Vacation!

We're having a lovely time in Seattle. Got into town in time to see the King Tut exhibit Saturday afternoon (after mind-numbing traffic for no discernible reason, which enraged me so much that I exited the car and stomped over to the Pacific Science Center to get our tickets and wait for Drew and Rachel to park). It was worth the hassle -- the exhibit is incredible. Simply incredible. Rachel was particularly taken with King Tut's "gold flip-flops" (the sandals found on his feet that were made of gold hammered with a pattern of thrush on the bottom). She loved the gold jewelry and I hope she remembers at least some of what she saw, since this supposedly will be the last time the artifacts come to North America (until, Drew cynically says, the Egyptian government needs money). It likely will be the last time Drew and I see them in our lifetime, unless we get to the Middle East, because the last time they were here was...35 years ago.

Then we headed to Anne and David and Grandma Jean's for dinner. I note here that all of them are more technologically savvy than Drew and I put together, and how did we spend the evening after dinner? Teaching Rachel to play marbles! We were all having a great time shooting them back and forth (and Jean is still a great player; arthritis hasn't slowed her down a bit) and Rachel was so enchanted with the game that she asked Drew at dinner tonight if he would buy her a little sack of marbles for her birthday (which likely he will). After dinner and many hints from Rachel, she and I changed into our bathing suits and went into the hot tub. Rachel practiced her floating, using a foam noodle, while Anne and I talked, and then David joined us and he and I talked (with constant interruptions from Rachel who, at one point, decided she was emceeing a show on a boat, grabbed the noodle and pretended it was a microphone and said, "turn your cell phones off. Have a good time. I said, have a good time!" and cracked us both up).

We were in until 11:15 and I suddenly realized that, hey, Rachel is not even 4 and it was long past her bedtime. She very matter-of-factly went upstairs and fell asleep on the cot that Anne had prepared in her study, while Mommy and Daddy slept downstairs (and I got the best sleep I've gotten in DAYS).

This morning Rachel and I gave Drew his Father's Day gift (cargo pants and a shirt that Rachel picked out from Eddie Bauer, both of which Drew really liked), Drew and Rachel called PopPop while I was in the shower, and then we headed out to a great breakfast place called the Maltby Cafe where we met Amanda and Jenn. Amanda and Jenn were very impressed that Rachel waited patiently until our names were called and never fussed during breakfast. She insisted on sitting between Drew and Uncle David, whom she is rapidly developing a big crush on -- she kept hugging him and climbing into his arms and asking him to tell her stories. "Uncle Dave is silly, isn't he?" she said in the car as we left, and we had to agree.:)

We spent the rest of the afternoon at a playground near the Woodland Park Zoo and Rachel, Drew and I took turns chasing each other and trying to catch and tickle each other. The park was filled with dads chasing their kids, and I called out to one of them, "This is Father's Day! You're supposed to be relaxing!" to which he replied, panting, "I get the privilege of chasing around my kids!" When we got back into the car, Rachel fell asleep while Drew took me around some of Seattle's neighborhoods, and then we checked into our hotel near the Space Needle. Rachel was awed by the view of it from our hotel room.

Then we went to Ivar's, a classic seafood restaurant, where Rachel was very nice to the waiter and tried to hug him at one point. Whereupon, as Drew and I were having a very serious career talk...the waiter brought Rachel a dish of blueberry ice cream with whipped cream and a cherry on top, totally spontaneously -- and he got his hug from our daughter. There's something about Rachel that makes people stop and smile and give her treats. As soon as she figures this out for herself, we are doomed.

Now Drew is putting her to bed after giving her a much-needed bath; we are going to hang out in the lobby downstairs for a bit and then take him to work early tomorrow morning. I think Rachel and I will go to the top of the Space Needle ("we'll be able to see the whole CITY!" she exclaimed), meet Daddy for lunch, then maybe go to the aquarium until we have to pick Drew up from work and head to an Italian restaurant I'm writing about for the magazine I edit. I need to do some interviews at 5:30, and then we will eat dinner, change Rachel into her pajamas and head home, hopefully to arrive by 11 and put her to bed.

This is really a great city. We need to come here more often.