Our Ferry Adventure

Two weeks ago we took the ferry over to the peninsula to see my Aunt Barbara and Uncle John, along with a couple of my cousins who were visiting from Utah.  But because life is never dull I have to tell you about our experience trying to get on the ferry.  We missed the ferry.  We have never missed the ferry before.  Ever.  Unfortunately we left later than planned (thanks to all the boys in my life) but Randy was driving fast so we made it into Seattle with a few minutes to spare. As soon as we got off the freeway our progress came to a standstill as we were instantly surrounded by hundreds of Seahawk fans heading to the football game.  It was so frustrating!  I didn't know there was a game and figured arriving just in time to hop on the ferry the way we always do would be a good plan.  Well, it wasn't!  After anxiously waiting for lights to turn green, crowds of people to cross the streets, and cars to pull into various parking garages, we arrived at the ferry terminal just as it pulled away from the pier.  It was agony!  The next ferry wasn't scheduled to depart for another 50 minutes so our quick drive out to Sequim suddenly felt like an all-day road trip.  Ugh. 
I couldn't take sitting in the van with all the grumpy boys so I took Henry for a walk in his stroller.  Eventually all the boys joined me and they passed the time by walking around and racing each other in the empty parking lanes.  Finally it was almost time to drive onto the ferry so I quickly loaded Henry up, yelled for the boys to get in the van and got ready to pull onto the ferry.  By this time we were boxed in, surrounded by cars waiting to get on the ferry.  I realized Marcus wasn't in the van and was nowhere to be seen so I called his cell and yelled at him to run fast because we were getting on the ferry.  And then the line of cars in front of us quickly started driving forward.  I had no other choice but to drive forward too and looked into my rear view mirror to see Marcus sprinting behind us trying to catch up.  Trust me, as a mom there can't be a worse feeling than driving away from your child as you see them running to catch up to you.  Every instinct told me to stop but there's no stopping when you're in a line of moving cars so I kept going.  This whole thing took place in about a minute or less but as I was driving away from my firstborn child, Parker was sobbing saying, "You can't leave Marcus!  You are the meanest mom ever!  Poor Marcus!" Ethan was yelling at Marcus to run faster, Landon was probably yelling too, Henry was crying, and Randy was so mad at me I won't tell you what he was saying :)  Let's just say he didn't agree with my choice of action.
I was trying to drive, yelling at everyone to leave me alone because I knew what I was doing, and calling Marcus all at the same time.  As soon as I parked the van, I jumped out, grabbed my ticket to get me and Marcus on the ferry, and started looking for my son I had just left behind.  I called him and he calmly said, "Mom, I'm on the ferry and I'm saving you a seat on the 2nd floor."  Then he hung up.  No big deal.  FYI, you can drive onto the ferry or walk on, but if you walk on you need a ticket and you walk on in a separate and safe area, NOT where the cars drive on.  Marcus was sprinting onto the boat when the workers stopped him.  He pointed to the van and told them he was trying to catch up with his family.  The workers didn't ask for a ticket (which he didn't have) and just sent him on with the other pedestrians.  Basically everyone was upset, stressed, or crying except for Marcus.  It was hilarious! Marcus said, "That totally sounds like an episode of The Middle!"  If you haven't seen that show you should really watch it.  It's hilarious and kind of like watching a show about my own life sometimes.

We got out to Aunt Barbara's house an hour later and had a late lunch made even later to our missed ferry episode, but had a good time anyway.  It's so fun to be with family and even better to be with family who loves Washington the way we do.  The boys watched the football game, ate food, played with the dogs, played with the Oculas Rift (a virtual reality toy), and even got crafty and painted rocks.  All while I talked with my Aunt and cousins.  It was great!

Watching people play with this is very entertaining.  They look so funny!

Marcus made himself right at home

After a few hours we headed for home and made it in plenty of time to catch the returning ferry.  This was my first time being on the ferry as the sun set so the views of the city were beautiful and totally worth it!

The ferry boat identical to ours, heading out to the peninsula. 

The only boys who would pose for a picture.  Clearly Henry wanted nothing to do with it.