Every year Sammy and I like to take a trip to Spokane. We typically do this in late summer-early fall because my favorite musician, Shakey Graves, always plays at The Knitting Factory in Spokane sometime during that time period. So we make a trip out to Spokane to see Shakey Graves, hang out in the city, etc.
This year, we wanted to take the kids with us because we always tell them how awesome Spokane is and we wanted to finally share that experience with them. I kept waiting for the Shakey tour dates to come out, but it was taking forever for him to release his tour dates. So we went ahead and booked our trip for Spokane not knowing.
Wouldn't you know it, Shakey was to play in Spokane on the 10th, and we would be heading home on the 8th, UGH!! We thought about changing around our trip so that we could go, but ultimately decided it was going to be too much of a hassle and too much money.
I wish we would have just done it though. Seeing Shakey with the kids again would have been amazing. I'm sad to have missed it this year. Hopefully next year. Though Anthony is a senior this year and we don't know what next summer will hold for him....so I really don't know. And I really don't want to talk about it yet either.
Anyway, we had a great trip regardless of not seeing Shakey.
We left early Sunday morning and stopped at the huge chocolate shop/fruit stand place Sammy and I always stop at. The kids marveled at the rows and stands of chocolate and candy. The treats they picked out were gone within the hour, lol. We got some other goodies too....some peaches, apples, and a bottle of raspberry balsamic vinegar.
One of our goals for once we reached Spokane was to get Anthony fitted with a suit. He is on the Homecoming Court this fall for homecoming (eekkk!!!), and lacked a true fitted suit. So before checking into our hotel, we stopped at Men's Warehouse where Sam worked on getting him fitted while I took Molly and Tim to the mall across the way to start some school clothing shopping.
We were all excited to check into the hotel. Sammy and I have stayed at The Montvale Hotel every time we've come to Spokane, except for once. We got two rooms....the kids in one, Sammy and I in the other. Timothy especially loved that they had a hot chocolate, cider, coffee, and tea station out in the center lounge area. We wasted no time unpacking, getting a drink, and lounging!
For dinner that night, we took the kids to Nudo Ramen House, just a short walk away from the hotel. Sam and I also like to come here each visit because they have a wide variety of traditional ramen options. And the art work on the walls is pretty cool.
Monday morning, once we were all ready, we took the walk to People's Waffle House. BEST waffles ever! I got the strawberry waffles and it was delicious. Their hot chocolate and mochas are also the bomb. They also have cool artwork on their walls. And the one waitress even remembered Sam and I, which blew my mind!
On the agenda for the day, having fun along Spokane's Riverfront Park! I was SO excited to share this experience with the kids. First we rode the Indoor Carrousel a few times. This carrousel was built in 1909 and it's beautiful. Who doesn't love to ride a carrousel? I could have stayed on it all day.
After the carrousel, we went skating and scootering at the Numerica Skate Ribbon Park! I haven't been skating in I can't even remember how long, but it took me no time at all to remember. The kids have never skated! It wasn't Anthony's jam, which was ok, at least he gave it a go. But Molly loved it, and even though Timothy struggled, he loved it too. We seriously had so much fun. The place had music blasting, and we just skated and skated. Sam scootered and did a dang good job too! We had the whole skate rink to ourselves which made the experience even better. Timothy and I probably could have stayed there all day, but after about an hour, we were getting pretty hot, so it was time to move on.
After skating, we thought it a good time to take the kids on Spokane's Riverfront Numerica SkyRide. This would give us all a chance to rest and cool down. They loved it! Each time Sam and I come to Spokane, we ride the carrousel and the skyride (skating was something new for us, but we'll definitely do it every time in the future now!). I love taking the kids on things and doing things with them that Sam and I have already done. Especially if I know they'll love it just as much as we did! Since we always come home and talk about it, they get more excited to experience it themselves. The skyride is just a 20 minute ride down the falls and back, so unfortunately not very long, but still enjoyable. I was happy to see Anthony dig it, since he's usually not a fan of "rides" and often sits them out.
By this time it was about 1pm and we wanted to get out of the heat. We headed to the River Park Square Mall to spend an hour or so walking the shops there. There's not a lot of shops we are interested in in that particular mall, but they do have an amazing local artist shop we always find cool things at. The boys hated every second of it, lol, as boys will, but that's ok. Can't make everyone happy all of the time.
After a bit of shop browsing, we hit up PF Changs for a quick lunch, and then walked back to the hotel for a few hours. We got cleaned up, rested, checked in on the Olympics, and then walked back to the River Park Square Mall AMC Theatre so we could all watch Deadpool & Wolverine!!! We watched it in 3D and loved every second of it. The kids had all been wanting to see it and had been asking us to go for 2 weeks, so we figured why not go while on vacation. It was well worth it and I loved hearing the kids laugh.
Now, the moment I had been waiting for since the last time Sam and I were in Spokane....eating at the Gilded Unicorn!! The Gilded Unicorn is in the basement of the hotel, so pretty convenient. They have THE BEST bacon wrapped dates. Easily, hands down, the best food I have ever put in my mouth. I got the bacon wrapped dates, and then Molly and I split a pock chop, mac & cheese, and bacon braised kale dinner. I REALLY wanted dessert, because their desserts are equally just as delicious, but there was just no more room. So we decided to get dessert from them the following night.
Full bellies, tired bodies, we were all ready for bed!
Tuesday morning Molly insisted we go to Cumbl Cookie. I'd never heard of it, but apparently their cookie selection rotates weekly. We got one of each of their flavors of the week, and they were good, but the regular chocolate chip was by far my favorite.
Our plan for Tuesday was to take the kids to Manito Park, which is a collection of different gardens. Sammy and I love to visit Manito Park each time we are in Spokane. First up was Gaiser Conservatory. My favorite! It's a green house filled with tropical, sub-tropical, and temperate plants from around the world. I could sit in there forever and be happy. I was really excited to share this place with the kids.
Next up, Duncan Gardens! This is a wide open, meticulously manicured, beautiful floral garden. We spent a fair amount of time walking around, and then rested for a while and got some fun photos in the shade of the concrete canopy where Sam and I always take a few photos.
By the time we were done with all the gardens, it was only noon! So we drove back to the hotel, rested a bit, got cleaned up/changed, then took the kids to froyo. Timothy had been asking us, so we thought it the perfect time to fit it into the itinerary.
With the rest of the day wide open, and no other concrete plans, we decided to head to the Spokane Valley Mall, much to the boys' dismay, to wrap up our back to school clothing shopping we had to do. Timothy hung out with Papa and hit up the massage chairs and indoor jump thing, while I took Anthony and Molly to wrap things up. No matter how fast you try to go, shopping at a mall takes hours. I think we got out of there about 5pm. Back at the hotel, we ate leftovers for dinner, but ordered dessert from The Gilded Unicorn. Watched a bit of Olympics, then called it a night!
Wednesday morning we checked out of the hotel and headed to Athol, ID to go to Silverwood Theme Park! We got there 30 minutes before they opened, which was perfect timing. We weren't going to do the water park, just the amusement park side. Now, Anthony really doesn't enjoy rides. Each time we've gone to an amusement park in the past, roller coasters and other high intensity thrill rides are out for him. Which is no big deal. But for whatever reason, he just wasn't feeling it at all this time and didn't go on any rides. So I was upset about that, but it's not like I was going to force him. He just doesn't enjoy amusement parks. His decision. Anyway, the rest of us do! We managed to get on a few rides with minimal waiting the first hour, which was awesome, but after that the lines really got long. And the last roller coaster I went on really messed up my neck and back and gave me a headache. So we split up. Molly went with Sam to hit some rides, and Tim and I rested and got a bite to eat, and then went on a few more rides ourselves. Anthony hung out with Timothy and I and always found a place to sit in the shade and wait.
We were there for a few hours, and then called it a day. I felt bad that Anthony wasn't having fun, it was hot out, and the lines were ridiculously long. Definitely better to go in the "off" season. Whenever that is.
After leaving the amusement park, we checking into our hotel, Triple Play Resort, which has an indoor water park, bowling, go-carts, among other things! Anthony and Molly were pretty pooped out, so they lounged in the room, but Timothy, Sam, and I were ready for more fun! First we hit the zip line. Then we did go-carts. Next, the boys did some laser games inside, then we all did the ropes course (which freaked me out!). We got some ice cream, watched people bowl, then hit up Raptor Reef, the indoor water park! It had a wave pool, a hot tub, and a bunch of slide. We were having so much fun, I hardly got any photos. The water slides were the best part. I got tired, so went back to the room, but Sam and Timothy stayed at the water park for another 45 minutes afterwards, and then even went to the arcade room later that night. I'm glad Timothy got that special time with us and had such a good time. Seeing him happy meant everything to me.
Thursday morning we checked out, loaded up, and headed on home. I didn't want our family vacation to end, but I was definitely anxious to get back home to my dog. It's always hard to leave him, especially for multiple days. But Anthony's friend Rowan was staying at the house, taking care of chores and the animals, and holding down the fort for us, so I knew everything was fine.
Now that our vacation is over and we are back home, I wish I could go back in time and do it all over again. It wasn't perfect, and not everyone was happy all of the time, as it goes in life, but we were together. And that's what mattered. It makes me so sad knowing how quickly time passes. We had this trip planned for months. And I feel like it took forever to finally get here....and then it happened in a blink.
School starts soon. On the 28th. And Anthony is a senior this year. I'm really not ready for all that that means. The planning for the future. The long lists of "lasts" for him. For me. The emotions. I'm really struggling already.
Deep breathes.
I'm deeply grateful for this family trip.
With love,
Mama Hauck
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