Lions and Tigers and Otters, oh my!

This weekend, Grayson and I went to the Woodland Park Zoo, and then downtown to Pike Market.

In the morning, we went and sold some books and had breakfast, and then ... we submitted our applications for our passports! Grayson and I are planning a trip to Europe next summer, and hopefully to Canada in February for Grayson's birthday (to which you need a passport now). Behold: here are the photos you will see on tv when Grayson and I have committed some weird murder high on Dutch pot:


After that, we made pilgrimage to the Woodland Park Zoo, which is in an area of town called Phinney or Phinney Ridge, right next to Greenlake (a big ol' lake in the middle of town). This is only a couple of miles from where Grayson and I live. The zoo was MASSIVE, and it had a price tag to match. There were tons of animals, including gross bats. There were NO bunnies in the farmyard :( Here are some aminulz they did have:

A lion('s butt)

Hungry, hungry Hippos!

This otter was a total show-off, all swimmin' super fast and whatnot.

Tigey!!! (Grayson's favorite. He was taking a bath most of the time).

We also saw African wild dogs, wolves, and a million other aminulz. Even wilder than the animals were all the children...banging on the glass at the lion, running into me and touching me and trying to push against me to get me to move so they can see an animal that is hiding from them in the first place. One kid was screaming and crying in a stroller, though he was clearly of age to walk (why can't parents make their kids walk and just sit and take a break every once in a while?) just whined without saying anything and pointed in the direction he wanted to be pushed. And the parents DID IT. Holy crap! Then there was one kid that was crying, and his dad was a metalhead about Grayson's age, and he says to the kid: "What do you want?" (Kid) "Whiiine," (Dad) "What the f***?!" Yeah, wow, nothing like a trip to the zoo to realize that I am just fine with not having children. EVER.

After the zoo, we went downtown, which I don't get to do that often. We mostly went through Pike market, trolling through book shops I hadn't been to since before we moved here, and then to that cool poster shop. Grayson and I took a rest at the waterfront, gazing out at Bainbridge Island. (I think that's what it is).
Stay tuned next week when we possibly, maybe go to Alki beach. Though we will probably only to Ballard to get my camera repaired.

A weekend in pictures...

In despair and sadness at the convalescence of my camera, here is our weekend in photos:

Friday night: Bellevue-We checked out the upscale suburb to the East, which is mainly shops, new skyscrapers and McMansions.

Also, Chihuly waterfalls indoors:


and, a LEGO store!!!
The art museum also apparently commissioned a huge shopping bag for the art displayed outside by their entrance. And the closest bookstore to their huge shopping district was quarantined two blocks away. I do not think I like this town a whole lot.

On Saturday, we walked through the Washington Park Arboretum:
Beware, the dark forest:
And then I got super-excited because there were a lot of lily pads around, which I have always liked. And then there were beautiful white lotuses growing from some. Grayson got down and reached his hand into the buggy, murky deep to retrieve for me a single white enchanted lotus. Because I am not a fan of receiving gifts that require effort just to watch them die, I do not usually like getting flowers, but because they were so pretty, Grayson stole for me what would be the first flower he has ever given me from the State of Washington!


After that, we went to the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI), which is a Washington History Museum which just happened to be about to close their GEORGE EASTMAN HOUSE EXHIBIT!!!

I saw-in the FLESH-some of my favorite photographs ever:

Imogen Cunningham's '2 Callas,'
a Steichen print I can't find digitally, and Ansel Adam's 'Clearing Winter Storm,'
they also had Dorothea Lange's 'Migrant Mother'
After that I went to a book club in Capitol Hill and Grayson and I wandered around Cal Anderson Park, which has cool fountains and black metallers playing fetch with their dogs on a sunny summer day.

Gasworks Park and Ballard

Grayson and I went to Gasworks Park on Saturday, a park that once was a plant that converted coal into gas, and was bought by the city in the '70s and converted into a park...where all the rusty, industrial bits of the plant are surrounded by Lake Union, vegetation, and people with kites.


It's a fun place, with plenty to take pictures of: the downtown skyline with the Space Needle, the hills and bridges of Seattle around the lake, wild berries:

and thistles:


...until one's camera breaks. My camera decided to not only NOT connect fully with my lens over and over again, but to make nice plastic crunches whenever I tried to fix the problem. So all was lost, and I got off a whole four pictures or so before it decided to be a big ol' broken lame-o. Now I get to take it into the shop. Maybe while I'm there I'll get a new lens...

After that, the sunny day started raining, and Grayson went home to study and I went to Queen Anne for a meetup group. The rain kept pouring until just as I got to the University District it stopped raining, as the sun was setting. Grayson and I met for pizza, which after only one meal and a day full of walking, two slices ended up not being enough for me, but Grayson insisted that we find a treat in Ballard, one of the last few neighborhoods to explore on our list. So we made our way to Ballard, where Archie McPhee's was closed and it was mostly boring and lame, and I felt grumpy and sad that the trip was for nothing. And then...


...we found a Trophy Cupcakes, a happy little cupcake shop. It was a perfect treat, and super fun to boot. They had chalk-drawings of bunnies, and delicious cupcakes of many flavors, and delicious Stumptown (local roaster) coffee. My lame trip to Ballard was justified! They even made a pretty design in our lattes:


All in all, a great find. Grayson had a MoFro cupcake (chocolate cake with mocha frosting), and I had a Coconut cupcake (chocolate cake with coconut shavings frosting). I also got a LEGALIZE FROSTITUTION t-shirt. Because this is an issue I support strongly. More frosting, regulated safely by the government.

Also, Hobbes got his first bath:

Do not feel bad for him: as you may know, kitties usually give themselves baths and do not usually need help from humans, but not when a kitty commits the unspeakable evil that Hobbes committed. Then, you get help from humans. He didn't seem to hate it, though. Freak.

Next week, I swear, we are going to go to the Arboretum. I will definitely want a working camera, though.

Weekend of Gustatatious Delights

Because last week's post was short, here is a picture to compensate. Instead of showing you the palatial view of Seattle from atop Queen Anne, here is Grayson getting bunny ears from the Space Needle:


With SeaFair going on this weekend, from Thursday until today the Blue Angels have been screaming through the sky above Seattle. It has sounded like a thunderstorm rolling right by. Grayson and I elected not to go (not really our thing), but apparently it's a big air and sea festival. This is the same festival that diverted us via a parade last weekend.


Saturday we spent trolling around to restaurants. We went to Mae's Phinney Ridge Cafe for breakfast, and Dick's for lunch (finally!). Dick's was an experience: they only accept cash, you can not special order ANYTHING on the menu, and they have four burgers to choose from, fries, condiments in a little cup on the side and soda. You can also get ice cream treats. That is it! But, it was a good little burger and the fries were really good.

Today we went to a philosophy lecture in Capitol Hill, and went to some book shops before heading home. My tummy is still over full from awesome Aladdin's falafel. This weekend has been one for food, apparently. Tonight I do laundry, and we shop for food for the week. And I get to try and plan a trip to Bainbridge Island in September (with my mommy!) Still to come on the Seattle To-See list: Waterfront stuff, parks, zoos and museums. I also have been putting off the Arboretum for a couple of weeks, so that is probably what we'll shoot for next weekend.

And here I shall leave you with another picture one could only find in Seattle:


...standing in the sun?