Friday, August 16, 2013

The Barrows & Tassells go to Seattle

Not sure where to start to try to explain how awesome of a trip we had to Seattle with our friends Sean and Ashleigh. It was such a wonderful getaway from our everyday lives and although I did miss my little ones, I also had a really good time connecting with my hubby again and enjoying nothing but adult conversation for 4 days.

Our trip started with a day of shopping in Nanaimo where we got a smoking deal on a new stroller and diapers on sale at Target (I know I know, we should shop local, but seriously saving $25 on diapers was awesome!). Then we headed off to Victoria and ended up having dinner at The Monkey Tree Pub. Then off to Sean's parents where I visited for only an hour before I fell into a drug induced coma to try and sleep off my sickness! Monday morning we got up and headed for the Victoria Clipper to take us to Seattle. Our hotel was just a short 10 block walk (4 blocks straight uphill!) from the pier. The boys went to get drinks and Ash and I did what we do best....just bullshit about life! Awesome dinner in the hotel restaurant and then we were off to our first Blue Jays game! It was an absolutely incredible experience to be surrounded by THOUSANDS of screaming Canadian fans all dressed in Blue Jays blue! Singing the national anthem in an american stadium and having it be 5x louder than the american anthem made me very proud to be Canadian. The poor guy singing got lost because I don't think he could even hear the music over all of the crowd singing. Anyways, it was an amazing game to say the least. Here are some photos from Day 1 in Seattle.

The first of many lines we would stand in! Waiting to board the Victoria Clipper.


Night 1 pre-game drinks

hehehehehehe

Yup, even I had a drink!

hehehehehe...Sean is ready to go!

Waiting in the back alley of the hotel for the shuttle to the game!

Our first picture of the four of us!

And, we've arrived. The excitement at this point was incredible as were about to walk in and up the stairs to get to the field.

Do you think we are excited?


An awesome pic of Sean and Ash in front of the field.

Great one of Jim and Sean too!



Ash was very excited that the Churro lady came by our seats!

Brett Lawrie's bum

Some random action shots from the game. We were sitting in the lower bowl just 30 rows from the field. The lower bowl is definitely a great seat, but next time we want to be behind the dugout!







Day 2 we got up (not too early because of course we had no kids!), had a great continental breakfast at the hotel and then we were off for a day of sightseeing. Our hotel was only about a six block walk to the Space Needle so we went there first. Only Jim and I went up because Ash is deathly afraid of heights so they stayed on the ground and wandered around down there. The view from up there was great and I'm glad I can say that I went. Next time I wouldn't mind eating in the restaurant at night because I think the view with the lights at night would be fantastic.



Ash got down on the ground and tried to get as much of the needle as possible. 

Then Sean actually laid on the ground to get this awesome shot. It's definitely one of my favorites from the whole trip! Thanks Sean!

Views from up top - this is Lake Union in the middle of the city where all the floating houses you hear about are.

Downtown Seattle

Downtown with the harbour and both arenas

A picture of our hotel...awesome deals at the Holiday Inn Express

More harbour, this time you can see the ferris wheel down at the pier

One of Seattle's many ferry boats

Us with the views behind us



More of the residential side of the city, as well as Key Arena

After we came down from the Needle the Tassell's happily told us that a caricaturist was just setting up right near the Monorail station which we were about to take to downtown so we could head to the pier and Pike Place Market. So, of course, we waited and happily paid our money to get a caricature done. If you've ever been to our house you will know that we kind of have a love of caricatures and it just has worked out that all of our big trips we have come home with one. We got one down at Six Flags in California, one at the Stratosphere in Vegas and now this one at the Space Needle in Seattle. The one we cherish the most of course is the one my sister and her family gave us the year we were married of us on our wedding day! Maybe a blog post of our caricatures is in order next!







About to get on the monorail to head downtown towards Macy's, Pike Place Market and the ferris wheel on the pier





I love this picture of Ash and me! 

A parents kind of sign for the restrooms

Ash contributing to the nasty gum wall. I thought it would be really cool to see it but in the end it was just so gross. The smell was terrible with the heat and all the different kinds of gum.


Jim's face clearly shows how unimpressed he is that I made him stand next to the wall for this photo!

Standing in front of the ferris wheel on the pier. Again just Jim and I went up as Ash said there was no way she could do it! 

After a relatively short wait of about 30 minutes we were on and got our own gondola.

He may be smiling but those first few minutes he certainly was not having fun. 

I on the other hand was loving it! I love heights and to see the view from up there was awesome.

 Cheesy kissing picture!

Some scenery pics from the gondola





Now we're off to Game 2 and really hoping our signs make it on TV. They didn't, but at least we were excited to know that Baby Slack had arrived safe and sound, although I was bummed we weren't in town to visit him right away.


That smile on Ash's face is actually hiding the extreme fear she is feeling as we are going up the second of three escalators to get to our upper bowl seats.

Sean wanted a picture by the railing with Century Link field behind them. She said no way and this was the closest she felt comfortable standing. 

Amazing view from up in the upper bowl. Our seats were in the second row so we had a great view of the whole game. 

This time we were above the first base line and directly across from the Safeco Field sign.


They really did do their best to get onto TV. We also tried for the Jumbotron but of course because we were in Blue Jays shirts there was no way they would do it.

BC born Brett Lawrie on the Jumbotron

Action shots of the pitcher and some batters








Again with his cute bum!

Close to the end of the second game. The boys were relatively drunk and Ash and I were cold from the wind up in the upper bowl. 

On our way home on the Victoria Clipper. 

Thanks so much Sean and Ash for inviting us to come along for a great trip with you guys! We'd travel with you again anytime, next time let's do Mexico for a whole week! 

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