Digital Nomad Family – Course Update #13 – Minnie Mouse, Chihuly, & Gassy Jack

Pumpkins, The Halloween Tree, and beautiful fall leaves have been abundant for the past month.

When I last shared our last Course Update we were at the beginning of October, and the biggest news was that we’d started potty training. I’m pleased to say that with only a few bumps in the road, I think we’re rounding the curve on that adventure (*knock on wood*), and it only slowed us down for a short while. As most parents know, during that first few weeks it’s better not to push things by going anywhere too far from a potty… just in case it’s needed. And, we definitely had a few accidents, particularly after the novelty of potty training started to wear off.

But, within about 2-3 weeks we were out and about for increasingly longer adventures and having good fun. Our Pumpkin got two visits to Spooner’s Pumpkin Farm in October, which was a big hit for so many reasons. Animals, pumpkins, straw bale creatures, and plenty of games and activities to explore. A perfect place for a toddler to play and have a grand time!

We also decided that we couldn’t miss doing a trip up the Space Needle and to the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum while we’re so close to Seattle. I have to say that the elevator operator did a stunning job making a cramped two minutes highly entertaining. Unfortunately, the day we picked to scale the top was rather rainy and overcast, so I know we didn’t get the best view, but it was still a fun experience. On the upper level is an outside deck and inside cafe/bar with full 360 views of Seattle, then on the lower level is a rotating glass floor which was truly awesome.

I know that many of my IG friends saw the photos on my stories at the time and commented about the anxiety it provoked for them. I intentionally turned off the part of my brain that churns up catastrophe scenarios and actually loved it up there, as did our Pumpkin. You could not only see the buildings, gardens, and people beneath us but also the cogs and gear mechanisms that make the floor rotate. Honestly, it was both an amazing view and a stunning piece of engineering.

We were rather disappointed that they took out the sit down restaurant that used to be at the top (and replaced it with an overpriced cafe with rather unimpressive food.) However, Brian managed to find us a delicious place to eat just a few blocks away called Citizen, which had delicious seasonal crepes! Yum.

After lunch we walked back to visit the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum, which was positively magically. I’ve been a fan of Chihuly glass for years, and you may remember that we went to the Tacoma Glass museum a few months ago. Chihuly is originally from the Seattle area, so there’s a plethora of his work around here, and this museum was absolutely worth it both for the interior displays, as well as the stunning gardens studded with Chihuly glass. If I didn’t have a squirmy toddler on my back, then I could easily have spent several hours here just staring at the magical scenes and sculptures throughout this space.

But, toddler patience only lasts so long, and (as usual) grabbing a nap in her pack was just not going to happen in her little mind. So, on we went to wander through the park for a while before grabbing drinks and snacks and wandering back to our car. Fortunately, the weather cleared as the afternoon rolled on and we thoroughly enjoyed our October day in Seattle.

We’ve actually been blessed with several more lovely days this October, and locals have been commenting that we’re having better weather this fall than usual. So, we’ve been doing our best to take advantage of it. There was a day in late October that started as a foggy, misty mess, but as the afternoon moved on it became a wonderfully warm, crisp fall day, so we took a picnic over to Ruston to enjoy the water walk, playground, and views of Mt. Rainier. 

Then, we spent yet another weekend day driving up to visit the Seattle Children’s Museum, which was definitely a highlight for our Pumpkin. We easily spent 3-4 hours exploring the hands-on exhibits which include so many dramatic play spaces (fire engine, post office, grocery store, theater, and more) as well as an journey through different cultural spaces with play “homes” from Africa, South America, Asia, and more. There was also a STEM play space to explore biology, physics, engineering, etc.

If we lived closer to Seattle, then we almost certainly would have gotten a membership and visited frequently… maybe next time.

Shortly before “the big day,” we carved our first pumpkin and watched the movie “The Halloween Tree,” which is based on the novel by Ray Bradbury. The movie explains the origins of several common Halloween themes (witches, monsters, skeletons, & mummies) in a compelling story about a group of kids who set out to “save” their friend from a character that appears to be the grim reaper. While we were a bit unsure whether the themes or imagery in the movie might be too much for our 2-yr-old Pumpkin, we’ve been somewhat surprised that she seems to love it (and has been requesting to watch it again several times a week.) Honestly, it makes a welcome change to the Frozen marathon that we’d been on just prior.

So, by the time Halloween actually arrived she was very excited and eager in a way that she wasn’t last year at just 16 months old. All decked out as Minnie Mouse (a costume highly influenced by her nanny Kathy’s love of all things Disney,) They spent time “reverse trick-or-treating” at a local Rehab facility giving out treats and delighting many of the residents there. Then, we picked her up after nap for her official trick-or-treating time out in a local neighborhood.

Pumpkin was SO excited, and since the weather was relatively mild, she lasted much longer than we anticipated. Last year, about one street and roughly 5 houses was enough. This year she gleefully shouted out “Halloween House” every time she saw decorations, and we toured our way around for over an hour through 5-6 streets in this one neighborhood close to home.

That said, the good news is that she has not yet quite figured out what candy is, so while she enjoyed collecting and playing with it, we’ve gotten to eat most of it ;). I doubt we’ll be so lucky by next year *hahaha.*

Finally, the first weekend in November, we made it up to Vancouver for our planned road trip. The dates for the trip were largely scheduled and inspired by the need to do our in-person interviews to get our Global Entry cards (a pre-screening program that will allow us to use TSA pre-check on all our flights and skip the immigration lines on any international trips.) The only appointments I could find anywhere convenient before our next flights were up at the Canada border in Blaine, WA, so we decided that was a perfect excuse to head over the border for a weekend to explore Vancouver, BC and play.

Brian and I had only visited Vancouver once before for a couple days before and after an event in Squamish in 2012, and … to be honest… it was a mixed experience. That trip included some very… *ahem* colorful stories of drug deals, naked guys in dumpsters, and vomit on the light rail train. However, we also got a brief glimpse of how beautiful the city and area was (even with the somewhat seedy, sketchy experiences), and we were both curious to see if we could create a different experience of Vancouver. 

I’m pleased to say that we did, partially thanks to my favorite travel podcast Extra Pack of Peanuts. They scripted a great collection of places inteerest for our brief trip. It helps that we have “Parallel lives,” as podcast host Travis says since we share a love of craft beer, really good ice cream, and have kids the same age. We stayed in Mount Pleasant as they recommended and were able to walk to various restaurants and breweries as well as a lovely local playground.

We spent several hours exploring Stanley Park, which is similar in size to Central Park, but with far more water views. At one point Pumpkin made it her job to clear all the leaves off the sea wall, and Brian was constantly making sure she didn’t throw herself in.

We found the Native totem poles, which were beautiful. We grabbed lunch at Granville Island Market and discovered the awesome shops, restaurants, and breweries on Granville Island, which was a clear highlight for me. Also, the ice cream FLIGHTS at Rain or Shine Ice Cream… OMG. Why doesn’t everyone offer ice cream Flights?!?

On our final morning, we went back to Gastown (the section where our previous seedy experiences had occurred.) Unsurprisingly, it was much less sketchy and rough on a Monday morning at 10am, than our previous Friday evening experiences from our last trip.

So, we wandered around Gastown to visit the statue of “Gassy Jack,” the verbose founder of the neighborhood who inspired the name “Gastown”, and the Steam Clock, which is yet another engineering wonder… a grandfather clock powered by steam.

Now, we are down to our final weeks in Tacoma before we head back East for the holidays, and honestly, I’ve been heads down focused on drafting and recording all the videos for my upcoming course. So, I’ve spent many days in cafes or even dictating scripts into Evernote while sitting in my car. Nothing beats a beautiful view, heated seats, good music, and NOTHING else to do but what’s in front of me. BTW, the dictation feature of the ipad/iphone versions of Evernote is AWESOME for these kinds of projects.

Finally, on Friday, November 8th, I finished drafting the last script for the five Elements in my course

So, these last two weeks are going to be all about recording the over 50 course videos in preparation for January’s first launch. (Don’t worry… they’re each going to be around 6-15 minutes, so it’s not nearly as overwhelming as it sounds.)

Honestly, this has been a hugely exciting project for me as I’m pulling together and evolving pieces of teaching that I’ve been developing for over a decade. It’s both exciting, engaging, and rewarding to feel all the elements fall into place, and I’m getting very excited about our first course launch coming up this January. I’m sure I’ll be sharing a few more glimpses into the content of the course over the next couple months, but sometimes it’s also fun to share some of the behind-the-scenes of the creation process too.

In just a few days we’ll start our packing process to hop across the country to New England again where we’ll be spending 5 weeks during the holidays visiting with family and friends.

As always, it’s a little sad to say goodbye to our new local friends and these fun places we’ve enjoyed for the past 4 months. But, it will be lovely to get to spend the holidays at “home” in New England. So, our next Course Update will share insights on our adventures “home for the holidays.”

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