Seattle: old friends + new friends, familiar places + new places

It’s been fun coming back to the same city every year. You’re traveling, yes, but it also feels familiar like a second home. The kids look forward to doing some of the same things every year and they remember more of the city after every visit. Along with spending time with our family, we visit with friends – some old going back to college and even high school, others who we’ve only known for a few years but feel like we’ve known for much longer, and some friends who we meet for the first time. Internet relationships are funny like that. You talk online for years and when you do finally meet, as in the case with my friend Bradford and my friend Annie, whose downtown loft we stayed in last year, it isn’t awkward at all because it feels like you’ve known each other for years – and that’s because you have.

On this trip, I wanted to explore a few new neighborhoods and parks that we haven’t been to before and for the first time I had a list of places I wanted to go. The girls love staying at hotels (what kid doesn’t!), but we don’t do it very often so we decided to use up our old airline miles to stay at a big hotel downtown, the first time we’ve ever stayed at a hotel in Seattle. We had a nice city and water view high up on the 21st floor and the beds were filled with fluffy white pillows and comforters. We often sleep in the same room with the girls when we travel and sometimes I’ll even share a bed with them. Since this never happens at home, it’s sort of a treat to sleep cuddling next to your children.