hello seattle

my mom, brother, and i went to washington for just a couple days to visit my mom's friend ronna. i love washington state, it is so green and pretty. from what i hear it's usually not too fantastic of weather there, but our first day there was supposedly the best day of the year so far. the sun was out and everything was so beautiful!

i also love seattle city. pike place market is awesome...i'm poor and didn't have money, but there are so many things i would have bought there!

i had such a good time with ronna's family. she has a seventeen year old son with down-syndrome and he is so much fun! he is probably the sweetest and most loving person i have ever met. she also has a son a year older than me and him and his girlfriend were tight! it was awesome hanging out with them and getting to know them.

our second day there all of us went to the zoo and we had a great time! i always love the zoo, but i will never forget how much fun we had just messing around there.

the shirts we got. kason's is bigfoot haha.

i was trying to take some pictures on my phone of some wolves to send to sam, when my phone just shut down and stopped working. it wouldn't turn on or re-charge the rest of the trip...but when i got home i plugged it in and it worked. so my theory is that the wolves were angry i was trying to capture pictures of them and used their ancient inuit powers to shut down my phone until i was out of state. so my phone stopped working and we also got in a harmless car accident. but it was one of the best trips ever and we made so many fun memories!

the awesome shirt i got. the lion has dreadlocks. how great is that?!

                           

just two apes hangin out

this shirt makes me want to live in the wild with the lions.

kason got this gorilla mask and is obsessed. all i have heard for the past two days is all the things he wants to do while he's wearing this mask.

while we were taking this picture at pike market, an old asian guy walked right in front of kason and stared at us for a minute. then said, "sorry i thought you wanted a picture of a real pig." and then walked away. i was laughing so hard.

i love mama

wizard's chess in the city

the first part of this trip wasn't very much fun honestly, but it got a lot better, even when we got in an accident and my phone was malfunctioning. so i did some thinking and i have some tips for a happy trip:

#1: eat. a hungry person is never a happy person, especially in my family. if you're cheap like us and try to avoid spending too much money on food, bring some snacks.

#2: do your research and have a game plan. know where you're going and what you want to do. agree on some things you want to do before you get there, so there is a minimum of arguments and disagreements on the trip. if you know someone who is familiar with the area, get their input.

#3: take some time-out. i hate this one. i'm someone who constantly wants to be doing something. when i'm somewhere new or exciting i always want to cram in doing as much as i possibly can. but a lot of people need to take time to sit and recoup. my mom is one of them. so maybe compromise and have your time-outs somewhere you can absorb your surroundings or take a lot of pictures.

#4: take a lot of pictures. taking pictures helps you to more appreciate your surroundings and makes you want to look for worthwhile things.  

#5: talk to people. no, not everyone. like the homeless man on the street who yelled: "I HATE EFFING TOURISTS!!" (he didn't say effing...) at us was scary. don't talk to those people. but talk to people on the plane or at attractions or servers at restaurants. one of the best parts about going somewhere new is meeting new people and learning new things from them.

-kandi