The cost of living is more than made up for by Seattle's awesomeness (that's what I think on a sunny day...on rainy days it doesn't balance out quite that well). This has been a record mild winter, so Anna and I took this week to do some free exploration! I was the self appointed camera woman for our outings, which means that I held the camera out in front of us, and hoped that it caught one or both of us (preferably just Anna). Anna was decked out appropriately in a Sunshine bear hat.
Anna is a good sport. She spends most of her life playing in her bedroom (the only room we really heat in the house), so it must be somewhat overwhelming to go outside to a world that looks remarkably like a rainforest. I kept thinking we were in Avatar (I mean Fern Gully 2)
pretty cool trees huh? Moss grows on all sides of the trees here! I kept expecting woodland sprites to come show us the way to never never land or the shire where we could find Frodo Baggins
Anna is the cutest thing in my life, but I couldn't exactly call her free...we just paid off those hospital bills.
Apparently Washington has more parks per capita than any other state. Its funny, in Utah, I went walking up the same river trail, almost every day for the entire 4 years I lived there. Here, there are new trails everywhere...they are kind of like stray cats. I found this trail off by the side of the road when I was just doing some errands. I could have gone for miles and miles...Anna on the other hand....
I wanted to introduce Anna to trees, so I let her feel different kinds of leaves as we were making our way back.
Here she grabbed a tuft of tree and held on.
Hah! Told you so. Sixty degree days in mid February...and we had some in January as well.
In fact, it has been so warm, that all the trees are now blossoming. All of Bellevue is growing pinker by the day.
There is nothing that represents hope for me more than a tree budding in spring. It reminds me that no bad times last forever. That every cold spell ends at some point. And that life renews itself every year.
Day 2 was even warmer than the first.
So Anna and I went to a real working farm that is free and open to the public year round.
It was so picturesque. If I wasn't so citified I would live on a farm. The smell though...the smell would stop me. There is nothing you can do to disguise manure.
There were a lot of animals that I got to introduce Anna to, including horses
Pigs... (I kept looking for Charlotte to spin her web above this guy. He was "some pig." He was massive. In Orson Wells "Animal Farm" he totally would have been the president)
caterpillars...
...but this was the cutest animal life on the farm!
I wanted to prove that the sun shines in Seattle. What better way than by showing our shadow.
All Anna needs to be happy is to be fed and to have something to chew on.
What beautiful days we have had lately. Our budget doesn't have much wiggle room, so it is nice that Anna and I can have the time of our lives and spend no money at all. Thank you Heavenly Father for making such a nice playground for us. We had so much fun!
4 comments:
On rainy days, there are a few things that are free. Go to Bellevue Square and the third floor sports a large playing area for kids with boats and such. It is all soft and cushy flooring. When Brandon was crawling and just standing up, it was a lot of fun for him. It's also a big enough mall that if she likes the stroller of being packed, you can get a little walking exercise. My kids love running around malls cause the tiles make for great sliding on their knees(you have a while before that though). On friday evenings the KidsQwest Museum in Factoria Mall is free. I would check the website to find out the exact hours they open up for free. They do have an area that is for smaller ones. If I think of any more I will let you know. But yes, the greatest things here(when not raining) is to be outside.
Oh, I thought of another thing that is cheap(not exactly free). Either bus or drive to downtown Seattle, you have to either pay for bus or pay for parking. Pike's Place market doesn't cost anything to roam around. Lots of interesting things to see there. You can also walk the waterfront.
I saw your link on Megan's blog, hope you don't mind I checked it out. Your daughter is so cute and I cannot believe how grown up you are! You look beautiful. Very cute family.
i LOVE that you go exploring with Anna. you make everything seem like an adventure! my favorite is that you had her touch the moss :) i can only imagine what she thought about the farm, but i think it's so cool you are already exposing her to such things, even though she can't totally interact, i'm sure she's just taking it all in! you are so creative. sure love ya!
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