Seattle

We went to Seattle last weekend to see my brother Brian and his family.  We also went to see Weston's grandpa and grandma.  His grandpa has been in the hospital for a month and a half.  He had a brain aneurism and had to get brain surgery.  So sad.  They say that he is recovering.  I hope that he continues to get better so that he can get back home.  He really does not like being in the hospital and he really does not like his feeding tube.

The last couple of hours driving there were gorgeous!  It was so nice to be amongst trees and greenery once again and OUT OF THE DESERT!

Crossing the bridge from Bellevue to Seattle:

Mt. Ranier:

The kids were in total awe of all the tunnels.  Every time we went through one they all got all giddy.

Yay!  9 1/2  hours after leaving our house (we had one 1/2 hour stop along the way for lunch), we pulled up to Brian and Marissa's house.  What a cute welcoming crew:

And the yummy smell of burgers on the barbie compliments of Bri-Guy.

Zoe was soooo in love with her little cousin Tillie.

We stayed up late playing Settlers of Catan with an add-on, which was totally fun.  The kids were in love with the upstairs bonus room that my dad finished for Brian and Marissa last year.  And also their Wii.

Saturday we went on a 5-mile bike ride to and around a lake.   Zoe was not too happy about riding in the trailer, but she got over it.

Especially since she got to sit next to "Baby".

Jiles didn't complain once about his sit, which seemed rather uncomfortable to me.  That's Jiles for you: content as ever.

Brian has some cool old bikes.

Tills and The Brain:

That little girl has so much personality!  She is really pretty funny for a 10-month-old.

We found ourselves in the middle of the walk for epilepsy.

I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about riding on those busy city streets with my country kids.  Seattle is not the smallest city in the world.  But they did great, and we survived.

After biking we took the bikes back to their house and packed a picnic.  

Then we headed out to a park that overlooks the water and downtown Seattle.

There was a total ring around the sun for the rest of the day.  What in the world causes that? 

The park was an old gas factory.  The kids spent forever running up and down hills.  They tried flying a kite, but without much luck, so they threw the frisbee instead.

Tillie is so close to walking.

A little play area where I thought that we had lost Jiles forever becuase I couldn't find him anywhere.  That was scary.  

Then down passed the famous Pike's Place Market...

...and onto a ferry across the Sound to Bainbridge Island.  The kids were sooo excited to go on this.  They asked about 20 times throughout Friday and Saturday about when we were going to go on it.  It was a fun ride.  I wish that I had taken a picture of the ferry.  

Hanging out inside the ferry on our ride:

What a cute little place that Bainbridge Island is.

We got some yummy ice cream.  I got a scoop of chocolate peanut butter and a scoop of peppermint.  They were super yummy together.  Jiles choked on part of a cone.  He was having a rough day.

We were grateful that Brian and Marissa had such a sweet and roomy stroller.

Did I mention that Zoe loves Tillie?  Well she does.

And Jiles does, too.

Random glasses on the ground:

A cute husband:

Big brother shoulder ride:

And, oh my goodness, isn't she cute?

The ride back:

It would've been cool to go on that ferris wheel, but it was like $12/ person.

Downtown Seattle on the water is cool, and fishy.

On Sunday we went to the hospital to see Grandma and Grandpa.  It was good to be with them.  

Grandma has been at the hospital every single day since Grandpa has been there.  That's like 40 or 50 days in a row, without fail.  She is an amazing woman.  Weston's Uncle Gary and Aunt Jeannie and their 5 youngest also came, so it was fun to see them, too.

Zoe was totally tuckered by Sunday evening, and fell asleep with little Tim, while Brian, Marissa, Weston and I played some more Settlers.

Monday morning it was time to pack up and head back home.  But first a delicious breakfast by Marissa:

And a half-way (and only) stop in Richland to see my good old roommate Ranie and her cute kiddies, including the newest, little Jesse:

Zoe loved him, too.  She pretty much adores babies.

Kate and her now pen pal buddy, Gracie Belle:

Miss Ranie and me (hello, blurry picture):

Cute:

Quick line-up before getting back in the car for 5 more hours:

What a great trip, to be sure!