Paintball Date

For our Christmas present my sister and brother-in-law got us paint balling.  Neither of us have gone before but we always wanted to so it worked out perfectly.  I love experience type gifts instead of more things.  They even drove all the way out and babysat for us.  It was great!

I heard a lot of mixed things about if it hurts or not so I wasn't sure what to think.  During our first game we played on a big field so I only really got hit from far away and it wasn't that bad.  Toward the end we played on a smaller field and I got hit several times and it hurt a lot!!!  Not so much that I couldn't keep playing but worse than I'd expected.  I just needed a few seconds hiding behind a barrier for the sting to wear off before playing again.  We even wore lots of layers which made me really hot but I'm glad I did.

I didn't think the last picture was very flattering so I took one with the sweatshirt and mask off. Although now you can see the red mask lines on my forehead.

It was a fun time but I'm not dying to go again or anything.  Maybe if a group of friends went I would go, but thats probably it.

Thanks Talitha and David!

Hot Air Balloon Ride #2

As our hot air balloon took off the sun was just breaking through the morning mist making beautiful sunbeams shoot out across the land.  These pictures don't do it justice but I had to try.

This next picture is looking straight down.  I think they said we got up to 16 mph and 2,000 feet in the air.  When we first went up it was a bit scary.  Just knowing that if I fell out or something happened we would die, we were way too heigh to live through that kind of fall and we didn't have any sort of parachute.  We also watched a video the night before of a hot air balloon that burned up and all the people died except for one person who jumped out early.  So I started to get scared and kind of wanted to just go back down.  But I took a couple breaths and got used to it.  It was totally fine and not scary after about two minutes.  Because we were moving with the wind the 16mph felt really slow.  It barely felt like we were moving at all.  And I also knew that flying in a hot air balloon is much safer than flying in a plane, so I really didn't have anything to worry about.

There were lots of beautiful and huge houses below us.  We were in the air for about an hour and we spent the whole time just enjoying the view and checking out the houses below us.

We had a pretty good view of Seattle.

Mt. Rainier looked different from this perspective.  We usually see it from the other side.

As we went on with our ride the operator kept talking ton a walkie talkie to his partners about where he thought we would land.  We went further than they originally thought but ended up in this big field.  I thought we would go at more of an angle when we went down but we went basically straight down.  It was nice and slow.

Then when we were just a couple feet off the ground we hovered there while the partner came out onto the field and pushed us over to the car.  They are not supposed to drive out onto the filed to pick up the balloon so they push it to the edge before completely landing.

Then they deflated the balloon while we drank juice and everyone else had champagne.  Hot air balloons have a tradition of champagne after flights because they originally had to hang a bottle of champagne underneath their baskets so that farmers knew they were rich people in the balloons and not demons.  I guess the farmers where throwing rocks and pitchforks at them trying to destroy the demons.

We had a great time, it was a perfect anniversary date!

Hot Air Balloon Ride

For our ninth anniversary Bob and I went on a hot air balloon ride!  I've always wanted to go so it was very sweet of Bob to remember and get us the tickets.  We had to be in Woodenville at six am so my sister watched the kids all night for us and we slept in a hotel.  Even that was a treat because we have never been in a hotel together without kids since our honeymoon.  Thanks, Talitha.

We met the group at a McDonalds where they were letting off regular balloons into the air to judge where our starting point should be.  After they figured that out we headed to a field where they filled up the balloon.  It was so huge up close!  I had no idea how really gigantic they are.

We took a sunrise ride and the balloon was filling up just as the sun came over the horizon.

I was the last person on because I was trying to get pictures while everyone else was loading up.  There were eight people and the balloon operator.

We were pretty packed in.  But the basket was separated on the inside so we weren't bumping into each other.

I wasn't sure how cold it would be because six in the morning can be pretty cold but they said we might want to wear a hat because of the heat from the fire.  My jacket seemed just about right.  I had a hat but didn't end up wearing it.  The fire was warm but not to bad.

I took so many great pictures I couldn't fit them into one post.  Look back tomorrow for the rest!

Murder Mystery Dinner

I've done a couple at home murder mystery dinners and they are always so much fun that Bob and I wanted to go out to a more official one.  We headed over to Seattle to go to the Murder Mystery Company's show at the Old Spaghetti factory and had a killer time!

The theme was 1920's Noir She Didn't and I was able to borrow clothes from a friend.  My kids loved the dress and my make up.  They all kept saying that I was beautiful.  Bob bought the hat and wore suspenders even though he didn't have them up in the first picture.  I was worried about finding a sitter because we had to go all the way to Seattle and knew we would be gone for a long time but another friend volunteered to do that for us.  I have the best friends!

We almost didn't make it onto the ferry but luckily when they said "Only one more car" we were the next in line.  I was stressed about it and needed to calm down a bit.  Once we got there everything was great.

There were actors who facilitated the show and where the main characters at the same time.  Each table also got  at least one character assigned to the group.  I got to be Misty and had a binder with info about her.

Above you can see them pulling out the first murder victim.

Later in the show Bob even got held up at gunpoint, which was hilarious.

I had to do some talking into the microphone and "acting" like my character in front of everyone.  People who know me know that if you put me in front of a big group of people (I would guess there was 40ish there) I kind of freeze up.  I am also not that great at being funny and ad-libbing.  I was pretty embarrassed about it, but the actors were really good at helping me out and leading me to say the right things.  It was pretty easy even for someone like me who isn't good at that sort of thing.  Bob would have been great but I don't think he would have been a convincing Misty.  Some of the characters from the other tables were pretty good.

We got our pictures taken there and they gave them to us in a little booklet.

The dinner was delicious and it was nice that the waiters just brought it out to us and we didn't have to worry about it at all. The Old Spaghetti Factory was the perfect setting .

Afterwards we had time to ride the Seattle Wheel before hoping on the ferry.

I've wanted to go to one of these dinner parties for a long time and it was neat to check another thing off the bucket list.  Everything was well thought out and very put together.  The company who put on the show also does private parties and I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a fun night out.

Spooked In Seattle

I bought a groupon for a ghost tour in Seattle a couple years ago and just finally got around to using it.  It was and expired two for one deal so they let me use it for one ticket and I had to purchase one more for Bob.

Here we are going to into the entrance, this was one of the creepiest parts.  If you know much about Seattle then you know that a lot of it is underground.  They were having major problems with flooding so they built the whole city up higher starting with the streets.  Lots of places still have their underground rooms that actually used to be the original first level.

Here is a picture of our guide, he said his clothes have nothing to do with the tour but he always just likes to dress like that.  We are standing on a spot where someone fell off the roof and died.  People have since seen sightings here.  He basically just took us around and talked about different ghost sightings and the history of the area.

I can't remember the exact significance of this next building but he wanted us to take pictures just in case we got one of a ghost.  The tour was in Pioneer square and even though it looked fine to me the area has a pretty dark history.

Afterward he took us back to the original basement and into this pitch black area.  It was pretty creepy and he talked about sightings and things they've had go on there.

Over all I had a lot of fun.  I'm not saying that I believe or don't believe in that sort of thing, but I do think it is interesting.

Go Carting

For the past little while Bob has been working with the scouts building a go cart.  He was released but now that it is done they let us come over and ride it around.  First Bob and I went and did it for a date over the weekend and then on Monday we brought the family and all took turns.  They have a big field and made a course.

The date night was really fun.  Bob didn't tell me what we were doing only that I should wear jeans and tennis shoes.

Going as a family was completly different.  It took a while to get it set up so Tucker could reach the peddlas but once we got going it was better.  I think Tucker's first lap took about 5 minutes and was very jerjky, but after a little bit of practice he was a pro.  His last lap he got going really fast and was much more smooth.

I rode with Penelope and Scarlett on my lap and it was pretty funny.  Penelope was scared and kept telling me to slow down, but she liked it and had fun.  Scarlett just laughed and wanted me to go faster the whole time.

Leon didn't really like it, maybe when he is older.

The first video is of me and the second is of Bob.  He got two wheels off the ground and then it turned off.

Planitariem Date

Bob and I haven't gotten a sitter and been out on a date in a  long time.  So it was so nice to get out on Friday and do something without the kids.  This time we went to the planetarium and then out for dinner.  I've never been to a planetarium before so it was a new experience for me.

When we first went in we were the only ones there but another couple did come.  We went into this dome type room and they pulled up the sky on the ceiling and did an hour long show/presentation  The whole thing was really interesting.  The first guy talked a lot about the sun and planets and just the different star formations.  The second guy was much more technicaland hard for me to follow at some points.  Only because I have no knowledge of the different Mars rovers.

After the show we walked around the small museum.  It was actually the old fire station.  Then off to a local teriyaki place.

Here are our empty plates.  The food was good and both Bob and I came out so full we had stomach aches.  It was a great date and I can't wait for our next one.

Date Night

This was a while ago now but because it so rarely happens I am still blogging about it.  Bob and I went out on an actual date.  We got a babysitter and everything.  Ideally we would go on a date at least once a week, but it never seems to happen for us.  Forgetfulness, busyness, and thriftiness (are those words?) usually stop us.  This time we opted for the traditional dinner and a movie.  Except we were in a hurry and dinner was subway sandwiches that we hid in my bag and ate during the movie.

We went and saw X-Men: Days of Future Past.  There were a few movies we both wanted to see but we chose this one because it was playing at the theater we had movie passes to.  I actually really liked it.  Not like it is my favorite movie or anything, but I liked it more than I thought I would.  I especially liked how half of the movie took place during the 70s and everyone was dressed accordingly.  What I didn't like was the blue girls lack of clothes, but I figured it would be like that so I wasn't surprised.

Bob and I took a few pictures while waiting for the sitter to show up.  

Tucker took this next one.

After the movie we went to cold stone and got some yummy ice cream.  We were surprised when we got home that they kids were still up.  I guess they gave the sitter a run for the money and make things kind of hard on him. 

It was so nice to get out.  Now I'm ready for another date night.