Wilke Family Vacation '09.2

Awfully belated, but I'm finally posting the remainder of our trip! Our second day in Newport we got up and headed to the Newport Aquarium where we got to see fish, sharks, birds, an octopus, sting rays, a playful otter, giant crabs, and my favorite: jelly fish. They had an artificial tide pool that you could actually play in, and Will didn't mind that at all! He stuck his hands right in that cold water with all of the creepy-crawlies! We giggled at something called a Grunt Sculpin, and deemed that Will's new nickname because of the silly noises he is prone to making now. We stopped back at The Edge Art glass blowing studio to pick up and stuff my project with our beach finds, and I purchased a beautiful stained glass sailing ship window to add to my collection.

We headed back up the Coastal Highway to walk along Cannon Beach, a famous scene in such movies as Goonies, and Point Break, and even stayed in the hotel in Astoria that Kindergarten Cop was filmed at! We ate another amazing meal at the Baked Alaska restaurant right on the wharf, where I got that beautiful sunset behind the Astoria bridge. It was another fine-dining experience and Will was a perfect gentleman!

In the morning we headed on to Seattle and managed to watch the sun set at the top of the Space Needle! On the fourth of July we all woke up exhausted, and just felt like staying in and watching TV all day. Around two in the afternoon we decided that we might regret that decision, so we ventured out for Thai food, and a very quick run through the Seattle Science Center, and the Music Experience Museum. We walked through the butterfly house and played with a robotic arm before we were kicked out at closing...Will would definitely appreciate a full day there a few years from now. Then we took a walk several blocks to Pike Place Market, but most of the shops were closed for the holiday, and as usual, we were late and had to run several blocks back to make it to the fireworks in time! And Will loves fireworks! He learned to point during the show, and he kept looking back and talking to the rowdy group behind us, then turning back to commentate his gibberish on the fireworks show. It was our best 4th yet!