To this:
The Seattle Central Public Library.
Another of Seattle's beautiful buildings.
This working man stands in front of the Seattle Art Museum.
Harv took a number of pictures at this fountain on the waterfront.
The first thing we saw when we got to Pike Street Market was this flower stall.
More Dahlias!
Looking down the centre aisle of the indoor part of the market.
Outside, the beautiful sunshine drew buskers to entertain and crowds of shoppers.
We strolled streets that were dappled with sun and shade . Then we took the monorail to Seattle Centre where we sat for a long time watching the children (and adults) play "chicken" in the International Fountain. If you haven't been here, the fountain spouts water randomly - often in time to classical music from speakers located around the fountain. The trick is to run up and touch the sphere in the middle without getting wet!
We watched three little girls with blond ringlets - about 3 years old, I'd say, who were running in and out of the spray. They would have made a great ad for Fruit of The Loom in their pink flowered panties. They were so cute.
We had to take one picture to prove we'd been here.
Finally, the Space Needle against a brilliant blue sky. We always enjoy coming to the Seattle Centre park. There is so much to see and do. This time we did more seeing than doing and loved every minute of it. I turned 60 earlier this year so when we talked about taking a couple of days together she told me she would treat me to an overnight stay at the Village Inn in Fairhaven Washington.
Fairhaven was a town site established by "Dirty Dan Harris" in 1883. The town grew and prospered on the anticipation that the Great Northern Railway would establish a terminal there. However the railway decided to locate in Seattle and the town went into a period of depression. Many people moved away and buildings were left unfinished. In 1888 it amalgamated with the small mill community of Bellingham and slowly established itself as a thriving community.
Today it boasts many locally owned shops and restaurants and is very proud of its small town appeal.
On the way back to our hotel, we stopped to admire the yard art and I thought of Ellen from http://happywonderer.wordpress.com/ as I took this picture.
The flower beds in that yard were in full bloom with a variety of Dahlias in brilliant colour. The perfection of each petal and the amazing complexity of patterns fascinated us and I spent some time taking pictures.
Aren't they incredible?
A bonus was the beautiful weather we enjoyed. The forecast had been for heavy rain both days and we were fortunate that it was wrong! In fact we had no rain at all and it was warm enough on the way home to put the top down on Janet's Toyota Solare.
We stopped at Bellis Fair on the way home to do some clothes shopping, and then had a jolt at the Border because we'd bought more than the allowed amount (my fault - I should have checked) Fortunately we had a compassionate customs clerk who mitigated the damage and we were home in time for supper.
We both promised to treat ourselves this way again - soom.
Thank you Janet for an awesome couple of days.
We had a great time - Chris and I played scrabble (she wiped me 4 out of the 5 times!) watched the boys ride bikes and doodle cars in the shop, made some yummy meals, watched a schmaltzy movie and spent time at "the Bookman" -our local used book store while the guys did their thing with vehicles and shop stuff.
They left for home around 8:30 Thursday morning and by 9:30 my neighbour, Barb and I were headed to the tulip fields in La Conner.
It was COLD. The sun tried to do its part but the wind was biting and nearing gale force at times. (or so it seemed)
Regadless, we saw the tulips and managed, after some setbacks that were wholly our fault and rather hilarious- to get some great pictures. As you will notice, if you check out Marg's pictures, the tulips posed straight and tall like bright soldiers for the girls on Tuesday but were decidedly blown about in mine.
Despite the wind and the minor setbacks, we really enjoyed our day.
We had a great lunch at "Seeds" - a wonderful chicken, roasted pepper and provolone pannini sandwich with clam chowder before browsing the great shops on the main street. Later we treated ourselves at the Calico Bakery for hot tea and goodies.
It was fun spending time together- something I think we'll do again soon.
It was neat to see the city all decked out in Canadian Flags. Who ever said we weren't patriotic?
We watched a street performer at Robson Square. There were LiveCity events, the zip line humming overhead and the jugglers and musicians entertaining the crowds. Lots of vendors, very friendly security guards, police and tourist information people mingled with the thousands of red and white and maple leaf clad visitors. Anyone NOT wearing red stood out. As a British reporter said yesterday," Do Canadians have anything else in their wardrobes?"
Hundreds of paper lanterns decorated by children adorned these whimsical Lantern trees.
While taking pictures of the cauldron, we were fortunate to have the RCMP Musical Ride members line up in front for a photo op. Their glossy black horses and distinctive red Serge added class to the fantastic scenery.
These attractive turquoise/blue and green banners decorated the barriers and venues.
When we saw the lines to get into the Canadian Mint, we were quite content to have our picture taken with a comemorative quarter.
The crowds lined up in front of the Canadian Mint where the largest gold medal is on display.
Posing as Canada's bobsled champions
Yeah!! Canada Scores again! What fun to join hundreds of other fans watching Canada defeat the German team in hockey. There wasn't an reserved or apathetic Canadian in sight.
Before leaving the city Harv took this picture of the Science Centre. It houses the Russian Pavillion which closed at 4:30 - half an hour before we got there! The upside was we didn't have to wait in a lineup, and we got to see "Inukshuk Beach"
We only saw a few boats all day, otherwise the lake was ours to enjoy.
Our sister in law Irene, joined us for the day 
We marvelled at the snow capped mountains 
looked up in awe at the rocky cliffs -(how do those trees and moss take root?) and thoroughly enjoyed the bright sunshine and warm breezes. 
Truly a day to give glory to the One who created this beautiful world 