Focht Family Blog

Our last day in Seattle and our last day with Barbara we decided to take a cruise of the Locks. It was very cold and windy. The water was very choppy. I was a bit worried because I didn’t now if any of our kids would get seasick or not. We ate lunch just before the cruise and the boat was rocking quite a bit while we waited for them to start. By the time we pulled away from the dock Samantha wasn’t feeling too good. I too her to the restroom and then bought her some popcorn and coke on the way back up to settle her stomach.

One of the first pictures I took was of one of the ferries that takes cars across the water.

Next we went by the port where the large cranes were that load containers on boats.

While we were near the port we got to see tugboats at work.

We also went by a few of the marinas that were absolutely full with sailboats.

The locks were the most interesting part of the cruise. Nathan said he used to go down to the locks in NY and fish from them but he never experienced going through one. We came into the locks on the salt water side in Puget Sound, they closed doors behind the boat and the water level started rising. We had to rise 16 feet up to the fresh water level of Lake Washington. Once we were at the right level they open the doors in front of you so you can continue on your journey. The next three pictures are of us coming into the lock.

The last picture I took was of all of the kids sitting with Barbara on the boat. They enjoyed having the chance to visit with her and were sad to see her go.

After the cruise we walked to Pikes Market and walked around. I had a chance to sample a chocolate covered cherry from one of Nathan’s customers that had a store there. It is Chukar Cherries. The cherries were so good I bought a bag! :)

We were lucky enough that the roads were reasonably clear on Wednesday and since they were forecasting a LOT more snow coming towards us we left while we could. We have stopped for a couple of days in Eugene, OR. Nathan has a customer he is visiting tomorrow and we have developed a couple of small problems. There is a Newmar dealer here so we are going to see if they can fix them tomorrow before we head out towards CA.

Unfortunately we do not get reciprocity at this museum. However, the kids had fun and that is what matters. I don’t have a lot of pictures of all three kids because everyone took the stance of stick with one adult and go your own direction. I love the children’s museums because EVERYTHING is intended to be hands on. The first part was a section where they had balls that you could put in various places and learn what happens with cog and gears.

Next, Joshua and I went to the Global Village. They had an African village set up as well as houses from Japan and the Philippines and markets and restaurants from both countries. Here is Joshua driving a car in Africa.

After finding some drums and bells Joshua had to bring his brother and sister to play with him.

Timmy’s favorite part of the day was the forest where he got to dress up like a bat. He was so excited about it he came and found Josh and I in the village so I could come and get a picture of him as a bat.

After we thought we had done everything there was to do at the museum we found another section. Here is Timmy driving a fire truck complete with jacket and hat.

Next they found a market. Both Samantha and Joshua took turns on the phone.

My favorite section was a restaurant that was donated by Taco Time. It had a kitchen prep area, a drive-up window, as well as tables where the customers could sit and be served. They even had warming lamps and soda spickets in the kitchen area. Here is Joshua preparing a meal and Samantha and Timmy eating at the booth.

I am glad that Barbara came to visit. Otherwise we probably wouldn’t have done as much sight seeing. I also got a new sandwich that I loved that I am going to try to make at home now. I had it two days at the food court. It was turkey and brie with granny smith apple slices on it. It was really good! :)

I used to think I would never want to live where it snowed. I really love it here and am enjoying the snow! This is the perfect spot. About 20 miles in one way there is a town where there is no snow and 30 miles the other way is so much snow that the pass has been closed because of avalanches the last two days. On Sunday afternoon we decided to drive up to the mountains and take the kids tubing. However, we drove around the parking lots for a long time without finding a spot and ended up going to get some gas and planned to come back and try again at finding a parking spot. This is a HUGE ski area and there were people there to ski and snowboard as well as the tubing. While at the gas station we saw sleds for sale and thought that maybe we would just buy three and find a hill off the road since we saw many people doing this. Another family told us not to bother with the tubing because they only had one size of tubes and the kids would fall through them so that sealed it. They gave us directions to a public sledding hill and we bought three plastic sleds and headed out. Here is a picture of Samantha and Timmy throwing snow at me while we were getting everyone out to go to the hill.

Here is Nathan helping Joshua get his gloves on.

I couldn’t get a picture of us actually sledding since I was sledding with the kids. Timmy and Samantha both took two solo trips at the end but the rest of the day it was one adult with a kid in front of them going down the hill. It was my first time sledding (I feel so deprived). Timmy wants to go skiing so maybe next year we will give that a try. I have been skiing a couple of times. After we were done sledding we took a picture of the kids sitting on the sleds and asked a nice man that was working at the hill to take a picture of all of us.

I almost made it through the day without falling but when we were getting into the car, I loaded the sleds into the trunk and went to close the trunk. I didn’t have any traction with my sneakers so when I pulled down on the door, I slid under the car. My mother-in-law took a picture while Samantha was trying to help me up.

It took me a few minutes to stop laughing so I could get back out from under the car. :)

During the night we had snow falling and didn’t realize it so this is what we woke up to Monday morning.

Samantha took advantage of the snow and built a snow family on one of the sleds complete with a dog.

We were worried that we wouldn’t be able to get out of the campground but by lunchtime we headed out. Nathan had to meet with a client so while he worked we took the kids to the Children’s Museum. I will put that in the next post.

After the Space Needle we walked over to the Pacific Science Center. It is right next to the Space Needle. They have a whole bunch of things in the same area. There is also an amusement park, a children’s museum and a food court in the same area. I am really enjoying our membership to Boonshoft in Ohio. We all got in for free with the reciprocity program. The first building had dinosaurs in it. Both of the boys found a footprint and tried it on for size.

In the second building there were a lot of things that had to do with space. There were displays of soda cans that weighed different amounts and showed what they would weigh on different planets. They also showed how many Earths would fit in one Jupiter and how many Jupiters fit into the Sun. That was humbling to see how small the Earth is in comparison. While in that building, Joshua found a space capsule to play in.

Samantha and Timmy were busy building aliens.

After this building we went into one that had a live bug zoo and a butterfly house. Timmy and Joshua both got to pet a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach. There were also sections where they got to put together bugs. Joshua decided to take his ant for a walk after it was put together.

After the bugs, Nathan helped the kids devise a path to roll a ball down. They had a lot of fun learning what happens you put boards in various places and how it affects the path the ball takes.

The next building had a few more animals. They had some snakes, a display of naked mole rats, and a tide pool area that had starfish, anemones, and sea urchins that the kids could touch. They also had a water area they could play in. We didn’t let them play that long since it was freezing temperatures outside and we didn’t want them wet.

The last area in the science center was an area where you could test your strength and learn about your body and your senses. Timmy ended his day by playing tic-tac-toe with a robot. He thought that was pretty cool. We then went to the food court and headed back to the RV.

I have had a busy week and we have had a visitor for the last few days so I am behind on updating the blog. I am going to try to catch up on our week’s adventures tonight. When we got to Seattle I told Samantha that she needed to work really hard this week to get our schoolwork done because we had a surprise for them at the end of the week. Thursday night after the kids were asleep, Nathan’s mom arrived for a visit. I told the kids that they would have a surprise in the living room when they woke up on Friday. Samantha was up first and when she found grandma in the living room her first question was “Where are we?” Apparently she thought we have driven to GA while she was asleep! :)

The first place we went on Saturday was the Space Needle. It was very cold and windy up top.

After looking outside for a bit the kids and mom decided that watching from inside while eating snacks was a better idea. :)

Nathan, Barbara and I each took a lap around the top so we could see all of the scenery and take some pictures. Unfortunately you cannot see the mountains very clearly but it was beautiful to look out and over the city to see snow crested mountains in the distance. Here are some of my favorite pictures.