Trip Report

Day 1:
Driving. We left at 5am, and as much as I'm not a morning person, I have to admit that is the way to do a 12 hour drive! R and I were the only ones to go back to sleep (and I only slept because I took Dramamine, I cannot sleep in the car!). I dossed on and off until we stopped for gas in Grants Pass, and the trip felt so much quicker because of it! N and M didn't go back to sleep, but they were still waking up and pretty quiet for the first couple hours. N actually didn't go back to sleep until we were in WA, and then it was only a 20 minute nap, not good for him!
We managed to only make 3 stops on the way up, once for gas, once at a rest stop where we grabbed a quick picnic lunch from the cooler, and one more time for gas. We would have made it in 11 hours but we hit traffic when we were SO CLOSE.
All in all, it was a very easy drive, and the kids did really well.
We got in right at 5pm and had a yummy dinner and visited with some of Matthew's family before bed.

Day 2:
Matthew's cousin who's a fire fighter was working that day so we headed in to visit the station. We tried to visit him when we were up there 2 years ago and he got a call right as we were getting there, but he told us this station was much slower and we should have better luck. When we were just about there we got a text that he had gotten a call, but luckily it got canceled and we ended up spending almost 2 hours there checking everything out. I'm not sure who had more fun, the kids or Matthew. :)
I took way too many pictures while we were there, here are my favorites. :)

I'm not sure what was so funny, but I love her face in this picture :)

The boots were bigger than N's legs, but he had to have a turn too. :)

After the fire station we went over to the mall and had lunch at Red Robbin and then did a little bit of shopping. :) Then we headed back to the house and hung out for the rest of the afternoon/evening.

N thought it was so funny to dunk his head in the hot tub, and he made this face every time he did it.

My boys had so much fun in this little pool!

Matthew's cousin and her new husband got back from their honeymoon that night, so we got to visit with them a little too.

Day 3:
I found out about a month before our trip that American Girl was opening a store north of Seattle right before we were going to be there, so I just HAD to take M. :) We drove up there in the morning and M and I checked out the store and she did a little shopping.

M with Molly (my old doll) and Emily in front of their display at the store

Done shopping

After that we met back up with Matthew and the boys and went to the Macaroni Grill for lunch. Oh my goodness that place was GOOD!! I've never been there before, but I'd heard friends talk about it before, and I'm so glad we tried it!
After lunch we did some more back to school shopping and then headed back to the house.

I had to play with this great light for a minute. :)

The kids playing pickle ball

N thought maybe he should swim again and drug the pool out of the garage :)

Day 4:

Matthew took the older kids on a hike with some of his family and N and I hung out at the house in the morning. After lunch we headed into Seattle and walked around for a bit. We went through Pike Place Market and then headed over the the Mariners stadium.

M waiting in line with Gloria to see how fast she could pitch

Pitching to a Yankee

The kidlets at the Mariners game. We were all in our Giants gear, but Matthew got the kids each a hat. We decided it wouldn't be a problem unless both teams made it to the world series, and that's not likely to happen anytime soon. :)

Day 5:
We went with Matthew's cousin and met some of her friends at the zoo. The kids had fun looking at all the animals they had.

Trying to get the tiger to wake up (lifting his head was the most we got)

After the zoo we went back to the house and hung out some more. By that point we were all pretty tired of going places every day. lol Matthew's mom and Zack got in that night, so there was lots more visiting and hanging out.

Day 6:
This was party set-up day. I can't remember what all we did other than set things up, play, and hang out with everyone.

Matthew playing baseball with R in the yard

Day 7:
The wedding reception was in the afternoon, so in the morning we did all the last minute things to get ready, and then there was more hanging out and visiting, and lots of eating. :)

Day 8:
More driving. It felt like much more. We didn't leave until 8, I didn't sleep, and we stopped at least 6 times if not more. It felt like it took forever to get home! We didn't hit any traffic on the way home, but with all the extra stops it actually took a little longer.
We got home a little after 8 and less than 24 hours later I was grocery shopping and running around to soccer practices. Welcome home I guess?


We had a great time and were totally spoiled! I don't think I fixed a meal for anyone the whole week, and it was so much fun to hang out with family that we don't get to see very often!