Derek and Amy and their girls decided to come to Washington for their spring break! We have been looking forward to this all year and it was such a fun week. We went on lots of adventures and enjoyed every moment. So many fun memories were made, and it may take me all week to catch up on sleep but it was worth every minute of lost sleep.
Friday evening, they arrived and the girls were all very excited for the sleepover in their room. The girls stayed up late every night, giggling and visiting in their room. On the first night Nate and I stayed up late with Derek, Amy, and Charlotte visiting and laughing a lot. They helped me with a poster and streamers and wrapping present for Paige's birthday. Derek was teaching me how to properly punch and we were all laughing so hard and it was a great way to start off our visit.
Saturday was all about the birthday girl! I can't believe I have a teenager! Paige is such a fun teenager, and I have loved watching her blossom and become so much more confident in herself this past year. She is sweet and empathetic but has a teasing side and comedic timing in comments like her dad. She is such a good helper and an amazing big sister. She is excited to now be able to sit in the front seat and I love how much more she likes to chat and visit with me now that she is in the front. She has such a sweet testimony of the gospel. I love you Paige and happy birthday!
We got the house ready for a friend party that Paige planned for. The adults had a lot of fun with the balloons and watched March Madness while the party was going on. Playing oner with your feet is pretty entertaining.
It was fun to see all of Paige's friends and even meet a few that I haven't met before. They had fun painting, having pizza for lunch, playing some games, and having homemade donuts for dessert. Paige's friend spoiled her with lots of fun self-care items and she got some really sweet cards from her friends. You can tell she has some amazing friendships and some really sweet friends.
There was a stake primary activity for ages 8-11 so Baylor and Emily were there and had so much fun while the birthday party was going on. They got back in time to enjoy some of the donuts.
Once Paige's friend party was done and before dinner, the weather was pretty nice, and I wasn't sure how our weather would be for the week so I wanted to take advantage and so most of us went and walked around Clark Lake. Derek and Charlotte stayed home to take a nap. It was beautiful weather and we enjoyed time together while enjoying nature.
We were able to get a hold of these tadpole sacks, and the girls thought they were the coolest things ever.
Such cute girls that love being together!
We had Paige's favorite for dinner, fettucine alfredo and breadsticks. Then Nona and Pops and Anna and Scott's family came over for ice cream cake and finish off the celebration of our favorite 13 year old.
The girls had fun playing some games before going to bed.
Sunday, we went to church and enjoyed dinner at Dale and Margaret's house. Aaron and his kids and Christy came down to do an early celebration for Margaret's birthday. All this fun has been tiring for McCall, and she fell asleep after she ate her lunch. :)
On Monday, once I got Paige and Baylor to school, we head up to Seattle to go to the Museum of Pop Culture. I was able to get free tickets through the library, so we only had to pay for one adult and one kid which was awesome. I haven't been to this museum since Nate and I were first married so it was cool to walk through again and Derek, Amy, and the girls loved it. I knew they would love all the props from the movies, and we spent about 2-3 hours wandering through all the exhibits.
They had this horror section and Charlotte, McCall, and I were a little unsure about, and we very timidly walked through it.
We all loved the fantasy section. McCall was not a fan of the dragon though. Her face shows it all in the top right picture. :)
We ended with the sound area to play all the instruments. We were all hungry at this point but it was worth the quick stop to this area of the museum.
It was a great outing for a rainy day! We ate some lunch that we packed in the car and then wandered around beneath the Space Needle for a bit before heading home. We got back about the same time as the girls got home from school. I made some dinner, and it was a nice evening spent watching March Madness and visiting.
Tuesday was an absolutely gorgeous day! We soaked up all the sun rays that the 70 degree weather was giving us. I got the girls to school and then we went to Issaquah and our first stop was to see the troll. McCall was rocking her sunglasses and looked so cute!
Then we went to Boehm's Candy and the plan was to do their self-guided tour where you just look front the outside through windows and read all the information but about two windows into the tour, someone from inside popped out. She said she was just about done with her break and was about to go back to work and that she loved to talk with people. So she took us inside and gave us the quick version of the inside tour for free. It was so cool! We got some samples, you could smell the chocolate and see the machinery and people working up close. We happened to be there at the right moment, and it was such a cool moment and memory.
Then we went and enjoyed some fish and chips at Ivars for lunch and then a quick stop at Value Village.
Then we ended our adventure with a stop at Krispy Kreme for some donuts.
We spent the afternoon outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather.
Then the girls ended the day with some face masks.
Wednesday and for the rest of the week, Paige and Baylor took school off so they could have more time with their cousins. Our adventure for the day led us to Tacoma to Chambers Bay. I was a little worried about the weather, but it turned out pretty good. It was a little windy since we were right on the water, but the sun was shining and it only rained for a bit when we were eating our lunch in the car.
We first wandered around the big cement structures.
Then we ran to the top of the bridge so that we could be right above the train as it went under the bridge and of course a few pictures with the gorgeous view of the water in the background.
We loved spending some time on the beach. We all loved flipping rocks because there were SO many crabs. The girls had fun picking them up and watching them scamper away. We also happened to see a few porpoises swim nearby which was super cool.
Then we walked back over to see all the locks and go to the bathroom before eating our egg salad sandwiches in the car.
Then we made a stop at a unique place- a pet cemetery. There was a small section of a large cemetery near Chambers Bay that is dedicated just for pets. It was all cats and dogs and all I can say is that these people must really love their pets to spend that kind of money on the headstones.
They did have this cool bridge that you could just leave the collar of your pet which is a much cheaper way and I feel a neat way to honor your pet.
We got lucky with the weather, and it was so nice in the evening so the girls played outside some more and enjoyed some bubbles and going on Nona and Pop's garage roof. The ladder was set up and there was a question of where McCall was since no one had an eye on her. (I was at home making dinner.) Derek runs over to the ladder and she had climbed all the way up the ladder and was on top of the roof and she was sure proud of herself and about gave Derek a heart attack.
The entertainment for the evening was mole hunting. Pops has dealt with moles in his yard and Nate is really good at setting traps, but this one was being elusive. So, Nate and Derek had a pitchfork and a shovel since it was right along the edge of the yard and would push up dirt. They would watch for the dirt to move and try and stab it. They finally were able to get it out of the dirt and had to smack it with the shovel to put it out of its misery. It was probably a bit much for some of the girls, but they got the mole. Pops took it to the next level and decided to skin it in the garage. Emily, Baylor, and McCall hung around to watch and thought it was disgusting but also fascinating.
Thursday Nate took off work and we went back up to Seattle so everyone could experience the Goodwill Outlet. Amy was excited about this and has already gone to other thrift stores a couple of times. Charlotte was not a fan of the Outlet, so I took her and Baylor and McCall and we went to Lincoln Park and walked along the water and saw the troll there. The view was gorgeous, and we even saw a seal pop up while we were throwing some rocks in the water.
Then we all met at Dick's for some lunch which was delicious like always.
Derek decided that it was worth the money to go up the Space Needle and took up Paige, Juliette, and Emily. They had the best time and thought the views were incredible and loved the glass floors and walls. I'm glad that Paige got to have that experience with her cousins and I'm grateful Derek was willing to take her up there. It has been on her bucket list and now she gets to check that off!
Amy and Charlotte wandered through shops and Nate, Baylor, McCall, and I went and played on this awesome playground while they were up there. They enjoyed their views from the top of the Space Needle, and we got to enjoy the view of the Space Needle from the playground.
The slides at this playground are so high. I went up with Baylor once and then McCall wanted to go so I went up with her.
The drive home was not so fun since we hit lots of traffic, especially on Mercer Street getting onto the freeway. Dinner was in the crockpot ready for us when we got home and then we did some Peep taste testing which was so fun. We had all different flavors: Birthday Cake, Cotton Candy, Rice Krispy, Churro, Dr. Pepper, and Sour Watermelon. I cut each peep into four pieces, so we all got small tastes of each one. We would all smell it first and then try them all at the same time. It was really fun!
Friday was a rainy day and Derek ended up having an interview early in the afternoon, we it was a stay at home kind of day. That was probably nice for Derek and Amy since they would be in the car the next day. The girls pretty much painted all morning. They had some blank CDs they found at the outlet and then also painted some tiny canvases that I got from the library for an art display they are putting on in April.
Amy and Nate went thrift shopping and so I got all the girls lunch and then we went over to the park, so we were out of the house when Derek had his interview. We were the only ones at the playground, which was so nice. I would yell out that certain parts of the playground were lava, and they would race to be int the safe areas. It kept them entertained for quite awhile, and then we started getting cold, so we went back to Dale and Margaret's house to play some games.
The rest of the afternoon was pretty relaxing. Then in the evening Amy and I took Juliette, Emily, Paige, and Baylor swimming. It was fun to watch, and they had so much fun. It was a great way to end the vacation and we even got some ice cream from McDonalds to end the night.
They left right after breakfast on Saturday and we sure are going to miss them. Paige and Juliette are inseparable when they are together and are so fun and goofy. They love being together and Paige wishes we lived closer. The girls loved all the cousin time and fun sleepovers. We loved visiting, laughing, and experiencing fun things together. Lots of fun memories were made this week! We can't wait until summer when we get to see them again.
