Seattle | July 18

Warning:  Excessive kid pictures ahead.

The next day (Monday), Hubs and I were able to go exploring on our own since the adults had to work for a bit in the morning.  So Peesh graciously loaned us her car (which I was terrified of crashing, btw) to head out to Pike Place Market.

Hubs had never been to Seattle, and given his recent foodie tendencies, I knew that this would be just the place to take him.

I was in heaven with all the fresh, beautiful flowers.

And he was in love with all the produce, meats, and seafood.

Since we knew we had to cook dinner for the first night we went to Orcas Island, we managed to pick up a good portion of food ahead of time. Check it - we got 12 jalapenos for only $1.00!

Of course, all that running around meant that we worked up quite an appetite, so we went to a local place that had awesome Yelp reviews - The Steelhead Diner.

Luckily, it was a beautiful day, so we were able to sit out on the patio and be serenaded by the cowboy in the alley below.

We also ordered WAY too much food. Like,

a crab cake,

fried oysters,

a "side" salad,

a pork leg sandwich,

collared greens,

and a smoked turkey gouda sandwich.

Needless to say, we barely even finished a quarter of the food.

Once we made it back home with Peesh's car in one piece (thank goodness - Seattle drivers are CRAZY), we headed out for an electric boat tour on Lake Union.

Marky was our captain extraordinaire, and the rest of us got to stuff our faces.

We couldn't have asked for a better day to go boating, and we were blessed by seeing all sorts of boats and sea planes.

It's hard to see, but there's actually a sea plane landing in this picture.

Of course, the kids had a blast.

And just maybe the adults did, too...

Photo by Peesh

Photo by Peesh

...but not the geese. They didn't have a good time because we didn't feed them any scraps of food.

I hate those things.  Even Seattle geese.

Later that night, we again borrowed Peesh's car to go visit my dear friend Amy and her bf, Justin.  Unfortunately, since we were so busy sipping our Dark 'n Stormy, I only remembered to take one cell phone picture while Justin was grilling the venison.

Amy lives in this retro fabulous house that they have totally made their own.  Seriously, I was in awe of how they decorated everything.

I've missed my Amy ever since she made the move from my office to the Chicago one, and then eventually to Seattle.  But in true soccer librarian mom fashion (I will always be her biggest cheerleader, so step off!), I am uber proud of everything she has accomplished, especially because she is following her heart.

We had such a great time catching up, and we were very sad to leave.  But, unfortunately, a 6AM wake up call was waiting for us the next morning when we would have to leave for Orcas...

Link | Full Photo Set