2015 Family Vacation--Part 1

We have been planning this vacation for about a year now and it FINALLY came!!!  Chris and I have been wanting to go to Alaska for years now.  Neither of us had ever been so it was truly a new adventure for us all.

There are several cruises to Alaska but we specifically picked one that left out of Seattle, WA so that we could spend a few days with one of our most favorite families--the Vespignanis!!!  Marco and Chris have been best friends since 7th grade.  Marco moved away after junior high but these 2 have kept in touch all of these years--Chris spent 2 summers in Hawaii with Marco (where he lived thru high school/college), Marco spent a couple days with Chris while he was on his mission in Nebraska--we like to joke about "when Marco served his mission"--and Chris was the officiator at Marco & Lindsay's wedding.  Whew....these two have history for sure!

The last time we were together with our kids, we had toddlers.  But now that our kids are older, they just had THE BEST time hanging out together.  Our 3.5 days in Seattle were jammed packed with TONS OF FUN!!!

You can't tell but they are
holding "creepy dolls:)"

Dance Party--Wii Style!!!

Our first full day there we went on a BEAUTIFUL hike at Lake Forest Park near their home.  Seriously never seen so much green!  I guess that's why they call Washington "The Evergreen State."

We hiked to the ocean on a beautiful sunny day (65 degrees).  The water was FREEZING!!!  The only ones brave enough to get ALL the way in were Marco, then Chris HAD to because Marco did, and then Max HAD to because dad did:)

Jovi with a crab--it was dead:)

For our second day in Seattle, we hit the city!!!  First stop...THE SPACE NEEDLE!!!  We loved watching the fountain there--mostly because there was the cutest dog having the best time attacking the water as it came out:)

Our next stop...THE DUCK RIDE--starts on land and goes into the water!!!  I've seen these in several cities but I've never been on one!  It was SUPER fun and actually very informative.  My kids really listened to the tour guide the whole time because he was so funny (and changed outfits/hats a lot).  When we came back to Seattle at the end of our cruise, we were walking around the city again because we had some time before our flight and my kids were re-telling the tour to us:)

We called this trip:
Meeker Invasion 2015!

We let the boys sit together:)

Views from our Duck ride.

We had to hit downtown--Pike's Fish Market!  It was fun seeing the workers throw fish around.  It was as much a show as it was a business:)

These are the 2 "most photographed" signs in Seattle.
So I HAD to take them too:)

These signs were in the market place
and I thought they were funny:)

My kids favorite part of the city...THE GUM WALL!!!  DISGUSTING!!!  It was actually more of a gum alley.  But to be cool, we added to the "artwork" too:)

These 2 became BFFs on this trip:)
So stinkin' cute!!!

Ohh!  The "Original Starbucks!"

Seattle and their "art":)

We absolutely enjoyed our time in Seattle.  The Vespignani's were the BEST hosts.  Our kids just fell in love with each other and were super sad to leave.  We let Max & Tatum get "kick" accounts--texting for younger kids--so that they could keep in touch with Jovi & Ruby.  And 2 weeks later...they are STILL texting each other daily:)  Chris and Marco have already planned our next vacation together--Fall 2016 can't come quick enough:)