I'm determined to finish this post before we leave again tomorrow. For the long Presidents Day weekend, I took Trey, Tomas and Addie to Seattle. Hosting an exchange student is a bit of a wake up call in terms of realizing just how boring our life is--especially in January and February, ha! But I love that we jumped at this chance to go and see and do. The weather turned out much better than forecasted—it was COLD, but the skies were clear most of the time and we had a great adventure, but, HOLY COW ... city vacations are pricey!! One of my siblings used to say "spensive" as in, "Is this too spensive Dad?" when they wanted to buy something. I'm not gonna lie, Seattle was spensive. Each time I handed over a credit card I thought to myself, "ouch!" I am grateful that we are able to create memories with my kiddos and that we had this opportunity to show Tomas around and give him experiences in this place that we love. For posterity's sake, here's the rough list of what this quickie road trip cost ...

The breakdown ...
Airbnb $419
Gas (both ways) $100
Underground Tour $77
Starbucks $12
Ivars Fish Bar $67
Ferry to Bainbridge (and back) $47
Wings Over Washington $70
Parking $42
Chipotle $34
Movie tickets (Black Panther) $60
Chihuly Glass Exhibit $86
Marrakesh (Moroccan dinner) $119
Amazon Go $48
Nike Outlet (on the way home) $120
Total ... $1300

Right? That's a LOT in my book. Was it worth it?
Yeah.

But ... oddly enough, it's often the FREE things that you end up cherishing the most. We parked the car at Green Lake for 15 minutes. Tomas and Addie were napping, so Trey and I took a quick, very brisk, jaunt surrounded by the golden light and long shadows of early evening. This might be my favorite photo of all. Then on Sunday, we decided that as we drove around all day, we would have to count 50 Mini Coopers (Trey's fav car) before we could return home. Because we were at 49 (at 9:30-ish pm) on our way home from dinner, instead of turning right like everyone expected, I kept on driving and I ended up at one of the places my parents used to take us when we were young. It was pitch black out, but I recognized the road and the steep, winding curves. Earlier in the day I had tried to call my Dad and ask how to get there, but he didn't answer. Finding it accidentally ... nostalgic!

Other highlights ...
1. The AWESOMELY hilarious and historic Underground Tour. So glad we did this!
2. Signs of Spring. I forget that because Seattle is on the coast, spring comes earlier there than in Spokane. I miss that. 
3. Collecting colorful images for #ProjectEighteen on Instagram. Thanks Trey for the blue coat on blue wall jumping photo!
4. Quiet time with Addie. She found this penguin game in our basement Airbnb apartment and she probably beat me 7 times.
5. Happy GREEN bikes all over the city.
6. Chihuly glass. So fantastic!
7. Giving out a couple of our pre-made PB+J lunches to some people on the street. 
8. The relationship that Trey and Addie have. I love the way she walks by him and talks to him and looks up at him. Poor Tomas—Addie still hasn't quite warmed up to another teenage boy, but she's making progress.
9. Experiencing the FUTURE when we toured The Spheres and the Amazon Go store. 
10. Not pictured here ... a 5 minute (free parking) stop at Snoqualmie Falls, just so Tomas could see!

All of this is hard to put a price on.
I say we go again soon!