seattle.

so three weekends ago, phil's friend/co-fellow got married.  up in seattle.  and we were invited.  we initially concluded that we wouldn't be able to make it since buying airline tickets and accomodations for all five of us would be crazy expensive.  until phil threw out the idea of possibly asking the grandparents to watch the kiddos for us while we made a little weekend getaway out of it.  i like the way that guy thinks.  :)

my parents jumped at the chance to spend the weekend with the kids, and i jumped at the chance of a mini-vacation.  to make it easier on the grandparents, i drove the kids and met them halfway so that they could keep the kids at their house (because they still have a business to run, too).  we ironed out the details, i packed for what felt like days (okay, only two days, but they were LONG days), phil made the reservations and the plans, and we were all set to go!

except, i was feeling a bit nervous about leaving our kids behind and hopping on a plane to be two whole states away from them.  hopping on planes has become a much more nerve-wracking experience ever since children entered my world.  before, i used to be only excited at the prospect of visiting someplace new without a thought about all the potential what-ifs and dangers that lurk in any given moment.  but after kids, all those what-ifs and dangers suddenly loom large and make me think twice about doing anything without them constantly in my sight.

so there was a lot of praying on my part, both to ease my fears, and to remind myself that they were (and always have been) in the Lord's hands who has always protected them in every situation, in every moment of their lives- when i was with them and when i was not.  that they were in the safest place possible and were never out of God's sight, even though they were out of mine.

so going away for a whole weekend was not as emotionally easy as i initially thought it would be.  and though i felt a bit anxious the whole time we were away, it ended up being oh so well worth it.

phil reserved a suite for us at the fairmont hotel in downtown seattle.  we decided to skip renting a car to avoid paying for parking in downtown and did all our sightseeing on foot.  it added a new element of adventure and certainly was something we couldn't have done with the kiddos in tow.

the lobby.

our first purchase soon after getting settled in.  though i do understand no real seattle-ite would be caught dead with an umbrella.  but then again, i never claimed to be a native!  it never really rained rain, mostly drizzled the whole weekend, but it was surprising how soggy one gets from being constantly drizzled on.  not til the following day did we discover that there was an umbrella provided in our room for our use.  aw well...

i had no idea that i'd be in the coffee capital of the world, but boy was i a happy girl once i found out!

speaking of coffee, phil navigated us to the very first starbucks store that morning.  of course, there was a starbucks on nearly every corner, and we passed at least three of 'em on the way, but there's only one FIRST one!

and who should we happen to run in to at the very first starbucks?  why, it's phil's friend anu, the groom-to-be!

we did a little strolling around at pike place farmer's market, too.  it was completely mobbed though, so not exactly a leisurely experience.

i spotted this funky little guy as we passed by and totally regretted not getting a picture of him.  it kinda started haunting me, actually.  so phil humored me and we walked back through the crowds just so i could stop being haunted.  thanks, honey!

direct quote from the philsters: "there seems to be a lot of crap sold here."  so no, we didn't end up bringing one of these babies home with us.

you can't be in seattle without gawking at the 30 pound king salmon, right?  we ended up buying a whole fish and had it shipped to my parents as a big thank you.  they loved it.

for us, being out on our own of course means we EAT.  and phil did a fantastic job finding us some really great places to try.  i so wanted to try some oysters but we went for baked ones this time around.  the rockefeller one?  totally rocked.

and this little number with the sour cream ice cream wasn't too shabby, either.

i was hoping we'd get our fall color fix in too, but the whole carless in the rain thing kinda dampened that idea.  but there was beautiful color all around us.  and under us, as it were.

oh!  and i finally got to wear the coat phil gave me three christmases ago!

went to a place called the 'library bistro' for sunday breakfast.  it was like eating in the middle of a library with dark wood and books stacked all around.

of course, i had to have this.  but the orange juice was darn good, too.

turns out, the kids were never far from phil's mind either.  wherever there is paper and something to draw with, allie's usually somewhere near.  so this was phil's shout-out to his girl who would've loved the library bistro's paper table covering and cup o' crayons.

mmm.  the bread.  oh the toasty, buttery, lightly crisp wonderful bread!

we took a monorail to walk around the space needle and surrounding park.  where i DID get my color fix, after all!

and look!  we finally got a peek of blue skies while there, too.  we weren't going to go up the needle since we figured it would be rainy and cloudy and hard to see anything anyway.  but the plan changed once the clouds started breaking up.

and so, up up up we went!  and the whole way up i was inwardly freaked out about the elevator cables snapping and us plummeting all the long way down.  so now add elevator rides to my list of nerve-wracking experiences.

but the view was awesome and the sky cleared up just enough for us to enjoy the experience.  and then it started raining again on the way back.

we spent a lot of time going from store to store trying to find a dress that would fit me and not look like i just threw on a potato sack.  in the midst of all the shopping, phil got a little present for me.  picked it out himself, too.

i love that there are six hearts in it.

quick shot of us just before we headed out for the wedding.

a wonderful weekend getaway topped off by a totally fun wedding.  congrats to anu and jane!  ah, such good times.

but then, i couldn't wait to get back to the kiddos and hug em and squeeze em and kiss their faces again.  guess that's why it's good to get away every now and again, huh?

and last week, we got a very nice letter from my step-mom thanking US for entrusting our kids to them and telling us they loved spending that time with our kids.  we are so incredibly blessed.