Inspiration

I miss this lady!  I taught with her out at Idaho and she was my soul-colleague-friend.  We think on the same wavelength with all our crazy big projects and ideas.  We shared a passion for BIG projects and creative ideas.  I miss her.  She's my professional other half.

She and her hubs were here for vacation and we got to meet them for brunch at "Beth's Cafe" in Seattle.  They are doing the coolest vacation ever - visiting different restaurants that have been highlighted on Food Network and/or the Travel Channel.  Almost as good as my cheese-a-palooza from this summer, but not quite...
It was so great to catch up.  Sooooooooo great.
It ended up that the restaurant was super close to the Seattle Zoo, which we've never gone to.  Really fun!  We had fun with the gorillas....

 Complete with sound effects....

 The worm garden was a hit - Lucas proclaims himself the "Gate Guy".  And he was.

 I cannot believe how bossy that kid was.  So stinkin' bossy.

 Ethan was master of the maps.  Until his arm started bugging him.  And bugging him bad.  He claims pain level 10, but I don't think it's quite that bad.

 One of the favorite animals was the peacock, as always.

 The tapir was pretty cool too.  We've never seen them so close - right in your face!

 There were lots of great animals (including an Africa exhibit just like in Idaho!!!), but all Lucas really cared about was "the boat".  He was obsessed.

 And when we finally got him in it - the smile was huge.

 While we were out that direction, we went in to Top Pot Doughnuts - which Brian claims is a local phenomenon.  The doughnuts were really good.  The coffee too.  Lucas insisted on sitting up at the bar.

 Ethan was still a bit of a mess with pain - I felt so bad for him and had just cleaned all the meds out of my purse the day before.  Sad.

So, tonight we took it easy - made dinner together and then had a cleaning race all over the house - was actually a lot of fun.  And our living room/dining room has not been this clean in a very long time.  Win!
This week is conferences - which means a whole lot of work and not a lot of play for me...  So tonight I soak in every bit of family time and relaxation - I won't see it again for 5 days!