Friday the boys went to breakfast with Grandpa Russell, they went to Goldy's.
That afternoon we all went over to the hotel Grandpa and Grandma were staying at. The pool is on the 5th floor! Guy and I hung out in the lounge chairs while Grandma and Nico swam.
After swimming we walked downtown to The Lemon Tree sandwich shop and had an early dinner. The food was very good, just like I remember.
After getting home that night we let Nico open his birthday present. We told him he was going to need it the next day. The Nintendo Switch! This boy saved up $150 to cover half of this, and we paid for the other half for his birthday.
Saturday was party day! We had 17 kids total, and we met at a trampoline park called Jump Time. We had the place almost entirely to ourselves!
Sweaty kids eating pizza
Jason, Liz, Rory, and Lexie
When it was time to open presents, everyone gathered around him in the corner to watch.
Saturday night was pizza night, we watched episodes of a show called Corner Gas, a 90's Canadian comedy series that Grandpa and Grandma introduced us to. Nico loved it, as did we all.
Sunday we had a busy church morning and met up back at the Clubhouse that afternoon and evening.
Saying goodbye.
We said a temporary goodbye as we would see them later that week (read to the end and you'll see why and where!)
Monday was Nico's actual birthday. We bought him a small gift that he could open that day (some pokemon cards), and I asked him what he wanted for dinner that night. He said Pizza Pie Cafe, so that's where we went! At exactly 5:57PM we sang him Happy Birthday (the time he was born). That hasn't ever been a thing we do, but this year it was!
Then we drove home and cut into the cake I made for him earlier that day.
He has been playing the Switch every moment he can. We have been purposefully lax on the rules for screen time because... it's summer, it's a new game system, and, it's summer! We took the Switch downstairs several times to hook it up to the big screen.
On Tuesday was Grandma Camp! They mixed up some meatloaves, went to the Creperie, and went to see The Lion King.
At the creperie. They have gluten free crepes??!
Wednesday was prep day for our trip to Portland for Tom and Emily's wedding! We went grocery shopping, packed, and... played the Switch. Very important.
Then this morning, off we went! We caravanned to Portland because I am leaving from here to Spokane on Saturday while the boys head home. We were prepared with Walkie Talkies so we could always be in touch. Most of our chatter was, "Nico found an Alabama license plate", or, "There's a rest stop in two miles, let's go". At every rest stop, they checked license plates.
We stopped near Portland to see Multnomah Falls. We climbed up to that bridge you see in the picture, and Nico and Guy walked across it. I couldn't bring myself to. I fall over from dizziness when I'm near high things these days, so it was safer for me to stay on the side. They said you could feel the spray from the waterfall.
We arrived to our Airbnb in the evening, and then went to the rehearsal dinner. It was SO good to see Tom and Emily again.
The dinner was at a Chinese buffet and Nico tried some new things. Sushi with imitation krab, and clams! He also tried a crab leg. He said his favorite was the clams.
Tom and Emily!
We cannot wait to see them married tomorrow!
Then we went back at the Airbnb and the boys played Battleship.
Nico had an early release last Friday from school, his last day! He brought home binders and folders full of school stuff.
Saturday morning we packed everything up after breakfast and headed to Yakima where we stayed overnight. We stopped at almost every single rest stop, which is very beneficial for my motion sickness, and also beneficial for the license plate game we played. There are a lot of license plates at rest stops. Final report on how many different license plates we saw will come next week, since we are not quite done with our trip yet!
Guy and Nico also played travel bingo while I drove, and Nico was very content to listen to Parry Gripp on his headphones the entire way. It kept him entertained and happy!
At a View Point right before Pendleton
Playing Bingo at the View Point
We stopped in Pendleton for treats. Candy and coffee.
The license plate game.
On our way into Yakima I had set my phone with GPS to tell me how to get to the hotel. It told me to get off at the Union Gap exit which was peculiar, so we pulled over after out exit to see where it was taking us. It was taking us to the hotel, but, not the one I thought I had booked for us. The one we normally stay at is at the opposite end of Yakima. The one I booked us for was a new hotel just constructed last August, kind of out in the middle of nowhere in Yakima. It was new and modern, and it still had a pool, so we adapted!
We found a gluten free pizza place in Yakima called Abby's Legendary Pizza and we ordered a meat lovers for Nico. We also went to Miner Burger to pick up something for Guy.
Swimming in the pool
The next morning
Our view from our hotel room
Grandma Salisbury's banana bread, bacon, turkey sausage, and yogurt for breakfast. Guy had biscuits and gravy, plus a cinnamon roll and some pancakes.
We arrived in Seattle Sunday morning around 10:30 AM, where Grandma and Grandpa Russell met us at the Woodland Park Zoo!
Giraffe in the background
The Woodland Park Zoo is a lot different than Boise's, look at the size of those trees!
Grandpa is showing Nico how to take a picture with Grandpa's camera.
The small zoo theater showed short films (3-7 minutes long) about various topics.
After the zoo, we went to the playground just outside the zoo for some snacks and to wait for 3pm so we could check into our AirBnb.
Grandma brought snacks and we munched away while we watched Nico on the playground. Watermelon, strawberries, carrots, peanut butter, celery, cheese, and some macaroni salad. Perfectly refreshing.
After we checked into our AirBnb we walked down to Green Lake. Nico rode his scooter.
Green Lake has a path just like the Greenbelt in Boise, but a bit larger and with more people. The path itself surrounds a giant lake (Green Lake).
We came to the Boat House and Nico asked if we could go out onto the water in a paddle boat, so Grandma and him went out on the water. Guy and I found a nice place to sit and chat while they were out on the water.
After their hour was up, we walked over to Spuds for some Fish'n'Chips.
I took Nico down to Zoeyogurt which was just a block away and got him a frozen yogurt.
Walking back to our AirBnb.
Our AirBnb was great, but in the middle of the night at about 11PM there was a fire alarm that started making a single very loud beep every 1 minute. It was running low on batteries and Guy and I went searching for it. With Nico sleeping on the couch right in the living room where the alarm was, Guy and I started looking. And looking. You'd think it would be easy to find a fire alarm, but it turned out to be impossible. The ceiling was made of removable panels, with insulation stuffed above them. The fire alarm was nowhere in sight, so we started moving the panels around, peeking above them to try to find it, all to no avail. We moved Nico from the living room into our bed, and Guy slept on the couch, so that Nico wouldn't be disturbed by the alarm.
Snuggles the next morning (Monday). Beeeeep.
Dance Party! Beeeeep.
Nico trying to escape Grandpa's camera
Gluten free french toast!
After breakfast, we checked out of our AirBnb (Beeeeeeeeep) and drove to Archie McPhee's, a specialty gift shop in Seattle. Unfortunately, they were closed for the holiday (Memorial Day!). We had failed to account for the holiday on our trip. Oops! We decided from there to head to Mill Creek to the University Bookstore. There was a Memorial Day Parade so parking was scarce, but we found a spot at the post office (closed on holidays!) and we walked over. We caught the last part of the parade.
After visiting the University Bookstore, we went to the Central Market (in that same shopping center). Central Market is like Whole Foods... but with more! If you can imagine. They had everything we needed to stock up on before heading back to Arlington. Nico drove with the Grandparents Russell and Guy and I drove together. Once in Arlington, we decided to drive by our old house. It is painted yellow now, and being lived in!
Home sweet home.
To everyone's delight, we watched a lot of Count Arthur Strong while we were there.
A visit to Haller Park that evening. Baby Ospreys were in their nest.
Haller Park has a new snack shack whose first day open was that very day we were there. We told Nico we would come back in the next few days to play on the splash pad and maybe get something at the shack. It was too late in the day to do it then, and Nico didn't have his swimsuit. (Consequently, we heard a few days later that this new snack shack had already been broken into! Still up and running though!)
The next day (Tuesday), we laid low in the morning and then went to visit our friends Rusty and Ellen in the afternoon. It was a good visit. Upon returning home, La Hacienda was on the menu. Nico ordered Carne Asada and the Super Nachos.
BEFORE
AFTER
Reading and snuggles before bed
Wednesday was another adventure day. We drove to Everett to the Imagine Children's Museum. After getting inside I realized why they call it the Imagine Museum - it's basically a bunch of imaginary play stations where kids can do a variety of jobs and be a variety of people. Bus driver, vet, singer, airplane pilot, airplane passenger. It was amazing. And Nico couldn't get enough of it. He went from activity to activity with urgency.
He spent a lot of time at the trains. The train setup they had was huge!
Being a vet.
Taking the owl's temperature
Watching glass blowers after leaving Imagine Museum. I headed back to Arlington to get some work done while the crew went to see the Schack Art Center down the street. That's where they saw the glass blowers.
After the museum, it was time for Korean BBQ at Pyeong Chang's in Mount Vernon.
Nico learned how to use chopsticks.
Nico: I can't eat another bite!
Also Nico:
We went back to the splash pad that afternoon.
Eating breakfast this morning
This morning we drove down to Seattle to go to Archie McPhee's before heading to Yakima for the night. Grandma and Grandpa came with us in their own car. Nico got a Narwhal stuffed animal and a bottle of nuts that actually has a snake in it that pops out at you.
After Archie McPhee's we went to Bol Pho Bistro in Seattle.
"I really like these noodles, I don't know why"
From there we said goodbye to the Grandparents Russell and started our trip to Yakima. We stopped first in Issaquah to go to Boehm's Chocolate shop to get some chocolate for us and Jeff and Allicia.
Right before Yakima we stopped at a view point. Nico opted to stay in the car. It was delightfully warm, and a beautiful view!
After checking into our hotel in Yakima (we opted for the new hotel, on purpose this time!), Guy went and picked up another pizza for Nico and a Miner Burger. After dinner, he went swimming, and now we're all back in the room relaxing!
When you need a charging station but there's none over by the couch.
All these pictures and video clips was a group effort, contributed to by myself, Grandma, Grandpa, and Guy! It was an amazing week, we'll see them again when they visit in July for Nico's birthday!
I hope I didn't forget anything!! Now for the video... enjoy! (Please excuse the "Title Text Here" shot.. ha ha)
