Tourists for a day

Noah loves going to the fish market downtown, ya know, the famous one where they throw the fish. I really don't like going to it because it's so crowded and it is always a struggle with the kids. But, since the weather was nice (i.e. not raining too hard), Noah talked me into going. To avoid the horrible parking, price gouging, and traffic, we took the bus. I really like the buses in Seattle, unlike Baltimore, where I sometimes question their safety, the Seattle public transportation is safe, easy, and often much quicker when you account for parking. Oh yeah - the last time we drove to the market - some guy on a bike ran into our van and gave it a small dent. Annoying.

The market would be a lot of fun without kids. As DINKs, we would love to stroll through all the streets and alleys, sampling the fresh-made jams, pastries, middle-eastern and asian foods. We'd enjoy all the buskers and tantalizing window displays. We'd stop at a coffee house or two, then maybe a wine bar. We'd enjoy a leisurely stroll looking across the Puget Sound to the snow-capped Olympian mountains and finish the day at a nice quiet restaurant.

Instead, we spend the day trying to get Jonah to stop screaming in the stroller. He really hates the stroller. I hate the stroller too. In fact our stroller days may be numbered because as I was pushing the stroller down a staircase (without Jonah sitting in it), I misjudged how high the last step was and almost fell head-on on top of the stroller down the stair. Fortunately, the rear left wheel of the stroller got caught on something and prevented the catastrophic fall, but now we are missing one of the rear left wheels. Prior to the stroller-stair incident, the stroller had double wheels on each side in the rear, but now with only three wheels in the back, we look like a down-on-your-luck family that takes the bus to the market on food stamp friday. Now I'm concerned about what happens when we lose the other rear wheel. Will we have to abandon the stroller on the side of the road? Can we get a citation or fine for that? It will be impossible to push a tri-clop stroller anywhere with a 30-lb Jonah in it. Would I have to leave the stroller and then come back for it with the van, only to have to take it to someplace like Goodwill since it certainly won't fit in our 12 gallon trashcan (trash in Seattle is whole 'nother blog)?

The crippled stroller

Anyway, Noah got his five pounds of seafood, roasted nuts and cappuccino. The kids got some pizza, hot cocoa and some entertainment from the buskers. I got a crippled stroller and the gratifying opportunity to chase my kids around a busy, crowded market without a single incident of them grabbing a fish or piece of produce from a market stand.

The wheels on the bus go round and round

Pike Place Market - not recommended with children

Market stalls - imagine chasing a toddler through this

Puget Sound

"Jonah, we're about to put you back in your stroller."

For dinner, Noah spent an hour trying to fillet perch with a stiff chef's knife and I made curried coconut rice with dried currents, a quick and easy recipe that I will definitely be making again.

Merry-go-round. I think they outlawed these back East, but there are plenty of them here! 

Both kids went to bed early, exhausted after skipping their naps because of our adventure downtown. In hindsight, the market was pretty fun. Success.