Seattle

The day after Christmas, Chip and I got on a plane and headed to Seattle to visit Thad, Lauren, Hayden, and Presley. This was the first time we had seen Thad, Lauren, and Hayden in exactly a year and the very first time to meet Presley Kate. She was so cute! We had a lot of fun. This was Chip's first trip to Seattle and my first trip to do touristy things.
Sunday- We got in about lunch time. After Hayden and Presley woke up from their naps we went to a pizza place called Pegasus on Alki Beach (which Hayden called Malachi beach). They had really good pizza and beer there. Chip and I were pretty exhausted so we called it an early night.

Alki Beach

Monday- We went to Pike's Place Market in downtown Seattle. They have lots of fresh fish, flowers, and other handmade items that are sold in the market. We also visited Nordstrom and a Columbia store where Chip did some shopping with his Christmas money. That evening Thad and his friend, Phil brewed a double IPA beer. According to Thad, if this beer turns out it will be the best beer ever. It will be six weeks until they know if it is good or not. Chip and I got to go to a homebrew store, which was really interesting since there isn't a lot of homebrewing around here. I think Chip was pretty intrigued by it.

Tuesday- We went to a pastry place called "Bakery Nouveau" in West Seattle near Thad and Lauren's house. Chip and I both had really good pastries there. He had a double chocolate pastry and I had a chocolate hazelnut pastry. They were both very good. In the afternoon, Thad and Chip went to some local breweries and sampled a lot of different beer. Lauren and I stayed at home with the kids while they napped. I made peanut butter chocolate chip cookies with Hayden.

Wednesday- We went to the Experience Music Project Museum in downtown Seattle. This was a lot of fun. There were music and science fiction exhibits. It was very cold this day so we tried to stay inside. Lauren and I went to the mall and did some shopping. I bought Chip a sweater, but that was all. Lauren had to return some things. We went out to dinner at Pyramid Brewing Co.

Thursday- Thad rented a van so we could all ride together and we drove around Seattle to see some of the very expensive houses and some parks.First, we went to Beth's Cafe, home of the 12-egg omelette. Chip and I split the 6-egg omelette. Maybe we can try the 12-egg omelette next time. We also went to the locks and Hayden liked to see the boats go from the bay to the ocean. We saw two boats go through. There were some very pretty views of the city and the houses were very nice and probably cost at least in the millions. We saw Kurt Cobain's house.

Kurt Cobain's house 

Friday- Thad and Lauren had planned a party for New Year's Eve with some of their friends. Chip and I went to Ikea. I was looking at kitchen stuff and couches to get some ideas for what we want to do in the house. Thad and Lauren's friends came over and we played a Newlywed game, charades, and catch phrase. Some of their friends stayed the night, so the next morning we all got up and had breakfast. It was a lot of fun.

Saturday- We were all pretty tired from New Year's Eve and staying up late. Hayden and Presley were up very early so Thad and Lauren put away their Christmas stuff and stayed around the house. Chip and I went to lunch in West Seattle.

Sunday- We got on a plane to head back to Memphis. We got stuck in Salt Lake City for two hours, but made it back about 11:30 p.m. We were pretty tired, but still on Seattle time (2 hours behind).

The trip was a lot of fun and it was great to see Thad, Lauren, Hayden, and Presley.