Hey Hey Hey, We're on Vacation!

We are currently on our biggest trip yet. Biggest as in furthest distance and most nights away. On Monday at 545AM, we left our house and headed to the Orlando airport. We had a slightly frustrating experience at security. I had done an MCO Reserve time, which ended up taking longer than the regular line. But, we had allotted plenty of time, so while it was annoying, it wasn't stressful. It was Luke's first flight and he was a little nervous. It was actually my, Jack, and Anna's first flight in about 5 years and for Kara it had been 10 years. So, it felt pretty new for most of us. I used to have to fly a lot more often for work, but fortunately, travel is not a part of my job anymore. 

The flight to Seattle felt long (it was 6 hours), but it was smooth. The only sad part is I unknowingly booked us seats right over the wing, so the views weren't great. Unfortunately, we have the same seats on our return flight, but it is what is. When we fly again in another 5 years, I'll remember to check. 

We did two rows of three, Luke sat with Anna so they could play Roblox.

When we got to Seattle, we took the light rail to our AirBnB. And, we messed up our tickets. We bought tickets, but we didn't scan in. We wrongly thought buying the card had activated them and then we would scan out when we got to our destination. They had enforcement people on the train and they gave Thomas and I tickets. Well, since it was our first offense, it was a printed warning. But, it felt mean. I also thought instead of having enforcement on the train, they should have had them at the station directing people to check in. But, now we know and we will make sure to scan both in and out at each station. The scanners aren't in obvious places like other metros we've done (DC and NYC) and we were only two of many who received tickets. 

We dropped our bags off and then immediately headed to the Seattle aquarium. We were super hungry and thought maybe we would see something along the way. We didn't, so we ate at the aquarium. It was amazing to sit outside with the view of the water and the mountains. And, we saw a seagull eat a starfish! Unfortunately, no pictures of that, but it was pretty crazy.

After lunch we looked around. It was really fun. For me, the highlights were the octopus and a huge touch pool with sea anemones, starfish, and sea urchins. We had a lot of fun touching all the sea life. And, the octopus was amazing! They had an employee standing nearby and she told us that the octopus was caught in Puget Sound and they would keep her until she showed signs of being bored. On average, the octopuses stay about 6 months to a year before that happens. And, they can tell they are bored when they start looking for ways to escape. Last year, I read a book called Remarkably Bright Creatures, which features an octopus at the Seattle Aquarium. I had forgotten about it until the aquarium, but it brought back the memory. Octopuses are fascinating creatures!

After the aquarium, we walked through part of Pike's Market and saw the infamous gum wall. Luke was impressed, the rest of us were mostly disgusted :) We took the metro back to the rental house, stopping at a little grocery for some dinner. Originally, we had reserved a Hyatt House that overlooked the Space Needle. But, we decided to sacrifice some convenience for additional space. I am not sure whether or not that was the right call. But, the apartment has 3 bedrooms and two bathrooms, so definitely more room to spread out. After our day of traveling, we were all very tired. We played Uno Flips, had our dinner and were all in bed around 8pm local time (11pm Orlando time). It was a good first day.

Rental, we are on the bottom.