Washington Week One.
The day after we got back from our retreat to Snowbird we got in the car and drove to Washington. Olive and I had been talking about this trip all summer and we were so excited. Olive kept telling me she wanted to visit her "grandma that lived far away" or her "grandma that had the dinosaurs" and I just really wanted to go "home" as I had been feeling very homesick lately for Washington. Kc didn't have much time off from work so we planned for him to fly back on Tuesday evening. The drive there went relatively well, I was really proud of the kids especially Elijah who had no clue why we had to be in the car ALL DAY. I had invited KC's sister to come also who drove separately with her kids and her mom. I have this habit when I go to Washington now to plan a full schedule of things I want to do everyday. I didn't explore much growing up because I spent time doing homework, sports, hanging out with friends. All the normal stuff you do in your childhood. So now I love to go and experience all the things that are so unique to the Seattle area that I never did in my youth. Washington is so beautiful and so different than Utah in what it has to offer. I love living in Utah, but I love the gift of getting to go spend some time in the summer in Washington, a place very dear to my heart.
Our first couple days there were very cloudy, which didn't bother me at all coming from hot Utah, but it did force me to change some of my plans. I felt bad that during my vacation the only days that were not hot and sunny were the days KC and his family were there, but maybe they didn't mind. We spent those first couple days exploring Seattle. I thought they would want to visit the major sites since they had never been before. We went to the Science Center because we could get in free with our pass to Thanksgiving Point, and the kids loved it. It's also central to the city and where the Space Needle is located so it's a good place to visit. That evening KC and I went out to dinner at Salty's on Alki beach for our Anniversary. It wasn't for another week, but we weren't going to be together so we took the opportunity to go out. It was a wonderful dinner, the food was amazing. I love seafood so much and I had some clams that were to die for, and throughout our dinner we had a beautiful view of the Seattle skyline right on the water's edge. Afterwards we went out on the docks for a bit and walked around, there were some boys catching crabs from the piers and it was so fun to be out with Kc in a place that I love. It was a wonderful night.
The next day we headed to Pike Place Market and visited my dad at work, both of which are really fun. Pike place is such a landmark for the city and you can go again and again (which I did) and experience something new every time. My Dad's office is so fun because for one my dad is there, and he is always entertaining, and for two because he has an amazing view of the whole city that you can experience from all angles. Later that evening my dad was going out with the scouts to canoe down the slough and pick blackberries, which is something I could never pass up. Erin and her son parker came with me and it was so fun. They wanted to fit in a ride on my mom's buggy before they left also, she had been hooking it up as we went canoeing and I asked if she would keep it hitched after the kids rides for Erin and parker when we got back. It was starting to get dark but my mom was dutifully waiting, which was so nice of her, and I was glad that they could get in a ride before they left because it's so fun. I think Erin and her family and Kc's mom had a good time while they were there and that makes me happy because it's such a special place to me.
The rest of the week were the only days that I didn't really have scheduled for anything and the only days that my kids and I were there without anyone else so we just stayed around the house and enjoyed riding horses, swimming in the hot tub, collecting eggs, jumping on the trampoline, and all the other fun things there are to do around my parents house. My parents seem to have more chickens than ever before and it was fun for Olive because that meant that she could go out several times a day to the coop (which she dutifully did) and there would be an egg there waiting for her. My sister Bethany and her kids arrived Friday night and the next day we went to my Dad's work party at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. The kids got to play in a little bounce house, get their face painted, get their caricatures drawn, and earn to prizes. After the party we spent the rest of the afternoon looking at animals. Elijah loved the zoo so much and I thought he might take a nap in the stroller but there was no way that was happening with so many exciting animals around. We spent the whole day there and saw pretty much all the animals at the zoo and when I got to the car after hauling around my two little kids all day I was sweaty, hot, and tired and I guess the kids were too because both were asleep before we left the parking lot. That evening I went out to sushi (also a must in Washington) with my brother and sister and their spouses and then we came home and played games and laughed and laughed and my dad started to give us lessons about how to wear a kayak skirt for our adventure on Monday.
And that pretty much sums up my first week in Washington.
It was a good one.
The next day we headed to Pike Place Market and visited my dad at work, both of which are really fun. Pike place is such a landmark for the city and you can go again and again (which I did) and experience something new every time. My Dad's office is so fun because for one my dad is there, and he is always entertaining, and for two because he has an amazing view of the whole city that you can experience from all angles. Later that evening my dad was going out with the scouts to canoe down the slough and pick blackberries, which is something I could never pass up. Erin and her son parker came with me and it was so fun. They wanted to fit in a ride on my mom's buggy before they left also, she had been hooking it up as we went canoeing and I asked if she would keep it hitched after the kids rides for Erin and parker when we got back. It was starting to get dark but my mom was dutifully waiting, which was so nice of her, and I was glad that they could get in a ride before they left because it's so fun. I think Erin and her family and Kc's mom had a good time while they were there and that makes me happy because it's such a special place to me.
The rest of the week were the only days that I didn't really have scheduled for anything and the only days that my kids and I were there without anyone else so we just stayed around the house and enjoyed riding horses, swimming in the hot tub, collecting eggs, jumping on the trampoline, and all the other fun things there are to do around my parents house. My parents seem to have more chickens than ever before and it was fun for Olive because that meant that she could go out several times a day to the coop (which she dutifully did) and there would be an egg there waiting for her. My sister Bethany and her kids arrived Friday night and the next day we went to my Dad's work party at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. The kids got to play in a little bounce house, get their face painted, get their caricatures drawn, and earn to prizes. After the party we spent the rest of the afternoon looking at animals. Elijah loved the zoo so much and I thought he might take a nap in the stroller but there was no way that was happening with so many exciting animals around. We spent the whole day there and saw pretty much all the animals at the zoo and when I got to the car after hauling around my two little kids all day I was sweaty, hot, and tired and I guess the kids were too because both were asleep before we left the parking lot. That evening I went out to sushi (also a must in Washington) with my brother and sister and their spouses and then we came home and played games and laughed and laughed and my dad started to give us lessons about how to wear a kayak skirt for our adventure on Monday.
And that pretty much sums up my first week in Washington.
It was a good one.
In morning I was packing up the car and Olive came out when she woke up and said "Do we get to go to Grandma's now?" When I said yes she went in the house and came out and said "I have my back pack, now we can go!" I had to snap a picture of her on the front porch after she said that because it was so cute and I wanted to remember how excited she had been.
Elijah's relationship to the horses on the trip was hilarious. He was OBSESSED with them and wanted to be near them every second... just not too near them. He was always trying to escape the house to run out into the pasture and would sign horse over and over again until you took him out there, but once you put him ON the horse, game over. I made him get on a few times anyways because fear is something you conquer. He definitely got better as the trip went on, but was never fully comfortable on one, unlike Olive who would beg me to let the horses gallop away while she was riding bareback. Wild women. Takes after her grandma I guess.
See what I mean. Panic.
If Elijah turned up missing this is the second place I would look. By the chickens.
Science Center.
Anniversary dinner evening.
This was my view as I was walking down the stairs. Olive carefully bringing back 4 eggs. I was impressed she didn't break any!
Pike Place Round 1.
On the Slough.
Always.
My mom has the most beautiful Omish made buggy.
Finally heated up so we could go to my friend's house on Cottage lake and swim and canoe around the lake. We went with my sister in law and their kids and we had lots of fun.
Flamingos are so cool.
Olive asked me to get a dinosaur face too, and I have to admit I loved matching her as much as she loved that I had a dino on my face. She kept asking me throughout the whole day if it was still there.
Here is Elijah trying to exercise lots of restraint after she had tried to grab several birds that had flown away.
Adorable little faces I want to freeze in time.
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