Thursday, August 07, 2008

Seattle Trip




We were so grateful to be able to take a family trip together with Daddy longer than a few days. Ian has never taken more than 1 or 2 days off of work at a time, so we usually make weekend trips. We had Daddy with us Wednesday through Tuesday and it was a treat! In addition, we had that whole week to enjoy our friends in Seattle, Washington!

DJ, Anissa, Ethan and Addison were such a great hosts! The kids played pretty well together the whole time. Anissa had everything we needed there so our stay was completely comfortable. Other than Liam having WAY too much energy, we thoroughly enjoyed our time away from Utah. (We did have to get him under control a lot on this trip, but it's so hard for him to be tame when there are so many people to play jester for.)

We all went to the zoo on Friday and had a nice time roaming around in the 70 degree weather. We saw lots of animals, did a lot of walking and the kids got to go to a little petting zoo and see some goats. We hit the Carousel on the way out of the park (when it was getting close to lunch time and nap time). Ethan and Addy had a ball on the ride, but Liam was pretty uneasy about the whole thing. He said he wanted a baby horse (which didn't exist), so when I put him on a random horse he started crying like his life was over and I needed to rescue him. Close to the end of the ride he calmed down. Suffice it to say, we got in the car and Liam immediately konked out.

"On the way home" we found a yummy drive in. When we finally got back to home base, we ate the foods and then took naps... All of us... Even the kiddos that slept in the car for a bit.

That night DJ’s brothers came over for the signature family party meal of Raclette. We ate like crazy starving people and like Anissa said, "we had plenty of good laughing spells to help offset the calories." There was much pranking going on when someone would get up to load their fry pan with more goodies to cook. Marc found onions in his dessert dish and Anissa attempted to sabotage DJ's dessert with tons of salt. Sadly he pretended not to notice.

Josh had brought his game, Rock Band, and all the boys rocked out and had a blast. The few that didn't participate got a good laugh and would poke fun.

Saturday all the brothers went out to their parents' property for a day full of paintball war games. DJ and Ian left to go over to the Wheeler’s place about 10 am. Anissa and I kept the kids and took them to St. Edward State Park for about an hour. We then went back to home base for lunch and naps. After naps we took the kids to join the rest of the family for Dutch oven dinner. The kids couldn't get enough of the new playground set that was there. It made it easy for we adults to chatter away and get stuff ready for dinner.

The food was amazing. Dutch oven everything... chicken, ribs, cheesy potatoes and carrots, beans, corn bread and chocolate molten cake! After force feeding our children as much as we could, we let them go back and play. We ate awhile longer then the guys started becoming undressed... Oh boy the lovely paintball welts. After much shirtless prancing and posing, we were able to get them to get dressed again. It was such a fun time being with everyone! I love laughing like that!

Sunday was a lazy day. Ian and I took Liam for a drive and we ate at another drive-in for lunch. Triple X Burger is a place where Ian went often in his high school days. He had forgotten that the triple x burger was so massive. He couldn't eat the whole thing. Cracked me up.

We got back to home base and then Anissa and I were given permission to get out of the house on our own. It was nice to spend a couple hours away with no kids. That night, we enjoyed leftover raclette and grilled steaks for dinner.

Monday we went to the Pacific Science Center. I took a lot of photos of Liam having a blast! He just couldn't focus on one thing! His head was literally spinning (along with his body) on what to do next. While we were there, Liam had his first IMAX movie experience. It was a dam big movie about beavers! We were all thoroughly entertained. I certainly learned a lot about beavers that I hadn't known! The whole theater would laugh at times because of how quirky those animals are.

After visiting Pike Place Market, we met up with DJ and Anissa at Juanita Beach. Liam went straight for the water and didn't even glance at the great playground they had there. DJ and Ian helped the kids make sand castles... and Liam did his normal rounds of demolishing all sand creations! The kids played well together and it was a treat to enjoy the sun and blue skies for awhile.

After de-sanding children, we headed out to dinner at Claim Jumper. We had a huge corner booth kind of out of the way, so we didn’t have to worry about the kids bugging other people. The food was amazing and we all ate like kings!

That night after the kids were in bed, we watched the guys bowl on the Wii. This was pretty much the norm every night before hitting the hay at midnight. Wii, Scene It and then maybe a movie! So fun! (I have to note that I am way better at Wii tennis than the real thing!)

Tuesday was DJ's birthday. Anissa made some wonderful sour dough pancakes. We gave him his gift before he had to leave for work and then said our good-byes. We headed out before noon since Liam was a live wire. We wanted to get him strapped in the car and have a bit of sanity before heading to the airport. We drove around Ian's old stomping grounds and then stopped at Pine Lake for awhile. Liam had a great time!

We dropped the rental car off at 4pm and rode the fun shuttle bus to the airport. Liam loved it! Once we got checked in at the airport, we did a little shopping. Ian found Liam a great Lightning McQueen sticker book. That thing kept him entertained for quite a long time. Our flight wasn't until 7:30pm. Liam did well on the plane and the bumpy descent into SLC didn't even bother him. I, on the other hand, got nauseated for the first time on a plane. Ick!

Anyway, we got home at midnight and to bed by 1am (we were so surprised he didn't fall asleep in the car). Liam let let us sleep in until 9am... and we were grateful.

The End.

See Anissa's Report HERE.

18 comments:

D said...

I am jealous! Looks like great fun! I say we both move up there together. :) Now we just have to our DH's jobs.

Karissa said...

I hope you don't mind me leaving a comment on your blog. My mom (Nonda)gave me your blog address because she thought it was super cute (I must agree)and she wanted me to start one so that they could keep up on Karlie. We saw you when Karlie was just a month or two old and you were kind enough to accommodate us for a break in driving. It was nice to see all of you then. It is too bad it hasn't been more often. I would like to link your blog to mine if you don't mind. Please let me know if this would be okay with you.

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh, you have some of the cutest pictures I have ever seen on there! I love your cute family! It was great to be able to see you even for just one afternoon. Move up here already!

Anissa said...

Very nicely blogged my friend! :) Lots of cute pictures, for sure. But I have to say that the picture of the bee is the one that cracked me up. You're too funny!

Aly said...

what a fun trip! it's hard to travel with little ones, but good for the family to have so much uninterrupted time together. it looks like you all had a really wonderful time.

utmommy said...

Yeah for fun trips! I've always wanted to go to Seatlle. Maybe one day. Maybe if you move there I can come visit you!

Anonymous said...

I would so love to visit Seattle. Don't you just love when they stay awake and save the sleep for home on car trips.

Katie said...

Sounds like a fun trip! Vacations are so much fun when you can share them with friends.

Anonymous said...

Too much fun and LOVED the pictures.

The burger just cracks me up!

I'm so happy I got a chance to talk to you, by the way. Take care!

Daisy said...

Sounds like a great trip. I wish that I had been able to have a vacation this year. I miss everyone out there and wish I could have spent another 3 weeks visiting everyone.

As always, cute pictures!!

Katie said...

I'm so glad you got to spend family time together. And Seattle's such a fun place. Great pics!

Heidi said...

I finally went through and read a few blogs of yours. I love your new car! Soooo jealous! My bike is pretty nifty though. Liam is just the cutest! He really is photogenic. Him and his little friend are just like Sierra and Jaxson. I'm glad you had fun in Seattle, what a fun place to go. Well, I love you! Maybe I'll blog one of these days....don't hold your breath...really don't.

Anonymous said...

What a great blog, looks like you had a great time. Sure brought back old memories. It seems not to long a go Liam's Daddy was playing in Pine Lake. So glad that you could all get away and have some fun times. I didn't think that Liam could get any cuter, but he sure has. I would love to give those cute little cheeks a great big kiss. Love you and miss ya Grandma Dixie

Jessica said...

Awww what a fun family trip. I am glad that you had such an awesome time. Love the pictures!!

Terry said...

Wow, what a fun family vacation! I need to find out what Raclette is. Your montage is great. I loved the picture of Ian at the big table. You got a ton of great photos. Washington looks like such a nice place, especially the weather. If it weren't for the cost of living and the politics, I might move there. :)

MK said...

Oh, Seattle, fun, fun! It sounds like you had a good time and enjoyed the scenery and all that pretty city has to offer.

Jamie said...

Tell me when you come next time!!
Avery and I could take you to lunch!

You were SO close :)

Glad you had a nice trip though.

Anonymous said...

Wow, sounds like you all had an amazing trip. It's so nice that you all were able to go away and spend that length of time together. My hubby is like that too. I think he's only taken one day off this year. We're SO over due for a family trip.

I love the airport pictures especially with him riding on the luggage and pulling his own. Those are so precioius. Glad you all had a good time.