Home Leave 2012 - Seattle part 4

Of Long Time Friends

The tower of instruments.  It even
played music!

While we were in Seattle, I was able to catch up with a dear friend.  Angie and I met way back in kindergarten.  She was gracious enough to come into the city to spend some time with my kids and I at the EMP (Experience Music Project).

What a great time we had!  The kids reenacted scenes from "Avatar".  The process included walking around in a special "blue screen" type space which would show them where to move, spin or move arms.  As someone would move around, you would see their avatar walking around on a TV monitor, doing what they were doing.  In some cases, especially if you are very short like the girls, your avatar wouldn't build properly and it would walk around jerkily.  They still thoroughly enjoyed participating.

When you touched one of the images on the table, it
would make the sound of that instrument.   This was a
hit with the younger ones.

At the museum, there was a special area that held all sorts of instruments.  This is known as the sound lab.  This area held special sound proof rooms that you could try playing an instrument or, if you were a little more proficient, record your session.  There was also an open area with all sorts of music making items to be tried.  I think that this was the kids favorite part.  They would wait patiently, sometimes, to go into the sound proof rooms where they would get 10 minutes to try to play whatever instrument was in there.  They had rooms with drum sets, guitars, pianos, and microphones for singing.  We would go and see other exhibits, but they always wanted to go back here.  James was even able to pound or beat things to make music.   There was also a karaoke room where they could pretend to be a rock band giving a concert.  They sang to Vacation by the Go-Gos.  Angie knew it well, but the kids, not so much.  I should have gotten up with them, but James was a little cranky at this point.  I enjoyed watching them having so much fun.

James and Bekah playing
 on a keyboard

Afterwards, we had lunch, made our way back toward the hotel and called it a day.  It was loads of fun and the kids slept well that night.

Angie helping James play.

We met up with Angie again during our time in Seattle.  This time she brought playmates with her, aka her kids!  I think my kids were more excited than her kids.  Her kids are a bit older than mine and thought it was going to be a trying day to be around such young ones.  Once they met though, it was a totally different story.  They all got along famously.

Angie and I

We bought fresh seafood for dinner that night at Pike's Market.  There is nothing like fresh seafood.  The particular shop at the market that we went to is known for their flying fish.  So, our salmon, crab, mussels, and clams flew before it was given us!  The kids were even able to participate in the fun.

They need to update the placard.  The Kingdome has
been gone for many years now.

Going to the market first was a bad idea on our part.  We ended up taking the seafood with us throughout the day.  We should have probably waited until we had visited Adina before picking up the food.

It was so good to see Adina.  She is Angie's younger sister.  She works for a lawyer in Seattle whose office happens to be in the Columbia Center.  Adina was able to get us a ticket to the 73rd floor to see the view and what a wonderful view it was!  It was such a beautiful day in Seattle and we had the clearest view.  We saw Mt Rainier, all around the city and out to the Olympic Peninsula.  I guess the building is so old that they haven't updated their signs pointing out sights.  The Kingdome was demolished over 12 years ago and where it stood now houses baseball and football stadiums.  Afterwards, we went down and had lunch with Adina before she needed to get back to work.

Me, Angie and Adina

We then walked the kids down to the stadiums so that we could board the train back to Angie's house.  I really did walk the kids crazy while in town, this was no exception.  Polly, Angie's mom, met us at the station to help ferry the bodies back.  Once we got back to the house, the kids were relieved.  They were happy to have movie and game time.  The "Moms" then found themselves getting busy with dinner prep.  We had so much fun chatting and reminiscing.  AJ, Bob (Polly's husband) and Dan made it to the house and we all ate together.  The food was delicious and the company even better!  It was a wonderful time!  We look forward to visiting again.

We were also able to share a meal with a friend of AJ's from high school, Sarah O'Brien, and her family.  The kids had a great time and the parents were able to have some great conversation.  It was a beautiful evening.  We enjoyed dinner outside.  The kids played well together and had so much fun playing outside on a summer evening.  It was great to get to know them and hope that we will be able to catch up next time we are in town.

Dinner at the O'Brien's house.