Thursday, January 3, 2013

Nothing changes on New Year's Day...

We spent a few days with family for the holidays, it was nice to see everyone and I know it will likely be some time before we can make it back, maybe next year for the holidays depending on where life takes us in 2013.  H was well spoiled, probably due to our guilt over all the recent upheaval, but that is probably well deserved as she has had to put up with a lot over the last few years, and may end up having to do so again.
Thoroughly enjoying her first present received on Christmas morning, at 4 a.m. before we had to leave to catch a flight, Toothless has been a nearly constant companion since (this was taken on the Xmas day flight home).
 Yesterday at Gasworks Park back in Seattle, trying to get out on a rare sunny day.  I have yet to find a quality park for children here but will continue to look.  Google indicated that this one was good for kids, that there were old pipes and equipment converted to play scapes for kids.  In reality, the picture above is the closest thing they have to a play area, it is a big pit of a dirt / sand / gravel mix, a few kids were rather sadly trying to play by taking handfuls of dirt from one area to another...  This is probably the only major city I've visited that lacks amazing urban playgrounds.
 An example of some of the old pipes, they are brightly painted and look neat, but plastered all over with signs that say "no climbing", we broke the rules a little bit above, but really I'm not sure what purpose these serve since this park looks like just another place for folks to walk their dogs and I can't imagine that the dogs would take in these structures.
Today we hit the first free Thursday of the month at MOHAI, figured we'd check it out while it is walkable, before we move to the next short term rental next week.  It was an interesting assortment of Seattle historical memorabilia but I'm not sure kids would want to go frequently.  This is an exhibit where people can stand in front of a green screen and appear on the TV in front of Seattle landmarks.  H also was able to make and take a periscope which was a neat activity to offer for the kids.
 Another nice sunny day, but definitely chilly, the little boat pond in front of MOHAI was a bit icy...
This is another otherwise nice park that lacks a play area for kids, so the kids were picking up pieces of ice and trying to toss them into the semi frozen pool to break them.  Old school fun I guess...  :)

Next week we'll be moving into a 6 month rental (the 4th move for us since August), B will no longer be able to walk to work anymore and we'll have to see how H does with a whole house full of aged carpet, but we're hoping it will work until spring, and if the house sells in MI then it will put us in a better position to find something here in the spring.  Either way it will be nice to unpack at least some of our things that have been in boxes since VA...