Happy winter to all! It's the Winter Solstice today. Truth be told, I don't love this day, simply because I don't love winter. But, I don't dislike it either. It's the day before my first born child's birthday! And, it is a reminder that the days will only start to get longer from here forward.
Coincidentally, David and I planned a nice little day for us.
It started as normal, with Vincent going to school. The difference today was that Vincent put on a dress shirt with a tie. He's been wanting such things since we went to see Nutcracker a couple weeks ago. I found both at Macy's last week and purchased them using a gift card he received for Christmas from his great-aunt, Angel. And, I took him to school instead of David. Vincent passed out Christmas gifts to his teachers, and I set off for home.
David and Tyler picked me up on the street, to my surprise, and we headed to the gym. David is taking 2 extra days off for the holiday so he has a 5-day weekend. Woohoo!
After our workout, we went up to Capitol Hill to find David a new pair of glasses and to have lunch at The Wandering Goose. Side note: it was tasty, but took a very long time to get our food.
Now, the real fun begins after Vincent returned home from school. At about 3pm, we set out for the Space Needle. David had the good idea of valet parking right outside the Needle. Not much spendier (with validation) than parking it somewhere on the street. We had a discount coupon to get up to the top to see the big man himself, Santa Claus! He was only going to be there until 5pm, so we made it for his last shift. And, what a beautiful afternoon it turned out to be!
Here's looking down to the northeast. Bottom left is the Gate Foundation, straight ahead is Lake Union, to the east of the lake is our neighborhood, and beyond, behind the clouds, are the Cascade Mountains.
The boys decorated a rocket cookie each while waiting for Santa, and ate them immediately. Tyler didn't finish his, and complained of a belly ache. Yeah, dude, too much sugar.
One of the "elves" asked the boys what they are going to ask Santa for. Vincent said, "A pedometer and a Power Rangers Mega Bloks set." She asked if he knows what a pedometer does, and he replied, "It counts your steps."
Tyler said he will ask for an airplane and a train.
And, the moment you've been waiting for! Space Santa!
And, this one's not too bad, either.
When we were all done with Santa and the pretty views, we headed down to the "Armory" aka the old Center House for dinner. The boys (David included) were super excited for MOD Pizza. I opted for poutine from Skillet Counter. Theirs was alright, but with all this poutine craze, I wish I had tried it years ago when I was in Montreal with Lucy. It did sound gross back then.
In the Armory, we also looked at the famous model train scene, and Vincent and Tyler got to control one of the trains for the first time.
Then, we moved on to look at the Winterfest ice rink they set up at the Seattle Center. Then, the boys ran to the big fountain where there was a giant lit up tree. And, since we'd gone this far, we kept going over to McCall Hall where "Nutcracker" is showing to see the large statues and to show David and Tyler what Vincent and I looked at a couple weeks ago (minus the show). The boys danced and acted out scenes from the ballet on the mini stage and took a picture in front of the tree.
When all was done and we were heading home, Tyler kept saying it was the best night. And, they kept asking if it was really late and commenting on how it seemed like a long night. Which brings us back full circle to Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year (hence, the "long" night").
Happy Winter Solstice!
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