Perfect, But LONG Day

After a LONG night of travels, we finally made it to Seattle. We've only been here one day, and we've already had the time of our lives. It feels like we've seen everything! My dad slowly gave away his plans for the day, and each activity was better than the last. It started with a pit stop at a coffee shop for a drink (it's Seattle, what do you expect?) We sat there drinking (Ryan had hot chocolate, I had OJ) while Ryan showed off his iPad to my father. Suffice it to say, my dad has decided to get one and is totally in love with the thing. I personally think Apple should give Ryan a commission for this. Then we went off for brunch. My dad took us to Snow Falls Lodge. It's a beautiful 4 star restaurant and inn, overlooking a HUGE waterfall. It was so amazing. And they served some of the best brunch I've ever had. I got the Eggs Benedict, and everyone else built their own fancy omlettes, complete with crab and other such goodies. My absolute favorite part of the day was this: We were browsing through the gift shop, admiring all of the expensive stuff that we'd never get to own, when my dad went up to the register and bought something. He came over to me and handed me a children's book called "My Dad Loves Me." I wanted to cry. It's a long story, but my dad has only ever willingly/spontaneously bought me something maybe 4 other times in my entire life. I thought it was SO sweet and thoughtful. I made him promise that he would read it to me before bed tonight. :D

Then we made the drive to my favorite part of Seattle; Downtown, of course. We lucked out with the weather. The morning started off kind of drizzley, but by the time we go to downtown, the sun was out and shining. My dad said it was the first time in a few weeks that he's seen so much sun. We must have brought some of it with us from Utah. We had a lot of fun walking around Pike's Market. As always, my favorite part is the long market of fresh flowers. The most gorgeous things I've ever seen. Ryan bought me a dozen tulips! Then we were on the hunt for the infamous Hombows. If you read my post back from last March, we found this tasty treat and fell in love. Pike's was under a bit of construction and we thought that they were gone. Some dumb luck led us to them and I squealed with joy when I saw them. Ryan and I each enjoyed 2 BBQ Pork Hombows. That totally completed my day.

Ryan took the picture right as I was saying "Oh my gosh, this is so good!"

What DIDN'T complete my day was a certain homeless man. He was holding up a sign that said "Need money for beer." I thought it was rather blunt, yet funny, so I took a picture. He looked up and noticed, and immediately put down his sign and said "You gotta dollar?" I was kind of put off and said "Nope, I already got my picture." (I probably shouldn't have said that.) He then proceeded to call me an ******* thief and another VERY hurtful word that I've never once been called in my life. That's when Clay stepped in. Clay did not like that he called me that. So, we narrowly avoided a fight between the two. I was, however, honored that he loved me enough to stand up to the guy. It was awkward, but sweet. I learned my lesson though; Just don't bother homeless people, no matter how funny their signs are. :P

After a few hours of downtown, we went to the Spaceneedle. My dad was still traumatized from the last time we went up, so he opted out while the three of us went up. It was kind of cold, windy, and a little wet, so we didn't stay long. (Not to mention Clay was on his 3rd beer of the day and was getting a little out of hand.) At this point, I thought the day was over. I was excited to get home so that Ryan and I could sneak off and do a session at the Seattle temple. Well, that was spoiled when we got in the car and my dad said "NEXT SURPRISE!" He got us tickets to the Mariners vs. Yankees baseball game. It was a new experience for us. I've always loved going to baseball games at home, but this was the big leagues. It was absolutely freezing during the game, so we were only able to endure it until the bottom of the 5th inning. I was happy to have the experience, but that was the only chance that Ryan and I were going to have to go to the temple. I'm bummed. But my dad lives here, which means I'll be back often. Our chance will come!

Our "Sleepless in Seattle" Pose

Tomorrow we are getting up bright and early to drive to Wenatchee to see Grandma Griffin. I'm so anxious to have everyone meet Ryan. FINALLY they can meet the amazing man that I get to spend eternity with.

(Day 38)