Open Port Market - Seattle, WA

Downtown Seattle right near the ocean is the Open Market. Cobblestone streets, restaurants, sidewalk musicians and entertainers, smells of food cooking and smells of fish. You can get whiplash just walking and trying to see everything.

View right from the Open Market.


Inside an actual Chocolatier Store. The difference - chocolate made by a chocolatier has 60% or higher cocoa content than chocolate made by a candy store. This store was like stepping into a storybook. My friend Aly.

In the Open Market with a Fish Monger. They were actually tossing this fish over the heads of the people watching and buying fish. Just like I've seen on TV.

Did you know Starbuck originated in Seattle? I sure didn't so I HAD to go inside and take a look around. Very quaint and cozy. Smelled just like a Starbucks! : }

The outside of the original Starbucks coffe shop. These guys were singing and dancing for money. They were really pretty good.

Outside the Market - Fruit and vegtable stand. Everything looked soooo good. I wish I could have bought some.

Inside the Market - hundreds of people doing their Saturday morning shopping. Fun, fun, fun!

The flower stands had the most vibrant colors that attracted the eyes of everyone. For $5 you could get a bunch of flowers that you could hardly hold in your arms. Wow!

Whale Watching off Victoria Island, BC

This small island had many, many seals and eagles on it. Binoculars provided us with a much better view of them.


Very windy and kind of cold out on the water. Great fun though!


This Orca got pretty close to the boat. One, in fact, actually swam under our boat. Exciting! Dad has awesome pics of the whales coming out of the water. They each have a white marking on their backs, behind the dorsal fin. These markings are like our finger prints and this is how the scientist tell them apart.

OK, this is a dorsal fin of an Orca whale [Killer whale]. They are about 6ft. tall and the whales can bend them as desired. I think the fin helps guide them in the direction they want to go.

Passed a Light House on our way. Note the huge cruise liner in the background. They're like a small city within themselves!

On our way out to sea. Gorgeous day for whale watching.

Getting ready to depart from the docks to go whale watching with 5 Star Whales Co. We went through the Strait of Victoria Port Angeles.

Our Victoria Island, CanadaTrip - 6/09

This is the House of Parliament on Victoria Island, B.C. It's one of the main attraction for tourists.

This is the British Columbia embelm of honour.

Beautiful stained glass windows inside the House.

The well-known Empress Hotel where anyone who's anybody stays. We didn't! haha But we did walk through it and "everything" was ridiculously expensive.

Dad walking around the front of the Hotel "just looking". Very Impressive! Look at the trees. The trunk grows up but the branches grow down...very strange looking.

This is the cruise liner we traveled on to get to Victoria Island from Seattle, WA. It took us 3 1/2 hours.

The view from the dock when we landed on the Island. It was not at all what I expected. Victoria Island was a "city". In fact, it is the capital city of British Columbia.

I thought this was very English looking...the horse-drawn carriage moving slowly in front of the House of Parliment.

The Empress Hotel from the docks. Over a hundred years old. Look at the ivy growing over the front of the Hotel.

Robinson's visit Omaha 5-09

Here we are back at the Omaha Zoo with Tara, Tim & Emma Mae on their recent visit. This is the Cat Complex. We went in the afternoon during nap time for the animals. They were all pretty laid back. This white tiger was magnificent, although sleeping. Huge!

I couldn't resist taking this pic of Emma's hair. Unbelievable....like little Miss Shirley Temple!

A Grizzly in Bear Country....sleeping too. Get a load of his claws.

WOW, look at this buff guy! Obviously a young one at that.

A young Chimpanzee playing around. : }

This guy was pretty scary being so massive. The gorilla's are outside and we are inside [opposite the norm at a zoo]. Emma got pretty close and they just stared at one another with only the "thick" glass between them. She was very curious and didn't seem afraid.

This elderly Baboon was walking very slowly and close to the glass. I could see that he was losing his back hair.

Here he is snoozing. Take a look at that face....WOW.

Emma wanting to get an up close and personal look at the Peacocks that were almost as tall as she is. Dad kept close reigns on her.

Family pic outside the Desert Dome.

Emma, looks what's behind you!! Taking a break sitting on the window sill in the Aquarium. I think he wants some of your snacks.

This purple "thing" is a Rock Fish. Very poisonous if stepped on. Dad and I know about this guy through our diving experiences. Very hard to see in the ocean.

Oh, this is a Dragon Sea-Horse. He hooks himself onto a plant and you "really" have to look hard to find him.

Look at all the Jelly Fish. This tank was awesome. Jelly Fish of all sizes. We just stood there mesmerized.

The Butter Fly House. This one is pretty big.

Now, would you have known these are Malayan Tapirs? I had to read the post about them.

Dad, Tara and Emma just coming out of the Lied Jungle where we saw monkeys, miniature Hippo's, birds, waterfalls, rope bridges, cave tunnels, HUGE fish and more.

OK, back at home working on the computer. Tara found an awesome website for interactive play/learning for Emma at http://www.sesamestreet.com/ Emma loves it and is learning how to use the laptop.

Ohhhhh a grand daughter after my own heart. Emma found my shoes hahaha and of course saw a pair she just had to try on.

Tara brought out a surprise for Emma, a Tutu, that she would have nothing to do with.....

so dad tried it on and still she wouldn't take it. What a great dad. Tim will be the kind of dad who will allow his daughter to try her skills at painting his nails : }

Even Ms. Annie tried it on for her and still no go

Eventually, she did try on the matching head band and loved it. Here she is eating lunch with it on. Adorable!