Weekend Activities in Seattle

When we got back from Victoria, Tracy's girls were home from girls' camp, so that weekend it was time to play. On Saturday, we went with the whole family (minus my oldest nephew, who had to work) to go canoeing on Lake Washington. At the edge of the lake, there are lily pads all over and they've cut "trails" through them. So, you can head out in a canoe and cruise around through these "trails". It was pretty cool and gave us a little different perspective. There are floating bridges that take the highway over the lake, so we were canoeing right under the highway and we could see the cars buzzing by as we peacefully plied the waters amongst all of the lily pads. After we finished canoeing, we hiked around a little on the footpaths near the canoeing area.











Since we didn't have time to see the Locks on Saturday, we headed back to Seattle after church on Sunday so we could see them. The Locks create a passage between Lake Union and Puget Sound. We also checked out the Salmon Fish Ladder nearby. On the way to the locks, we passed this troll statue right under an overpass. Notice the VW Bug in his left hand:





Checking out the action at the locks

The Salmon Fish Ladder is a series of "steps" in the water which the fish jump up to go from the lower Puget Sound to the higher Lake Union. There is a viewing area where you can go down and see the fish underwater:



Though there were fish in the water, they weren't jumping up the ladder. Sad. They were jumping like crazy out on the lake, though. As we were leaving the locks, we stopped and watched the lake for about five or ten minutes and there were salmon jumping everywhere! I got some video of it, but it was on our HD video camera. I'm fairly certain that's a little too high-powered for Blogger, so I'm not even going to try to post it. If you really want to see it, just ask next time you come over. After the locks, Tracy and John took us to a park in Seattle which has an amazing view of the skyline:


I told you - Amazing!

After checking out the view, we discovered a little playground at the park with all of these spinning apparatuses. Apparently, Seattle kids like to make themselves dizzy. They literally had all of these things that you just climb on/in and you start spinning, really fast. Then you get really dizzy. Then you throw up. Okay, only Mark threw up. The rest of us stopped before we got to that point. These pictures don't do it justice because they all look like we're just sitting still and making weird poses. But, just imagine that we're all spinning and getting very, very dizzy.





A great way to spend the weekend. And with only one incidence of vomiting, we're already doing better than Sharon's family.

Next up, our little getaway to Bavaria and good times 4 wheelin'

Oh Canada!

After a fabulous time in Seattle, we were excited to head off to Victoria the next day. It takes many hours to get there from Tracy's house, so it's not really a day trip. We, therefore, made plans to stay the night. My brother-in-law had to work, so Mark was Tracy's traveling companion. It started with the drive to Canada. That was fairly uneventful. Apparently, the Canadians also feel that crossing the border is fairly uneventful, as they welcomed us with this nondescript sign:



Our only problem in crossing the border was when Tracy responded to the border agent's question about guns in the car with "I don't think there are any." He then proceeded to ask several detailed questions regarding my brother-in-law's line of work and what type of guns he has. He informed us that we really should be more certain when crossing the border because if we were pulled over as foreigners and guns were found in the car, "that could mean jail time up here." We appreciated his information and his Canadian accent. After crossing the border, we headed to the ferry which was about half an hour away. We drove onto the ferry and enjoyed a one hour and forty minute ferry ride to Vancouver island, complete with a presentation by a coastal naturalist. We were hoping to see Orcas. We didn't. But we did see a couple of Bald Eagles and lots of sailboats as we cruised through the Southern Gulf Islands of BC.







After getting off the ferry, we drove another half hour down to Victoria. We checked into our hotel and then decided to explore the city and get some dinner. Our first stop was Chinatown. Victoria's Chinatown is about a block long. It didn't take long to explore. But we did enjoy Fan Tan Alley, a tiny alley right off the street with a few shops and an awesome modified Julio Iglesias record.





After Chinatown, it was on to the waterfront where we appropriately ran into a flock of Canadian Geese. Mr. Frisby and I were excited about all things Canada, so the geese were a welcome sight. I also really wanted to see a Mountie, but it didn't happen. I had to settle for buying a Mountie Christmas ornament.



On the way to get dinner, we decided to stop at Rogers' Chocolate Shop. Here we are making a beeline for the currency exchange next door so we could make some purchases:



After dinner, we returned to Rogers' for some ice cream and a beautiful view of the city.



So went our first day in Canada. The next day included a little more exploring and the lovely Butchart Gardens. And still no Mountie. We checked out the Legislative Building and The Empress Hotel. Of course, Mark kept us entertained throughout.





Next we went to Butchart Gardens. It truly is beautiful. I think my favorite was the Sunken Garden (see picture with me in it). Gardens aren't really Mark's thing, but he fortunately he had his Nintendo DS, so he kept himself occupied while we checked everything out. He made sure we knew he didn't like being there, though, so when we crossed the little rock bridge in the Japanese Garden, we were surprised to hear him exclaim that that bridge made the whole trip worth it.









After we finished at Butchart Gardens, we began the trek home. We got back on the ferry, hoping to see Orcas. We didn't. But we did see this cool seaplane:



Then it was back to the border. Tracy wanted to buy a magnet from Canada, but hadn't found one that she liked in Victoria. So, we planned to stop at the small gift shop at the border. The gift shop is on the opposite side of the highway, however, so we had to park at the Duty Free shop and run across the highway. And, the gift shop was smaller than we remembered, so there were no suitable magnets there. Only Olympics magnets (since the winter olympics are in Vancouver next year) that cost a fortune. So, Tracy found a pin at the duty free shop which she decided she would convert to a magnet when we got back. After the quick shopping stop, we headed across the border. The USA has a much more exciting welcome sign than Canada. This made us feel appropriately proud of our citizenship.



And that was our trip to Canada. In spite of seeing no Mountie and no Orcas, we had a fabulous time.

Up next: More good times in Seattle

Seattle

Mr. Frisby and I just returned from a fabulous vacation to the Pacific Northwest. My sister, Tracy, lives just outside of Seattle and since Mr. Frisby has never been to the area, we decided it was time for a visit. We flew into Seattle on Wednesday morning and immediately set about seeing the town. We started at the EMP (Experience Music Project), but no pictures were allowed, so we have no physical documentation. But, we went and had a good time. Next up was the Space Needle. We were hoping the weather would clear before we went up, but it didn't. Still, there was stuff to see. And, who doesn't like looking around from 520 feet in the air?


Mr. Frisby, excited for the Space Needle adventure


Mr. Frisby and Tracy check out the scene below

My nephew, Mark, succeeded in keeping us very well-entertained throughout the day. One of the first things he did was head-butt a street sign. A couple other antics:




After our return from the Space Needle, we took the Monorail over to Pike's Place Market so we could buy some fish and watch them throw it. We also bought some flowers and tried some fresh fruit samples.


The Market entrance


Mark, Tracy and me at the fish counter


That's our salmon flying through the air. Can you see it?


Mr. Frisby contemplates the complex flavor of a pluot


We had a great day in Seattle!

After our very full day of sightseeing, it was back to my sister's house to cook our fish for dinner.

Up next: Mr. Frisby's first visit to Canada, our friendly northern neighbor

When I was little and I would ask my parents for something, I didn't usually give up after one "no". I would ask again, maybe throw in a "please" or even a "pretty please". Or I would argue my case again. I would usually ask several times and finally, after several "nos", I would give up the cause. I don't think I was alone in this - this is fairly common among kids. I must have driven my parents crazy. But, now that I am an adult, I like to think that I have left such childish tactics behind. And, I would also like to think that other adults have also left such childish tactics behind. Recently, I have learned that there are some adults out there, specifically those who work for charities and call to ask for money, who have actually re-adopted this practice of not giving up after one "no". Note this recent phone conversation that I had with one such charity worker:

"I'm so and so from _________ charity. Would you be able to donate to our cause this year?"

"No, I can't donate this year."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty Please?"

"NO!"

I've had two such conversations in the last week. I've worked in sales and am completely aware of the different tactics they use to try to get you to buy/donate when you've said "no" the first time. And, perhaps there's something to be said for not taking "no" for an answer. But, really, "please"? That's all you got to try to persuade me? As you can see from the above conversation, the persistent asking served only to aggravate me even more. And not only do I not want to donate now, but because you have irritated me so much, there goes any inclination I may have had to donate in the future. I don't know who decided that this was a good sales tactic, but clearly they should have taken a hint from the kids. It never worked then and it's not going to work now. And with that said, I would like to officially apologize to my parents for ever using this annoying tactic because I now realize just how irritating it is. Sorry Mom & Dad!

A Visit from the Sabins

Things have been a little busy around here this last week. My sister came to visit with her 5 kids. She brought her sister-in-law with her, along with her 5 kids. So, we've been busy each day finding things to do with 10 little kids. We started out at the cab (short for the cabin, according to Alyssa, my niece). That was great. We could just relax inside or head to the lake for some water fun.


Tammy fosters my dislike of shoes by carrying me back to the porch so I wouldn't step on pine needles in my bare feet


Tammy and Mr. Frisby work tirelessly to blow up floaties and contribute to the fun factor at the lake


So relaxing!


Not quite as relaxing for my sister and her sister-in-law who had to entertain kids/keep them from drowning

After getting home from the cab, we had a great evening in San Francisco. We ate dinner at Eliza's (the best Chinese food in the city) and I got probably the best fortune of my life in my fortune cookie: An airplane ride is soon in your future sending you to fun! After dinner, we saw Wicked. It was amazing and I keep singing the song "Popular" in my head. Unfortunately, there were no pictures to document it.

The next day, we went to Point Lobos. The weather wasn't great and the wildlife was scarce, but we had fun anyway.


So beautiful, even if it was overcast


My nephew, Max, is the one in the blue hoodie. He's very attached to his mom. We couldn't help but think of Buster (for all you Arrested Development fans) when we saw his mommy-loving antics, so we affectionately started calling him that. He's seldom in a picture without her.


Climbing rocks


Throwing sand (yes, this is Max a.k.a "Buster". Though you can't see my sister in this photo, she is close by)


As we were heading back to the cars, we finally saw a couple of seals


And, of course, we had to stop and gawk at them


This is Ellie. She is my sister's sister-in-law's daughter. I liked taking pictures of Ellie because she was always doing something funny. After we got back from Point Lobos, we ate dinner and enjoyed some popsicles. I think Ellie enjoyed hers the most.

The next day we went to Muir Woods. We ate lunch in Sausalito. I'm going to gloss over the fact the we spent a couple of hours in Sausalito, but no time in San Francisco because I don't really understand why it turned out that way. Muir Woods was fun, though, and the kids had a good time looking at all the cool stuff.


Tall trees


Max, I mean Buster, liked to point out all of the rivers to Ellie

Finally, the day before they left, we went to the beach in Santa Cruz. The weather turned out to be beautiful, but the waves were so high and dangerous that they had to close the water! The lifeguards wouldn't let anyone get in the water.


Huge waves. The biggest I've ever seen there!


Sharon and Becca went in as far as the lifeguard would let them

The Sabins went home yesterday and now we're back to our boring, quiet life. Thanks for visiting, guys!

An Apology

I have a problem. It may have led to some unintended rudeness on my part. I would, therefore, like to issue a general apology to anyone who may have been the recipient of said unintended rudeness. We all know that the Mormon world is a small one and you're bound to run into people that you know every now and again while at the store or cruising around town. And that's where my problem rears its ugly head. You see, when I see people that I know when I'm at the store, my natural instinct is to turn and run before they can see me. Apparently, I develop a bit of social anxiety when unexpectedly confronted with a situation in which I need to be friendly. If I'm not able to escape without notice, my next line of defense is to pretend that I didn't see that person. Then, I pray in my heart that they don't see me. Or that they're exhibiting the same natural defense mechanisms as I am. Then we both pretend not to see each other, nobody is offended, and everyone goes home happy that they narrowly escaped that potentially awkward run-in. But, more often than not, the person sees me or there is no safe means of escape and friendliness is necessary. When that is the case, my last line of defense in order to avoid any awkwardness is to make the encounter as brief as possible. Usually that means that I say hello or have a brief exchange as I pass and then I keep going without looking back. And that is where the unintended rudeness happens. I am fully aware that any normal person would be friendly and stop to chat for a few minutes. I know what the social norms are. But, as I said, I have a problem. My natural, avoid awkward situation tendencies take over and I probably come across as a rude social freak as I try to exit the situation with minimal damage. So, to anyone who has experienced these self-preservation tendencies at the worst, I offer my sincerest apologies. I have no problem with you - as I said, the problem is mine. So, if you have tried to say hello and only received a brief hello as I make a beeline for the next aisle, I'm sorry. If you have seen me in the store and stopped to chat only to have me call out a brief greeting as I dash past you, I'm sorry. And, if you saw me coming toward you one moment and saw only my back as I make a hasty retreat the next, I'm sorry. In those situations, I feel much like a deer caught in the headlights, but in my case, I don't plan to get run over. So I run. I know it's rude. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. And don't expect to have any sort of normal conversation with me in those spontaneous encounters. Just know that, even though I'm an idiot, I like you. Just from far away.