Mid-Winter Break

We had three days off for our mid-winter break this year, and since we will be gone for Spring Break, my parents decided to take advantage of this time off school for us and paid us a visit. I knew the weather wouldn't be ideal since it's February, but we still went on some really fun adventures.

They arrived Friday about the time school was out so it was a nice evening and the girls were happy to have them at our house and during their stay lots of games were played and lots of stories read.

Saturday our first adventure was going to Issaquah to see troll #1 (I decided this trip for them would be a troll finding trip!). Paige ended up not feeling the greatest so she stayed home with Nate.

It is a short walk from the community center and my parents were pretty impressed with the craftmanship.

We made a quick stop to go the park before heading home for lunch and a nap for McCall. Paige and Grandma went shopping in the afternoon for a few things, then dinner, and bedtime.

Mike and Aaron also came for the long the weekend and so we spent quite a bit of time with everyone on Sunday. Paige happened to give her very first talk in sacrament meeting while everyone was here. She did such an incredible job. I was so nervous for her since I knew she was nervous but then once she got up there, she was confident, shared an incredible message and even included a challenge and then bore such a sweet testimony. I was filled with such love for her and for my Father in Heaven for sending me such an incredible daughter. She got so many compliments afterwards and she was beaming and loved the kind words and mostly that she was done. I got a text from someone in the ward and she said, "Tell Paige thank you for such a beautiful talk on hope. I was so impressed by her maturity at age 11, her thoughtful, articulate, and sincere delivery.... An impressive young woman! She did a great job and shared a beautiful message!" She is quite the young lady and I'm grateful that I get to be her mom. We had a big family dinner and Nate and I made a big batch of homemade donuts to end the great day.

Monday we spent the day on Vashon Island. We started off with a ferry ride.

Then we made it to Point Robinson Park about lunch time and since it was raining, we had our picnic in the car. Then we went and saw troll #2 for our trip. I think this one is my favorite. I love the detail in this one so much!

Then we walked down to the water and saw the lighthouse.

When we were down by the water, we got to see two river otters swim by. They were so close to the shore and we followed them and they both caught a fish and then got on land to enjoy their lunch. We got within a few feet of them and just watched. It was a pretty cool experience! (In this picture you can see them in the background right on the shoreline.)

Then the sun decided to show up for our ferry ride home.

Tuesday was our Seattle day. Our first stop was the National Nordic Museum to see troll #3.

Nate being a rockstar and carrying all three girls amongst the giggles to the troll. :)

Then I got free tickets to the Seattle Aquarium through the library. Getting a parking spot was a little crazy with all the construction happening down there right now, but we loved the aquarium and spent 2-3 hours there exploring and seeing all the exhibits.

Then we went to Lincoln Park in West Seattle in search of troll #4. Location wise, this one is my favorite. The others are a very short walk to the troll and this one you have to walk a little farther, through forest and trails to get down the water to get to the troll.

This was my first time going to Lincoln Park and the view of the Sound was stunning. We spent some time climbing on the driftwood, finding rocks and shells, and even saw 3 sea lions pop their heads up multiple times near us. 

Then we found troll #4. The setting of this was is pretty incredible with the hill side in the background and the view of the Sound. 

Wednesday the plan was to go to Bainbridge Island and do some exploring and find troll #5, but we will have to save this adventure for another time. It was pretty rainy on Wednesday and since we had a long drive the next day, Grandma and Paige were ready for a day to stay home, do laundry and shopping, and play games and relax for the day.

Thursday we got Baylor to school and then Paige, McCall, and I had a long day of driving in the car with Grandma and Poppy to get to Boise for Charlotte's state dance competition. They both did great in the car and we made great time and Paige especially was so excited to spend the weekend with cousins especially Juliette. They were connected immediately and spent the evening playing games, doing nails, and stayed up late visiting.

Friday we spent most of the day watching dance. This was my first time watching Charlotte dance and I was so happy that I got to experience that. I love how confident and graceful and incredible she is when she dances. The first dance almost brought me to tears because I was so happy to be able to watch her perform. I did end up crying in one of their more lyrical dances. They ended up getting second place which was disappointing to them, but they beat out lots of others teams and did such an incredible job and I loved it so much. Paige also loved it especially since doing gymnastics this year so she was impressed with the technique and the the tricks. She kept busy drawing with Juliette. McCall did amazing too for having not much space to move around and kept entertained by watching it all. 

Baylor and Nate were left at home and had some good one on one time and spent some time with Nona and Pops. Paige left a little box for Baylor to open each day that we were gone which was super sweet. We missed them so much!

Friday night shenanigans!

It was a such a great visit with Grandma and Poppy and with Derek and Amy and their girls. They are coming out to Washington in March and we are SUPER excited about that.

We got to ride an airplane home and McCall did great and fell asleep as soon as we landed in Seattle.... oh well, but really she did great. Paige got pretty bad motion sickness and didn't like the plane ride at all. She is always saying that she would rather fly to Idaho instead of the long drive but after that experience she says she would rather drive.

We were happy to reunite with Nate and Baylor!

It was a great week with lots of fun adventures and memories made!