Southbound for Spring Break.

We have been to Seattle many times...it's one of those places that is just the right distance of a get-away so it feels like a vacation but you're not spending too many hours with little people in the backseat. This Spring break I wanted to spend a few days in Seattle but Hardworking Husband couldn't take the time off but Semi-retired Parents were interested in going southbound with the kiddos and me and we had a great time. Here's my advice if you find yourself in Seattle for a few days...

From our 2016 visit to the Woodland Zoo

1. Check out the Seattle zoo (Woodland Park Zoo). We have gone there at least 6 times so we decided to skip that zoo this time but if you have never been, it's worth it.  The exhibits are nice and the animals look like they are well taken care of. We could easily spend the entire day here.

2. Check out the Seattle Aquarium. We had never been to there before because in the past we always go to the Woodland Zoo but we have the Entertainment coupon book and there is a buy-1-get-1-free coupon in there and we can never resist a deal.

3. Check out the diver show. Several times a day, they have a diver go in the giant tank and somehow he has a microphone and is able to talk and tell you about all the species of fish and answer questions. My kids were just excited to show the diver the stuffed belugas and beaver they brought from home.

4. Oooooh and aawww at the adorable sea otters. They are so cute and if you go to the otter feeding you get to see them eat clams floating on their backs.

5. Check out the dome of jellyfish. There are lights projected behind the translucent jellyfish so it looks really cool.

6. Touch an anemone and feed a sea urchin. We came just in time for feeding, the kids loved feeding the sea urchins! I didn't even know you could feed a sea urchin.

7. Spend way too much money on over-priced stuffed animals in the gift shop. At first, I thought 2 stuffed animals for $37 isn't that bad but I forgot about taxes and the not-so-hot exchange rate and realized later that the two new fluffy friends cost $50 Canadian. But really, look at the joy on their faces! And my husband is closer to making our vehicle run on stuffed animals instead of gas. And of course after you buy the stuffies you have to run through the exhibits again so you can introduce your new beloved stuffy to the sea creatures at the aquarium. Here is Little Brother's stuffy seal meeting the real harbour seal.

8. Cheesecake factory. Because cheesecake is awesome. And the portions are huge. The kids ate their leftovers of the kid's meal lunch for lunch again the next day.

9. Ride the Seattle Great Wheel. It is locate right beside the Seattle Aquarium at Pier 57 on Elliot Bay  in downtown Seattle. It has an overall height of 175 feet and gives you a great view of the city and the water.

 It was a smokin' hot blue bird day when we did it so we got some great shots. Little Brother was a bit terrified when we first got on but once we went around once, he was happy to go around a couple more times and laugh at Big Sister do her flossing dance at the top of the Ferris wheel

10. Run through GasWorks Park. A huge green space in an industrial area, the kids ran around the grass (dodging goose poop) and raced to the top of the hill where there is a great view of the city and a giant compass perfect for playing Four Corners.

 11. Pretend to be ninjas at GasWorks Playground. After running around the grass and to the top of the knoll, race to the newly built playground. If you can make it to the top of the spider climber, there is an awesome metal tube slide to come back down. There's also cute little picnic tables next to the playground so you can watch your little ninjas and take in the view of the water at the same time.

 12. Run through tunnels. GasWorks park is quite industrial but the kids had a lot of fun just running around and playing Go Go Stop through the tunnels. I love how at this age, anything can be so exciting...even running laps through a concrete tunnel.

13. Go to the Pike Place public market. Embrace your inner tourist and take an iconic picture in front of the Public Market sign.

14. Head to the Pike Place Fish Market.  There's lots of vendors and artisan crafts here but my kids spent the whole time at the Fish Market. It was so amusing watching the guys hollar, "Heeeeey! Catch it! Catch it" as the fling fish across the stall. We stayed here for a creepy long time waiting for the next time the guy would throw the fish.

You can check out the video to see the fish flinging in action...

15. Find the gum wall and the fish wall. The gum wall is too gross for me to take a picture of but I guess it's an iconic thing you have to see if you're in the Pike Place market. I much prefer the colourful wall of fish also at Pike Place Market.

16. Check out Kerry Park. It takes a bit navigating the crazy streets in Seattle but if you can follow your GPS and make it through the steep,  narrow and wacky streets where cars park on the wrong side of the road in opposite directions, you will eventually get to Kerry Park where there is a lookout point of the city and there's also a playground with a climbing wall. A bit hit for my little ninjas in training.

17. Head to Golden Gate Beach. We were blessed with a wave of summer weather and it was so hot we 'had' to stop at Ross to buy Little Brother some shorts and then we headed to the beach. Can't believe the kids were in the bathing suits over Spring Break and we didn't even have to go to Mexico or Hawaii for fun in the sand and sun.

18. Bury each other in the sand. The beach weather was a surprise so I had not packed any beach toys but the kids didn't complain. At least I remembered sunglasses and the sunscreen!

19. Play frisbee in the sand. Warning: 5 year olds don't throw very well and Little Brother chucked the Frisbee into the water instead of across the beach. The kids were yelping for me to run into the water to rescue the Frisbee and as hot as it was, I wasn't ready to dive into the ice cold water yet. While I was calculating the cost of a new Frisbee versus getting in the water, brave Big Sister took the plunge into the icy water and rescued the Frisbee.

20. Practice cartwheels. Jump the waves. Take a nap. The beautiful thing about vacationing with a 5 and 7 year old is that they don't need much supervision. I remember going to the beach with them when they were younger and Little Brother would be eating handfuls of sand and shells while Big Sister would be racing towards the water with no life jacket. Beaching with school-age kids means they play by themselves and we watch and take pictures, or if you are a tired from navigating the nutty Seattle streets, you can even have a nap.

21. Rent a bike and tour the city. We didn't do this because the kids are too small but if you are in Seattle without little people, these bikes are all over the city and it only costs 10 cents a minute. The bikes come in cool colours like lime green and day glow yellow.

22. Check out Cougar Mountain Zoo. My kids are animal fanatics - they can tell you obscure facts about any animal - so that's why we always go to the Woodland Zoo when we are in Seattle but this time, we decided to check out Cougar Mountain Zoo in Issaquah, Washington instead. 

Compared to the Woodland Zoo, it is much, much smaller but there are still lots of animals to see and since the place is quite small, you can go to all the different animal talks without walking too far. We went to every animal talk there was that day since the kids love learning more random facts about animals. Now we know that a reindeer's fur is hollow and filled with air so it makes them excellent swimmers and when when they call to each other it sounds like "Ho Ho Ho" and that's why Santa says Ho Ho Ho. Seriously. That's what the zoo guide said.

23. Feed an alpaca or two. You can buy a container of apples when you go in the zoo and alpacas are so fun to feed. You put the apple on your hand they gobble the apple off your hand. 

24. Learn about lemurs. Did you know that a lemur eats marshmallows ? And the lemurs can actually tell the difference in flavours between pink , yellow and purple marshmallows? With it being close to Easter, the Zoo Guide has been feeding them Peeps as treats and the lemurs only like the purple ones! Maybe they should write that in the script for the next Madgascar movie, who knew King Julian likes purple marshmallows?

25. Feed a tiger! One of the most exciting activities was doing the Tiger Tunnel tour and Natallie was the brave one to feed the tiger. You put the meat on a stick like a shish-kabob and put it through a little hole and the tiger chomps it all up. 

This is the tiger that Big Sister got to feed

Putting the meat on a stick and feeding Bagheera...You can watch the video below...

When we were in the doing the Tiger Tunnel tour, the tigers were sleeping (apparently they sleep 18 hours a day) and it was really cool to see them up close but they weren't moving at all. But later that afternoon, a person with a service dog walked by the tiger exhibit and all the cougars, wolves and tigers woke up and went bezerk! All four tigers were jumping up and down and if it wasn't for that fence, those tigers would have pounced on that dog. I have never seen such a scene before! 

So that's it...Seattle in 3 days....get your Nexus card and go! Adventure Awaits...