Seattle Trip - Family Fun

I know it hasn't been obvious, but the real impetus behind our visit to the Emerald City was to see my family. We stayed, as usual, at my mom's place which is great because it gives us lots of visiting time at the beginning and end of each day.

It's not great in terms of photo opportunities, though. Mostly hanging out in the living room or dining room with little natural light. The big boys always love to play these multi-level puzzle/search games with Grandma on her laptop. This visit, she also dug out from storage a box of wonderful old books - what a treat!

We also always spend time visiting my dad & step-mom, of course.

Typical Seattle weather meant indoor activities with him, too. Movies, toys, ice cream bars...

After lunch, we went to IKEA, where they have a pretty cool play area where you can leave your kids off for a full hour. (Too bad it takes more than an hour to explore that whole store.) I stayed pretty conservative, though - only buying a second set of kids' dishes and some magazine holders. And that was the last time we'll see the 'Donis on a visit to Seattle... They're moving to Seaside, Oregon!!

My brother had to work most of the week, after taking extra time off to be with us in Idaho the previous week, so we didn't see him again until his day off on Friday. First he came over to Mom's place to meet up with us.

Then, because the weather was nice, we went to a park I'd read raves about... It was a bit of a poor decision as I hadn't realized 1) how close to Dan's apartment - and downtown Seattle it was, which meant 2) we got stuck in traffic on the way back south and also 3) it was a nice playground but not allllll that.

Sam made friends with a little boy and they ran around playing pirates the whole time - he was in heaven. There were also twin little girls, one of whom played in the play firetruck with Charlie most of the time. Isaac longed to play basketball when he noticed the short hoop at one end of the court, but we hadn't brought one.

We went from the park over to my favorite aunt's place. She had a whole plan for the boys: make their own pigs in blankets using hot dogs and crescent rolls, make brownies, play & eat. She & my uncle Mike were pretty exhausted from all the work they'd been doing all week (including that day) building a new carport. Mike was still painting when we arrived. I'm so thankful we were able to squeeze in some time to visit!

The next morning we loaded up and headed home. Again the boys did great! Even David didn't complain about so much time sitting in the car. (Maybe that California trip conditioned him?) Anyway, when we arrived at our house it was a little hot, since Mark doesn't turn on the A/C for himself and he'd baked us fresh bread to go with a yummy fresh vegetable soup all waiting on the table for us! Great way to help me forget how hard it is to say goodbye to my hometown.