, males, kids, immediate family, etc.  It was chilly.  She took us to the dock with the fountain in the background and took several pictures.  Mom got poop on her coat and we made fun of her.  There was lots of laughing and carrying on.

Now it was time for the Sounders pictures.  Ben and I ran over to our vehicles and grabbed our stuff and put it on.  Apparently we weren't done taking nice pictures so we had to change again quickly.  We got them all done and now it was our turn with our sports gear on.  We had a blast taking pictures.  Jenna said we were fun to photograph.

Erika, Doug, Malachi and Dad all left for coffee.  Mom, Ben and I stayed behind and helped Jenna take the props back to her car while we chatted a bit.

Ben wanted coffee so we headed over to Starbucks and then we went home.  We had a egg sandwich to get us by until we went over to Grandma's house at one for another Christmas party and food.  We shot each other with the guns and darts mom bought us for Christmas until it was time to go over to Grandma's.  We loaded up the car with a few boxes, food and people.  I went through the back door and started helping Grandma get the food ready in the kitchen.  It was officially dinner time and we all found our spots at the table.  Of course the conversation lead to poop again.  After dinner we played a few rounds of bingo.

There were many prizes won, banter back and forth and many eaten desserts between bingo games.  We all left the dining room and headed into the living room for presents.  I got a black vest from Grandma.  It is less poofy and isn't made out of duck down.  It was fantastic.  We stayed a bit watching a Christmas movie on TV and I got several texts from Megan, Lindsay and Nicole about tonight's festivities.  It was Nicole's birthday and she and Megan decided to combine them for an extravaganza party.  We went home, I grabbed my present and looked at where we needed to go.

The first stop was Uncork and Unwind.  Several people ordered wine and Ben and I ordered beer.  He got the Quilter's Irish Death-Iron Horse Brewery (Ellensburg) and I got the Ballz Deep Double IPA-7 Seas Brewery (Gig Harbor).  Mine was tasty and we made fun of the name most of the night.  Quite a few people joined us later on.  Nicole opened presents and we just hung out until it was time to go grab some food.  Nicole wanted sushi so we found a place in Westside Oly.  Aya Sushi would the the place we found ourselves at.  This would be the first time I tried sushi in a restaurant.  I ordered sticky rice and egg rolls and tried everyone else's sushi.  My thoughts, "it tastes like ocean."

From there, some decided to go home for the night and a few of us headed over to the Viking in Lacey for some karaoke and drinks.  Ben, Nicole, Celeste, Charlie, Barlow and I hung out at the Viking for a few hours.  We sang a few songs, laughed at people who sucked at singing, had a few beers and drew dirty pictures on the backside of the song request slips of paper.

To top the night off, all of us sang Barbie Girl by Aqua.  We destroyed it.  One of the mics didn't work all that great so we just went with it.  Afterwards, we all decided to go home.  It was late and I was exhausted.  Today was a long busy day.

Happy birthday Nicole and Megan!