my morning with Andrew

Today I spent some time with just Andrew. We went into Seattle to ride the monorail and go up the Space Needle. He loves tall buildings and the other day he asked if there are any play areas up there we could go to, so I thought we'd give it a try. I'm not sure we technically got our money's worth, but it was well worth it for me!

It was nice that he wasn't overly excited to be without Mason; he just liked that he could hold my hand (he held my hand almost the whole time) and when he fell he was glad that I was able to hold him for a while without Mason trying to push his way in. He wants to go back with Mason and Matt, but we won't be doing that any time soon. First of all, it's expensive. But more important than that, Matt doesn't like heights and isn't at all interested in paying to be nervous. :)


He chose to ride the monorail first and he loved it! After spending some time at the malls (we hit up the toy store in Pacific Place and the candy store at Westlake) we headed back to go up the Needle.

Thanks, Space Needle. But who would pay $10 for this when it's weird looking and you let me email it to myself for free?

Wait, who would pay $10 for this? :)

I get to spend time with Andrew when Mason takes his nap, but it was fun to get out of the house with just him. He's a fun date!

In case it sounds like our day went a little too smoothly, you're right. Here's the rest of the story if you care to know more...

• I went in the parking garage through the exit. I blame Andrew, but whatever.
• We got to Seattle too early. The malls don't open until 10 - we got there at 9:15 or so.
• Since we couldn't go through the mall to get down from the monorail, we had to take the smelly stairs. Andrew asked if it was also a bathroom or if it was just stinky like one.
• We went to Starbucks to waste time along with a majority of homeless people who, I assume, were also waiting for the mall to open. Our neighbors were comparing how many pills they had left to see if they could do any swapping. It was just a conversation, no pills were on the table.
• Someone took my drink, then gave it to me after rubbing their dirty hands all over it. I took off the lid and called it good. I guess I'll know for sure in about 3 days.
• Andrew fell off the stool while trying to find a penny that a man so generously let me know we dropped. A stranger came up to Andrew to see if he was okay. I got it lady, back off.
• After the monorail ride back to the Needle, I heard what sounded like a ton of firecrackers (guns) going off. I looked over and saw an entire area filled with smoke. I was pretty sure it was a riot, but it turns out it's the Hmong new year. Phew.
• The Space Needle is a bit scary. I was kind of glad when Andrew only wanted to stay up there for about 20 minutes. :)
• A homeless guy befriended us during lunch at McDonalds. He was nice and kind of rad, but I still felt anxious with the whole deal. If you ever see him on Denny and some other street, be sure to give him a buck. He has a sign that says "You look good, thanks to me" on one side and "If I look good to you, you should stop drinking" on the other. He's my very favorite homeless guy.