Our vacation to Seattle began as all such trips tend to do: a hurried and harried scramble to do laundry, pack as few as bags possible under 50 pounds and empty the fridge. The night before we left we overcome annoying but far from surmountable obstacles: Walgreen's not having a prescription, not discovering the pepperoni on our pizza until Rob got home, and Delta changing our flight from 8:40 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. without notifying us. But when all was said in done, we made the first plane and Romi, not the best traveler in the world, made it OK to Salt Lake City, where we had to pretty much walk outside for half a mile in the snow to get to the terminal, which wouldn't have been a big deal if we had our coats. Romi completely melted down on take off, to the point that the flight attendant told us we could go ahead and pick him up, which worked out great since he instantly fell asleep and slept the whole flight.
We landed in Seattle and headed for the barrage carousel, only to be cruelly disappointed when all we got was the car seat and not the two bags we had so meticulously packed. We filed the paperwork and headed off for the rental car van. Unfortunately, it is cold in Seattle and our coats were packed in our missing bags. We waited and waited and waited for the van, jumping around to keep warm. When the rental car van finally arrived, the door was broken so we had to ride there with the lovely 40-degree breeze swirling around. We eventually located the car, loaded up the car seat and headed out to meet our family at Claim Jumper, where they had graciously ordered us food so we would have hot sustenance waiting.
After a satisfying meal, we borrowed jackets and headed "home." Our rental bungalow is in a great neighborhood--Maddison Park. It's a suburban oasis minutes from downtown. Unfortunately, when we found the house, we also found it locked. Luckily, we got a hold of Inge in short order and didn't have to resort to breaking in. The house is two stories with hardwood floors. The kitchen is tiny and there are two bathrooms. It has a fancy washer and dryer and a great deck and yard if it would ever stop raining. We headed out for a mondo-largo grocery trip to Trader Joe's and Safeway, where we bought not only staples but anything that struck our vacation fancy. We lounged and relaxed and enjoyed one another's company before settling into the various beds, some of us in borrowed pajamas seeing as our luggage still had not arrived by 10:00 p.m.
The next morning came early. The house is cute and comfortable but it definitely is not soundproof. Any noise, from scraping a chair to opening the dishwasher, rings through the house like a steam train. I missed my clothes but I missed my earplugs even more. I emphatically told Rob that my Friday morning sleep-in did not count. I persevered with my special day, however, wishing for nothing more than clean underwear. We wouldn't have been so desperate for the luggage if we could have reached someone--anyone--at Delta. The baggage line, reservation line and bag delivery carrier all went straight to busy, at all hours. At 10:00 a.m., when the bags were 15 hours over due from the latest they said they would be delivered, Rob and David headed out to the airport. We knew as soon as they did the bags would come, but we also knew if they didn't try the bags would remain lost forever. True to form, just as they pulled into the airport parking garage there was a knock on the door. I spent the next hour happily unpacking, showering and changing into my very own clean clothes....hurray!
The remainder of my birthday morning was spent cooking for Shabbat. We broke for lunch and all headed to Cactus, the southwest-style restaurant that Inge had without irony recommended. Alas, it was closed for the holiday and we ended up at a Thai restaurant that I liked well enough but mom would have loved. We headed home and I had a scrumptious Shabbat/Birthday dinner of salad, Rob challah, Mac'n'Cheese ala Morgan and Hutterite pie.
Christmas day we relaxed and ate and played and ate and took walks and ate. It was nice to be together, although the kids got a bit stir crazy on the most boring day ever to be a Jew. Our house is right by the water and the views were stunning. We took a driving tour through downtown and go the lay of the land. Jo-Jo and Morgan diligently and relentlessly looked for a restaurant open on December 25th for dinner. After trying every Asian permutation they could come up with we ended up at a superior Indian cafe where we consumed even more food. Everyone loved the meal.
Sunday dawned and so did our determination to get out and see the city. We got up, ate yet again, got dressed and headed out. Most of us even realized we should bundle up. We found parking by the water and headed to Pike Place Market. We loved it. There was so much to see, from the original Starbucks (no, i didn't have coffee, instead I enjoyed a hot sea salt and caramel hot chocolate) to the gorgeous fruits and veggies, to the tastings of olive and vinegar. We ate lunch at the Pike Pub, enjoying a much-needed respite from the cold with air-fried fish and chips. Romi needed to crash so Rob, Gabi, David and the munchkin headed home to rest while Morgan, Steven (sans jacket), Jo-Jo (also sans jacket, like mother like son) and I fell in love with Beecher's, the homemade cheese store and hoofed it to the over-rated Macrinia Bakery. We were happy to play in the city but cold doesn't even describe it. Luckily, David came and rescued us.
Romi enjoyed the sites but he enjoyed his family even more. His cousins will go to any length to make him happy, including making up a variety of games (flying pillow, couch-bus number 8 with coins for keys, etc.). His power over these people is amazing. He can convince them to pretend to sleep when he turns the light off so that when he turns it on they all jump up singing and dancing. I can't decide what I enjoy watching more, his pure joy or their antics. He especially has his best playmate Steven wrapped around his finger, although he pulled "the lip" on his aunt and she totally caved. His favorite toy in the house is the "baby broom," although he has made quite a game out of having his teenagers swing him in a sheet. His cousins have also taught him how to use an iPod.
On Monday, Steven, Rob, Romi and I enjoyed the Seattle Aquarium, especially the touch pools and dome room (remember you promised to build me one Steven!). We met up with David, Jo-Jo and Morgan and had a truly lovely lunch on the water at the famous Elliot's Oyster Bar. The rosemary bread was amazing. The Gludts headed home to nap while the Salomon's explored Pioneer Square. They skipped the underground tour but found the best toy story ever, buying a ball and submarine for Romi, and yummy cookies from the Cow Chip Bakery (they brought us a "bull" cookie which I preceded to eat without informing Rob that half of it was his). I made another Hutterite pie, although I had trouble getting it to set up right. In an effort to get it to gel, I balanced it on the window sill. It made a lovely picture and an even better crash when it fell into the sink. (Of course we ate it anyway.)
We kept busy playing games like Sporcle, learning that the Greek word for bride is nymph (complete with hand motions), Trivial Pursuit (with Morgan using flawed logic to determine that there were far fewer people when Gone with Wind was released so it can't be the top ticket sales of all time) and all sorts of variations on Loose Hair, including Amish-style and Everything Bagel.
Tuesday we headed to the Seattle Center. After spending more than $20 to get into the Children's Museum Rob and I had the realization that Romi was not going to do well. He finds crowded places overwhelming in the best of circumstances and this was not an ideal venture for a new place. We spent about an hour before determining that he was not going to be happy. We called the Salomon's to check on their whereabouts just to learn that they were at the food court by the monorail. We told them to stay put, grabbed the kidlet and headed upstairs to the food court by the monorail. We looked and looked, past crowds and kids and the Winterland display, but couldn't find them anywhere. They aren't easy to miss, so we called them in confusion. Yes, they were in the food court. Yes, they were by the monorail. But where? They were by the escalator. The what?! Once we determined that they were at the other monorail station by the food court we met up. We took Romi on the monorail for a round trip adventure and gave him some lunch. On the way home we swung by a very crowded Pike's Place Market for some of the world's best Mac 'n' Cheese from Beecher's. It lived up to its reputation. Mine didn't even make it home!
Wednesday, our last day of the trip, came way too soon. We had grandiose plans to finish off our Seattle vacation. We considered the locks, a harbor cruise, taking a ferry, visiting the Fremont district or Brainbridge Island. All of our plans, however, were dashed as we watched the snow flurries start. The snow didn't stick in Madison Park but word on the street was that there was quite a bit of snow in other parts of the city. So instead of braving the elements with a two-year-old and only a four-seater car for the seven of us we stayed close to home.
We began our return trip home at the ungodly hour of 3:30 a.m. Morgan accompanied us to the airport and the extra pair of hands certainly helped. We had to wait for the plane to be de-iced, a first for me. The extra procedure delayed us, but not enough for us to miss our connection in Utah. The stuck jetway did that. We sat on the plane at the gate waiting for a mechanic until the scheduled time for our departure came and went. We then spent SEVEN HOURS in the airport trying to go stand-by to Tucson and keep a 2-year old entertained. We had food vouchers and clothes for the boy and the airport had play areas, but it was all for naught and we ended up sleeping in a hotel without luggage. Delta picked up the tab since it was mechanical, but we still just wanted to be home. Friday morning we headed to the hotel lobby to catch the shuttle and it was a mob scene. There were loads of people trying to get to the airport, one British family with an inordinate amount of luggage (and us without any at all!). As we began to despair of making it to the airport in time to get through security, even without bags, a nice woman and her teenage daughter looked at us, told us they had a rental car and asked it we wanted to jump in the back. We didn't hesitate. We buckled Romi into the backseat and enjoyed an easy trip with two New Yorkers who had been stuck in SLC since that Monday. They even kindly dropped us at the gate!
We made it home safe and sound, albeit tired and grumpy. But it was all worth it. I know, because Romi is still singing "Guitara, guitata, dance, dance, dance!"
