Seattle before the Bullock family reunion

To make the long drive to Vancouver Island more manageable we decided to take and extra day to drive to Seattle and go the the zoo there.  That was a great decision!

The kids were excited to take the tokens we got with our admission and use them to donate to animal protection

 The penguins were the first stop and were very entertaining

 They also shared an area with this handsome fellow

 Lyza even learned some dance moves from the penguins

We caught a few glimpses of the jaguar

 The kids loved the look of this monkey

 There were lots of pretty birds to look at

  

 This one was especially interesting

The toucans were really cool and we saw them flying around and fighting with each other

 Henry was very interested in all of the animals

 The gorillas are always fun to watch

 The butterfly area was lots of fun (at least when we didn't have to stop Mason from touching the butterflies)

 They were lots of fun to photgraph

 Mason was a little too excited

 Flamingos

 This guy was having a great hair day

 All the creepy crawlies impressed the kids

 Getting some energy out at the outdoor park

 Tortoise 

 We saw some hippos

 Riding the big cat

 Me and my handsome little man

 Mason eventually fell asleep and things suddenly became much more calm ;)

 Lyza and Nixon did a really good job helping us navigate the zoo

 The rinos' skin was really weird

 Some animals I found in the jungle

 Climbing monkeys

 Henry and Nixon practicing their Indian noises

 Riding the komodo dragon

 There was an indoor parrot area that was by far my favorite

 There were lots of different varieties of parrots flying all around you

You could also pay for some sticks with seeds stuck to them to feed the birds

 That was so fun!

Lyza had one land on her head

 Nixon fed the one standing on Lyza's head and she got bird seed all through her hair

 I think Lyza's expression says it all

 Henry eventually fell asleep but Mason was still sleeping in the stroller. We tried to put Henry in the bottom but decided that was probably not the most responsible thing to do and just took turns holding him instead

 Another big bird having a wonderful hair day

 The tiger wasn't too excited for our visit

 The zoo was a success!

 We worked up an appetite and got some Chick-fil-A. That was the first time either of us had it and it didn't disappoint

 Henry loved his reflection in this door at the hotel

 You can also see how tired the kids were and happy to veg out and watch some TV

Henry getting into trouble at the hotel

 We got the kids' beds all ready for bed time

 Then we hit the pool

 At first Mason was UPSET he had to wear a life jacket. Eventually he warmed up to the idea and spent the rest of the time jumping from the edge of the pool into our arms (at least when we knew he was going to jump ;)

 Breakfast the next morning was a little crazy (the hotel was very full)

 Our sleeping arrangements worked out really well. Henry even had his own room/closet ;)

 Our time in Seattle came to an end and Nixon and I loaded up the car with all of our stuff

 Meanwhile these kids were playing bumper cars in the hotel room

Then it was off to Vancouver Island. Nixon decided that his stomach was upset so he tried out the new motion sickness glasses we bought for this trip (I think he just wanted an excuse to wear these awesome glasses ;) 

Next stop, Vancouver Island via the slowest border location we have ever experienced: the Peace Arch border crossing. Had we done our homework we would have known this in advance: 

"Peace Arch is the third busiest United States / Canadian border crossing for passenger auto traffic. About 3,500 cars pass through it on a slow day, and as many as 4,800 cars on a busy day. As a consequence, the wait time entering either the United States or Canada can reach 4 hours at various times of the day."

It only took us two (2) hours to get through 😜

Take care