It's Christmastime in the City

So, this past Saturday, we decided to take in some urban Christmas activities in downtown Seattle (thanks, Audrey, for all the good suggestions!). We started at the Seattle Center (Space Needle) where they had a winter train village that the boys loved! Capturing that on film...well, less than successful. Then we took the monorail into the heart of downtown, and Liam thought that was about the coolest thing ever to ride "the big train up high".

We went to a gingerbread house display, saw the carousel in downtown, and rode the elevator in Macy's several times trying to figure out why there was a separate M button to push, but it never took you to the mezzanine, just back to the first floor. Still a mystery, but we finally found the FAO Schwartz and Santaland. No, we did not visit Santa (the wait was astounding), just stopped in to look at the moving reindeer and take in some general Christmas ambiance. Caleb was so excited about the whole trip that he fell asleep (which is why is in not in most of the pictures).


I think the most alarming thing to me was as we walked past the Nordstroms, and saw the waiting line to see Santa. It was like summertime at Disneyland, except that the "ride" only took one person at a time, for several minutes. Yikes! Many crying children in line, and an elf selling mini boxes of cheerios for $10. Okay, so I don't actually know how much she was selling them for, but when the man next to us on the street asked her how much they were, his exclamations and expletives lead me to believe that it was pretty pricey for a box of cereal. Ah, the holiday spirit of price gouging desperate parents who have run out of snacks and whose children are crying and whining. ;)

All in all, we had a wonderful time, and it totally put us in the mood for Christmas! Happy Holidays everyone and love to all!