Go Whitecaps!

What better place to take a four-year-old and 8-month-old baby than family friendly Seattle!

Actually, we (not surprisingly) took the kids to Seattle for a weekend to see the Vancouver Whitecaps play the Seattle Sounders last summer. It just so happens that Seattle is family friendly.

Not going to lie, I won’t be making that trip just to see the Whitecaps any time soon. (And it doesn't have anything to do with their horrific record this year - we bleed blue and white, after all.)

It’s so much better to sit in the supporter’s section, which, since we attended our first Whitecaps v Seattle away match has gone WAY up.

Physically.

We were essentially sitting in the rafters. And for anyone that has been to Century Link Field (the Sounders share the stadium with the Seattle Seahawks, of the NFL. That’s American Football, for anyone that doesn’t know. Ha.), you will know that the stadium is HUGE.

Brad and I take our kids most everywhere with us, so while I am happy to have the experience under our belt, it was just too much work to lug those kids up all of those stairs, only to view the pitch from next door. Since we had Maverick with us and he was so little, staying til the stadium was cleared of all Sounders fans was not enticing. We left at around the 70-minute mark so we wouldn't have to wait. Which is not ideal!

Not to mention we would get a better view on the TV! (Brad would argue the view would be so much better if he was able to get a 70-inch TV … guess how that conversation ends?)

Overall, our weekend was great. We drove down to the match the same day and spent way too long in line for customs. But that’s beside the point.

Following the match, we checked into our hotel and went for dinner. The glorious thing about vacations is when you don’t have anywhere to drive. No one has to worry about staying sober!

One thing that we do not have in Canada that was on my To Do list for our trip, was Trader Joe’s. What better place to visit after having some drinks (and shots, did we order shots, Brad? Two crazy kids on holidays … if memory serves me correctly, I think we did!) than a funky grocery store!

Our TJ’s trip consisted of a few firsts. Maverick rode in a shopping cart for the first time, with Archer in the front, of course. And Brad visited Trader Joe’s for the first time!

I must say, it was nice to be able to purchase more drinks (a local Seattle cider) at the same place we got some snacks for the evening (including chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches).

We went back to the hotel and watched a movie after Maverick went to bed. We fit in a swim and naps and had a delicious continental breakfast courtesy of the hotel. It was great!

Travelling with an infant that doesn’t like his car seat was another story. But we survived … it really wouldn’t have been so bad if it wasn’t for the border line up. We didn’t let it stop us!

Our last stop was the same place we visited the day after we got engaged – the Woodland Park Zoo!

I didn’t honestly take a lot of pictures. We enjoyed our time with the kids, watching the animals and wandering around the park. Why is it that kids are just as excited about face-painting and the statues of the animals as they are about the real animals themselves?

Le sigh.

This post makes me want to go on another trip. Forget about things and wander, see things through the kids eyes and take a few days off.

Someone talk to Brad for me, hey? I’ve been pestering him to take some time off of work for a while now!

We could even take the family back to family friendly Seattle.

Maybe.

Packing my bags,

Anya