BEST. DAY. EVER.

I've been biding my time for awhile now, waiting for the perfect opportunity to have a Colton and Mom day in Seattle.  As an almost-six-year-old, he's become soooo much easier.   No diapers, naps, meltdowns, sippy cups, wandering off, emergency potty breaks, etc.  Not only that, I also wanted a day for just the two of us so I could give him my undivided attention.  As the oldest in a house where there's still a baby and a barely-preschooler, I feel like he gets put on the back burner at times because the littler kids' needs seem so URGENT. 

All we needed was good weather and an empty weekend calendar, which can be tough to come by.  I'm so glad I waited.  This day will go down as one of my favorite days.  Of all the days.  Of my WHOLE LIFE.
He knew nothing about my plans ahead of time.  I snuck into the boys' room just after 6 AM and quietly stole him from his bed.  I knew if we woke Casey up, things might get a little messy.  I was all packed and ready to go for the day, so he got dressed and sunscreened and we took off in Shawn's car toward Bremerton.  We got a latte and a hot chocolate and walked around the waterfront for a few minutes, and I casually said, "Oh, look.  The Seattle ferry is docked."  He looked mildly interested.  I had just taken all the kids on the foot ferry from Port Orchard to Bremerton last weekend (just to wander around), so this was nothing new to him in his plethora of experience.  Then I said, "So do you wanna get on it, or what?"  That Colton smile broke out over his face and he said, "Don't tell me we're going to Seattle."  He became (quietly) very enthusiastic, especially as the bicycles, motorcycles and cars began to load the ferry.

Here's my little Seattleite--  sandals, shorts, hooded sweatshirt, and Starbucks on the ferry.

After we toured the entire ferry (a few times), we settled on some outdoor seating (except for the 'sitting' part):

Coming in on the ferry, we had an excellent view of the new Seattle Great Wheel. 

When we arrived in Seattle, and after we watched every single bike, motorcycle and car unload the ferry, we walked for a bit down the waterfront, then took Harbor Steps up to 1st Ave.

I thought that maaaaayyyybe, since it was before 9 AM, we'd be some of the only people at Pike Place Market.  I forgot to consider that this is July and it was sunny outside.  There were people everywhere.  I noticed the line at the original Starbucks was out the door and down the street.  I showed Colton a few vendors, including the fishmongers, but he was mostly interested in checking out the underground shops.  Nothing was open yet, but there were so many stairways and twists and turns and mazes, he couldn't get enough of exploring the market.  He even showed me to a couple areas that I hadn't seen in years.  Eventually, he sniffed out a bakery and his exploring was derailed.  He picked out a poppy seed raisin roll for us to share.  Of course he had to find the perfect place to sit down, which ended up being a bench at the top of these stairs:

After we ate, we did some Post Alley wandering...

... where we saw the President.

After having a long conversation about exactly how many people in the world the President can boss around, we headed back under the market (because it's the best place EVER), and eventually ran into the wall of gum:

Before I could stop him, he walked up and ran his hand over it and said, "What IS all this stuff?"  Oh, well.  Not like it's fresh out of someone's mouth, right?

There was a Fire Festival in Pioneer Square starting at 11 AM.  Lots of vintage firetrucks and police cars were on display.  Perfect opportunity to hop on a Metro bus!   He's been wanting to ride one for a loooonnng time.  We were lucky enough to get a 'springy' bus, as he calls them (an articulated bus with a pivoting joint, like an accordian).  We sat right behind the springy section so he could see what happens when the bus turns.  He watched with great intensity, and I kept an eye out for Grandpa, hoping we'd pass a bus he was driving.
I accidentally left the long lense on the camera before I left the house that morning, so it was hard to get good pictures at the Fire Festival:

This fire hydrant was being operated by the guy in the white shirt, and the guy in the blue shirt with the headset was doing the voice for it.  It was so cute watching all the little kids talk to it, totally convinced that they were having a real conversation with a fire hydrant.  Every once in awhile, the hydrant would say it had to sneeze and water would spray out of that little hole onto the kids.  Heeeee.

We got a slice of pizza before leaving Pioneer Square, and Colton loved watching the Ride the Ducks tourist vehicles passing by as we were eating.  He really wanted to get on one, but......... no.  Sorry, Dude!

The next thing on our agenda was to take a bus back to the Westlake area to hop on the monorail to Seattle Center.  I figured that since we took a street bus on the way to Pioneer Square, we should probably try out the bus tunnels for our return trip:

For some reason, he was very concerned about the bus getting stuck in the tunnel, but once we got moving, he was totally fine with it.  I think the ride was a lot faster and smoother than he anticipated.

We played around the Westlake area for a bit before catching the monorail.  It was so nice outside and there were so many people to watch!  And... someone painted the trees blue since I last visited?

After Colton finished marvelling over the EMP architecture when we first arrived at Seattle Center, we headed to the fountain.  My water-wary boy was not into getting wet, but he had a lot of fun dancing around the outskirts.  Such a ham!

Since Seattle Center eradicated the old arcade and rides section and replaced it with a Dale Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum (lame!), I didn't think that kind of kid fun was even an option.  HOWEVER... on the way in on the monorail, Colton zeroed in on a new little section of rides and inflatables.  He wanted to go on the swings, and we both tried the zip line.  He was SO confident about stepping off that ledge with his harness and cords!  I don't have pictures of us riding down together, of course, but here are some pictures of other people doing the same thing! 

We walked around Seattle Center for a little while longer after that, where I got the goofiest look from Colton when I offered to let him borrow my sunglasses.  He had been complaining about the sun being in his eyes for awhile, but it clearly was not bothersome enough to wear girly mom sunglasses.  His look just said, "Are you kidding me?"

Eventually, we caught the monorail back to Westlake and walked back down to Pike Place Market.  We took the long stairs down to the waterfront, which was INSAAANE by that point.  We checked out the new ferris wheel, but even Colton wasn't too keen on the idea after seeing how long the line was.  We'll tackle that one when it's not so new-- and probably not during tourist season.

We stopped for an ice cream cone, and Colton led me back to some concrete stairs he had admired a few yards back so we could sit down and eat.  We both had waffle cones-- Colton chose cotton candy ice cream, and I chose the only flavor I ever choose, mint chocolate chip.

We had fully intended to make a stop at Ye Olde Curiosity Shop to check out the oddities and grab Casey a souvenir.  I have memories dating back to childhood about that place, and when I was 19, I worked at its sister store, The Waterfront Landmark, a couple piers down.  The latter has since closed down, but I can't imagine the Seattle waterfront without Ye Olde Curiousity Shop.  Unfortunately, we only had 10 minutes to catch the ferry and neither of us wanted to wait an hour and a half for the next boat.

Once again, on the ferry, gettin' crazy, dancing, and putting on a show...

I thought he would have had enough Ferry Tours from the morning ride, but once again we were up and down and around, over and over and over on that boat.  He claimed his feet hurt, but apparently not enough.

I just love that boy!  Like I said... BEST.  DAY.  EVER.