The Looneys Visit Seattle

It's been forever since I last posted, and I feel ashamed for that. I'm gonna try and do better. But I've decided to post now and I can't think of a better reason than the family's trip to visit me in Seattle. The last four days I've had the privilege of playing host to my parents, middle brother, and his wife on a trip they made here to the Emerald City for my birthday.

I had a blast (I hope they did too). We started off the time on Thursday afternoon with a few hours at the Market. I've been there a number of times, but this was the first time I had spent any length of time there. I was honestly a little shocked at how big it was. I was even more shocked at the strange assortment of items sold there. Fruits, vegetables, flowers, books, toys, magic tricks, art, all manner of small porcelain figurines...basically an open air Fred Meyer (minus the mattresses and garden tillers). My collection of small, glass, kitten collectibles has needed some updating and I'm happy to now know where I can turn to beef up the display. Huge sigh of relief.

Friday was city tour day. It started with a quick trip out to World Vision (I think my mom wanted proof I had a job there), then a tour of Seattle's underground. The underground tour was fascinating...and was made even better by our tour guide. Witty, sarcastic, mildly inappropriate; if it wasn't for the fact that she was either a lesbian or a straight dude, we could have built a beautiful life together. Then there was the duck tour. Ummm....Micheal wanted to do it, and we all went along for the ride. Cheesy is too mild of a word to describe it, but that's all I can come up with at the moment. I'm not sure where they dig up the tour guides, or at what point in a person's life they say to themselves "you know what, I'm gonna throw all sense of shame, self respect, decorum, and hope for the future to the wind and become a duck tour guide." I took the tour, though, and can now at least check it off some sort of list. We also took the obligatory trip to the top of the space needle. It is what it is.

Saturday we took the ferry out to Bainbridge Island. The weather was immaculate, the views from the ferry were gorgeous, and the quaint shops on the island were fun to wander in and out of. We ended up spending more time there than we anticipated, but it was nice to just relax and wander.

Sunday was a relaxing day of doing nothing in particular during the day. That night, my parents and I went to see Cirque du Soleil's "Kooza". The show was stunning. If you live in Seattle, go see it. I'll say it again...go see it. It's less whimsical and imaginary than some of their other shows, but it packs in the acrobatics.

The best part of the weekend, though, was simply getting to spend some time with the family. Absence truly can make the heart grow fonder and this weekend I was struck once again by how much I love them. It's a little funny, but on paper my family shouldn't work. My sister-in-law is a coupon nazi while I spend way more than I should. My middle brother loves sports while I adore musical theatre. My youngest brother is a studied philosopher while I'm addicted to pop culture. My dad is a practical engineer while I'm an eccentric online marketer. My mom is a conservative evangelical who sees things in black and white, and I hold to a more liberal theology comfortable with shades of gray.

We disagree on aspects of theology, politics, culture...you name it. But in the end, for each of these, the areas in which we agree are more important than the areas we disagree. And I think that's why our family actually does work. We try our best to accept our differences while embracing our similarities...knowing that in the end we have what truly matters, each other's love.