Love the place you live -- Seattle!!

a while back I discovered a blog from a woman living in France--challenging everyone to "love the place you live." and get out there and explore your area.   Well of course she loves the place she lives...she lives in France.  I however, have been in Seattle for 10 months now, and although I like it here, I don't love it here.  yet.   and so I am going to start participating in her link up challenge to get me better acquainted with the area, because, frankly,  

I can't figure out what people do around here for fun! 

and please don't say hiking and camping...I know there's gotta be more out there.  :)  In California, we had huge, amazing parks, but there is nothing similar here, probably b/c of the weather.  and in Tokyo, we had...well, Tokyo!

But it is growing on me.  This is what I see everywhere.  Trees and more trees.  I took this while driving yesterday, (yes, driving and handling a camera--not something I'd recommend.)  When I first moved here, I felt claustrophobic, like I wanted to push the trees out of the way so I could see where I was going.  But now it seems kind of pretty.  I have gone from navigating crowded, difficult subway stations in Tokyo, to being paranoid I am going to hit a deer in the Seattle suburbs.  deer are everywere here.  it's a real concern!

so here's what I've discovered this month.  For adults: a Lake Washington Cruise
for Christmas I gave Ryan 12 pre-paid, pre-planned dates, one for each month.  We open up the date envelope at the beginning of each month.  and April's date was a Lake Washington Cruise.  We had beautiful weather, and views of Mt. Rainier.  And it also helped us get our bearings in this area, as they pointed out landmarks, various suburbs etc.

Bill Gates' house!  it has a 33 car garage that can double as a full sized basketball court.

and many of these homes on the lake have little elevators.  b/c the hill is too steep to drive down, their garages are at the top of the hill.  you park at the top, and then ride the elevator down to your house.  makes grocery shopping a pain!

For Kids:  Sky High Sports--the trampoline place, in Bellevue.

we went over spring break with 2 other famillies.  they jumped their little hearts out.  it was heaven.  It's separated into 4 sections.

1.  main jumping area--floors and walls are trampolines

2.  dodgeball court

3.  foam pit--here's a video of Emily

4.  a smaller version "little kids only" section.

This place was amazing and the kids are still talking about it.  we are well on our way to loving the place we live!