I kind of get excited about field trips. I get excited when our field trips take all day. But I really get excited when we as a family get to take a train trip to Seattle with a group of friends. Tuesday we got to do just that! We boarded the train early Tuesday morning at the train station here in Portland, and rode ALL the way to Seattle. It was great! My kids had friends come with them on the train. Plus there were other homeschoolers they knew from our homeschool group and another homeschool group on the same field trip. As a group, the kids played games, listened to music, and just plain hung out. The trip gave them a chance to just chill while riding the train to Seattle. When we got to Seattle everyone piled out and headed to the station. We all kind of separated into smaller groups to go our "separate ways". The group we were in decided to go to Pike's Place. (exciting!) So we walked to the metro took their mass transit, like our max, to Waterlake stop and started to walk. We walked about a half mile maybe to Pike's place and then we separated again. Some of the ladies wanted to go for Starbuck's right away. Our small group needed lunch. After finding lunch, which was very good, our little group wondered through the market. There was so much to see; HUGE amounts of fish, rows of flowers, gifts by the dozen, and even peppers that had been made into wreathes. (which I found intriguing) My oldest and his friend had separated off to check out what teenage boys check out. Not sure what that looks like but I heard about an antic shop and a guitar store. While they were gone, Jacob was able to locate the first original Starbuck's. Which in reality was the only reason that he came with us to Seattle. So now our small group went to go retrieve our much needed coffee. In my opinion it was good and interesting how they have the store sent up. Nothing like any of the other stores. We were then introduced some amazing pastries made by a local Chinese bakery. They were steamed buns with pork meat inside. The outside was sweet, not sure what the inside tasted like. My friends daughter let us taste the outside. It was very good. With our treats in hand we were back to broazing in amongst the booths. In fact one of the booths we stopped at had a sample of Ghost pepper sauce. WOOHOO it was pretty hot. We had finished the top level market and headed down to the lower level were the shops are located. Pike's Place has a lot of unique and interesting shops to look into. In fact one of them had hand made items that Grace, Tesa and I loved. Micheal of course got a kick out of the candy shop that we passed by. After a bit of time on the second level our group split again and my small group of teenagers and I finished paruzing the lower shops. Pretty soon after walking most of the four hours and looking at quite a bit our little group decided to head back. We picked up dinner at Subway, rode the mass transit with the other large group we had arrived with, and went back to the train station. With our sore feet and bodies we reloaded the train in Seattle and headed back to Portland. Again it was good to see the kids hanging together playing games, talking about what they saw, listening to music, taking funny photos, and just in general having a good time. This gave us parents a chance to visit, rest, or just get caught up on some reading. "This is what it is all about, spending time with people we know and enjoying the memories it makes." We arrived back in Portland around 9:00pm tired, but fortunately we all have great memories to share. The kids had a blast hanging out on the train and walking around Pike's Place. All in all I would say Tuesday's all day field trip was a much needed, well deserved, and well used day. |
AuthorI have been homeschooling my three kids since 2003. It has been an adventure of epic experiences through pre-school, elementary school, middle school, and now high school. There is NEVER a dull day in our house. With that said, I am glad you have joined me so you can read about our epic experiences. I promise you won't get bored. Archives
April 2016
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