The Best...

Would you look at those strawberries? They are by far, the best strawberries I have ever tasted! I didn't even realize that you could buy strawberries that were red all the way up! Way to go Colello's! (If you're not in my neck of the woods, I'm sorry you don't have a Colello's.)

We've eaten them, made great shakes, Brent put them in his oatmeal. The possibilities are endless.

And, raspberries should be here next weekend. Woho!

(If you think this is an advertisement for Colello's, you might be right. It is a great little place to get fruit. But don't buy all the raspberries before I get there.)

I Had to get Some Flowers

What trip to Seattle would be complete without getting a bouquet of flowers from Pike Place Market? I like the Market, but that's really the only reason I go...for the flowers.

It wasn't even that busy when we got there. I know this may look like a lot of people but it really isn't. Sometimes in the summer, it's like a sardine can. Maybe one of the reasons it's not my favorite place.

There's the ferris wheel on the waterfront.

And the last view of Seattle from the ferry. So pretty. And there's a seagull in it. Dad says animals sell the picture.

And so ended a fun day in Seattle.

I forgot to add this one to the Chihuly Garden post, but isn't this a cool thistle?

We had a great week, but it went really fast. Guess time flies when you're having fun! Thanks of coming Mom!

Ah, Chihuly

Who is Chihuly, you ask? Well, we were first introduced to Chihuly glass when the 2002 Winter Olympics were in Salt Lake. He lent Abrovanel Hall (the Utah Symphony's home) a beautiful piece for the Olympics. Someone bought it for the hall so it's still there.

Isn't this a cool picture? Found it online.

Chihuly is this kind of crazy guy who is from Washington and makes blown glass. He's getting quite old now and has a few scars from the years of working with glass - like no eye and a bad shoulder - so now he teaches people how to do what he does.

Anyway, I'm a fan. I love blowing glass. It's a fun thing to do. I wish you didn't need so much equipment to do it.

So, they are redoing some thing at the Seattle Center and one of the new things is this Chihuly Gardens and Glass. It just so happened to open the Monday Mom got here, so we were some of the first ones to go through it. It was so cool. I took a lot, I mean A LOT, of pictures. Just be warned. A...L-O-T of pictures. And these are even my favorites.

 

I think my favorite room was this one. With all the glass above you. It was so cool!

Every step you took was another cool picture.

Then on to the Mille Fiori – Italian for "a thousand flowers." I think this was my mom's favorite part.

Again, every step you took, there was something else to see and admire.

And then the floating boats...

A little too abstract for me, but I like all the colors. And I now know how you make those balls and I'm so impressed by how big they are! They must be super strong. Glass is heavy.

A room with hanging things...

A room with these giant bowls. Which I am again impressed by because I had a hard time with the little bowl I made.

And then, you go out into the Exhibit Hall which would be so cool for a party. And probably so expensive, but still cool.

Could you imagine if it had been a sunny day? Even more beautiful!

And then the gardens...ahh...the gardens. There's just something cool about glass art interspersed with natural art! I love it.

This is what the outside of the exhibit hall looks like.

We thought the black ones looked like huge slugs.

I can't wait to see the gardens in a few years when the plants have had more of a chance to get established. And can you imagine this place at night?

We got the coolest umbrellas though. On the outside, it's black and looks like a normal umbrella, but when you open it up, it's the glass ceiling. So cool!

I'm so so so glad we went. Thanks Mom for suggesting it!

My Mom Came to Visit

Last week my mom was here to visit. She missed our short NW summer so it was rainy and cold, but still a good time was had by all.

We did a lot of shopping for stuff for our new master suite downstairs, but we did get to Seattle to go to the Chihuly Garden and Glass Exhibit, the Space Needle and Pike Place Market. I can't quite decide which one to start with...hmmm....I think the Space Needle since we went there first.

This year, the Space Needle turns 50 years old. In 1962 there was a World's Fair here in Seattle and they built it for that. My mom went to the World's Fair so we thought it was fitting to go to the Space Needle again to celebrate the 50th year.

First things first, before we went up to the top of the Space Needle, they had to take our picture. I thought that we would have to buy the picture, so I didn't really care what I looked like, but it turns out that you can email it to yourself for free, which this lovely picture superimposed behind you. Very nice.

I was reminded about how much I dislike heights as we took the glass front elevator to the top. Eek!

After a bit of deep breathing to calm my troubled heart, we went out on the deck to see the sights all around.

The land that you can see in the distance is where we live!

You can't really see it in this picture, but they're building a GIANT ferris wheel on the waterfront.

A little preview of the Chihuly Gardens.

When we first went out on the observation deck, it was a little windy.

Then we started walking around it and it got windier...

And windier... It was a little bit crazy.

So Mom went inside while I took a few more pictures.

 There were these cases set up with souvenirs from the World's Fair in 1962. Mom recognized a couple things from when she went.

The charm bracelet.

The sugar cubes.

And the ticket to the Fair.

 I thought that was kind of fun...

After we were done on top of the Space Needle, we did a little shopping and then went to the Chihuly Gardens and Glass. Which I'll blog about tomorrow. Because there are a lot of pictures. I mean, a lot!