Top o' Seattle

SANTA BABY:   Saturday we made our annual trek to the most far out Santa in all of Seattle. Maybe the World! Space Needle Santa is the best of the best!

It was a c-c-c-old day - temps in the low 20s, but it was blue skies and sunny, so we couldn't complain (much). 

Though auto traffic around the Center was a bear, mercifully the Space Needle itself wasn't too terrible. We made our way up in short order and got in line to see Santa immediately.

CJ and Annabelle didn't waste any time sharing their wish lists.  

 Afterward, they decorated some complimentary rocket-shaped cookies. They are cookie decorating pros. :)

The family's (ugly) Christmas sweaters were a huge hit. One of the elves wanted to steal CJ's, and Christian's stopped traffic in the line for the elevator.

We had some fantastic vistas. I can't remember Lake Union ever looking any lovelier.

And Mt. Rainier made an appearance, as well.

Elliott Bay was glistening. Here it is toward West Seattle, where Rick will soon be living.

And here it is toward Magnolia (right of frame).

The kids took advantage of the binoculars on the Observation Deck.

And when we descended the Needle, as always, we took the time to gaze back up at it - always an impressive view.

MEANWHILE ON MARS: The news from the Red Planet continues to pile up. Seriously, I can't keep up with all of MSL's amazing discoveries. 

Today, there was much buzz about ancient lakes on Mars.
Curiosity has been rolling around in and drilling an area in Gale Crater that is believed to be an ancient lake bed, Yellowknife Bay.

The photo below is a composite from multiple images from Curiosity's Mastcam. There, Curiosity drilled into the lowest-lying member, called Sheepbed, at targets dubbed "John Klein" and "Cumberland." 

Here's the John Klein drill.


Per NASA's press release today, the rocks we see here were exposed about 70 million years ago by removal of overlying layers due to erosion by the wind.

Images above all courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS