Sunday, January 9, 2011

Our Trip to the Pacific Science Center


The dinosaur exhibit


Sophia enjoys driving the bus


Gerritt's turn to be the driver


Sophia's laughing at her reflection in the mirror


Sophia tries to be a part of the giant chess game


Gerritt plays the water game


More water time with Daddy


Mommy & Gerritt inside a giant guitar

Our first weekend as a family was a big success! Just to remind you, I've worked nearly every weekend (at the hospital or in the clinic) since we got married more than 5 years ago. As the weekend was nearing closer, I was afraid that I would get sick of the constant togetherness & even of my husband & I getting on each other's nerves. Thankfully, my worries were unfounded. I even felt a twinge of regret for not rearranging my work schedule sooner. The weekend was a total blast!
On Friday we all went to the Crossroads Mall to visit the Starbucks & to listen to the concert nearby.


Gerritt & I at the Red Mango

On Saturday my husband & Sophia went to Tacoma to run a few errands for his Mom while Gerritt & I explored the Redmond Town Center. We've discovered our favorite Red Mango frozen yogurt store & later had lunch at a Mexican restaurant. The Red Mango is a healthier alternative to a traditional ice cream outing. It serves frozen yogurt full of live probiotic cultures with all natural & yummy toppings (such as fresh berries, coconut shavings, dark chocolate chips, mangoes, etc.). The Red Mango's frozen yogurt doesn't contain any high fructose corn syrup, & is non-fat & glutein-free - my new favorite find of the 2011! Since Daddy & Sophia didn't get back from grandma's house until almost 4:30 pm, in the afternoon Gerritt & I took a 3-hour nap together. :-)
On Sunday, we spent most of the morning pondering about our next outing & finally settled on a trip to the Pacific Science Center. I've been wanting to visit it for a while, however, was not brave enough to weather the crowds by myself with 2 kids. Having my husband by my side this weekend provided a perfect opportunity to experience something new. As usual, we didn't get to see everything in our 4 hours there, but managed to visit the dinosaur exhibit, the butterfly house, a large exploratory play area for kids & saw numerous small displays. Unfortunately, I didn't get to attend the Harry Potter exhibit since the only available tickets were for 4 pm & later, but spending time with my family was priceless. I also got to enjoy one of my favorite activities - photographing the kids! Gerritt missed his afternoon nap & Sophia took only a short nap in a stroller, so both kids went to bed at 7 pm, providing my husband & I ample time to enjoy a movie. I even managed to do 2 loads of laundry, sort out Sophia's clothes from which she has outgrown, & put away all of the clothes with stains for soaking in color-safe bleach solution.
We definitely overdid it with social activities this weekend, but perhaps we felt like making up for the lost time a bit. What a beautiful start & looking forward to more fun-filled & bonding family weekends!


One of the beautiful butterflies in the butterfly exhibit


An amazingly fragrant gardenia




Gerritt riding the giant caterpillar

1 comment:

ЮЛИЯ said...

It's always nice to be together as a family on a week-end. My husband has irregular work schedule but we always have a blast when Daddy is home on the week-ends!!! Very nice pictures of the flowers and butterflies :)