Sightseeing

ROOM WITH A VIEW: This morning was low-key. We concentrated on putting our lives back in order post camping trip (lots of laundry and putting stuff away), and we made a run to Goodwill to drop off a Honda CRV load worth of stuff from the Great Basement Purge that took place this weekend.

At noon, it was time to pick Christian up at work and head to Chicago Title to sign our refinance papers. (We got a 4.875 rate, which is great - I guess it's one small "positive" by-product of a crappy economy.) We had to go to an office in a high rise on 5th Avenue downtown. It was a cool building with lots of great sculpture in the lobby areas. By far, the work that captured our collective fancies the most was by artist Dan Web. It was called "Heads Up" and it included dozens of amber colored bodies ascending ladders. And, intriguingly, instead of heads, the climbers had ladders rising up from their shoulders.

The artist's statement on the adjacent plaque said, the head/ladders "represent the act of the mind moving beyond the physical boundaries of the body. The combined effort, creativity and ambition of the men and women in this upward journey - propelled by individuals and sustained as a group - provide the steps for those who follow."

Nice.

When we got up to the 23rd floor, the kids were thrilled to find a well stocked snack bar awaited them in the Chicago Title lobby. (And who says you get nothing for the $2,900 plus in closing fees?) They enjoyed some chocolate chip cookies while we waited. Eventually we were ushered into a conference room with a stunning view to the southeast. We could see everything from the stadium district to the Issaquah highlands. (It was a good chance to check out the new paint job on Qwest Field's roof!) The kids checked out the view for awhile, but soon they found the stash of toys in the conference room. The toys were definitely more for the preschool set, but CeeJ and Bee found a way to adapt them to more mature play. ;)

Signing loan docs is a long and bo-ring process even when you're the one signing your life away. It's exponentially more boring if you're just watching. But the kids were really good and managed to amuse themselves, mostly with 8 or so plastic dinosaurs they found. They were having some prehistoric gladiator type tournament.

Before long, the 60-plus woman directing Christian and me where to sign noted, "They have really good vocabularies."

I had to laugh and said, "That probably because they talk SO MUCH." They're always honing their craft. ;)

Later during the signing she said how nice it was that the kids clearly have an imagination. She said usually when parents bring kids in, they bring electronic devices with them (laptops, games, etc.) to keep the kids amused. We're certainly not above that, but it never occurred to me to do that today. I knew it would take around 30 minutes and certainly the kids could amuse themselves for that amount of time.

The woman went on at length about the perils of a generation (or two) of children who don't use their imaginations and who are used to having a narrative fed to them all the time. As a result, these kids can't construct their own narrative. Interesting to think about. ...

Though the books on site were for younger folk, CJ managed to find an old school video game tie in (Cookie Monster in a Pac-Man style game), which made him very happy.

HOMEWARD BOUND: It was a gorgeous afternoon, and driving back to Magnolia from downtown, I couldn't help but revel in it. Driving on the Viaduct, the views were stunning. (Yes, I know using a cell phone while driving is against the law, but I haven't seen anything about taking photos while driving ...)

And once we were down on Western, I couldn't help but think how lucky we are that we get to drive through a museum (specifically, Seattle Art Museum's Olympic Sculpture Park) a few times a week. (See the silver tree in the foreground and the typewriter eraser in the background?)

ACCIDENTAL TOURISTS: This evening we were going to use a half off coupon we had for El Puerco Lloron (the crying pig) to have dinner out.

The restaurant is off the staircase leading from waterfront Alaskan Way to Pike Place Market.

We walked in and were studying the menu (on a white board near the door) when a woman told us, in broken English, that the restaurant was closing at 7. Wow. Seems kind of stupid for a place smack dab in the tourist district smack dab in the middle of summer. But what do I know? ...

So suddenly we found ourselves accidental tourists - plodding along the streets around Pike Place Market, wondering where we could get dinner. For whatever reason, every place we seemed to come across was very French (not what the kids were interested in) and/or very expensive (not what the parents were interested in).

We were circling back toward the car when we noticed the Hard Rock Cafe across the street. Not in a million billion years would I have pictured us setting out for that place, but that's where we wound up.

Right inside the door there was a wicked awesome interactive display that CJ took to like a moth to a light. It was a highly sensitive touch screen featuring photos of all sorts of rock memorabilia on display in the restaurant. You could move the snapshots around, expand them or discard them as you chose.

At our table was a smaller version of the screen.

While we did not set out for the place, I have to admit, once inside it felt very right. Being surrounded by high tech gadgets and iconic musical memorabilia coupled with a steady stream of Nirvana and Jimi Hendrix blaring through the sound system made for a memorable experience indeed. I also have to give them props for having the best kids' menu I've ever seen (not in regards to the food items on it, but in regards to its educational content). We did crosswords, decoding puzzles, discerned differences in pictures, solved mazes and talked about different types of rock formations, all thanks to the kids' menu.
All in all, I'm glad the taco stand closed early. ;)
GOING OLD SCHOOL: After dinner, I suggested the kids watch one of the many library videos that we need to return tomorrow. CJ suggested they watch "old school Mickey Mouse" (yes, his words).

He was referencing a "Vintage Mickey" DVD featuring "Steamboat Willie" (1928) and other classics.

It was all black and white, of course, and though Steamboat Willie is from 1928 - more than eighty years old! - Bee and CJ LOVED it and the other cartoons on the disc. There were many belly laughs and they were talking back to the TV, offering the characters advice as though they could hear it.

When the show was over, I told the kids that Walt Disney once said, "I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse." I told them that they had just seen that very mouse that started it all and without it, there would have been no Disney World which we all enjoyed oh-so-much this past May.