Day 2 - Lean into the Tourism

We started off the day in Pike's Place Market. 

We were trying to come up with reasons to take a beautiful bouquet home, but alas, we didn't think it would last. We just enjoyed the color and variety, all overlayed with the aroma of fish and fresh donuts. We opted out of the fish, but opted in for the donuts. I believe we made the correct decision.

We stopped in Left Bank Books to browse and purchase a few books. Tiny book store with so many books! It was hard to restrain ourselves. 

It was also hard not to cozy up in their reading nook and never leave. Alas, we had other places to visit.

We stopped in a highly recommended shop to grab a drink and watch Seattle walk past the windows. Then we had to scurry across town and meet friends David and Leasie for lunch at the Highlander Public House.

Libby avoided all seafood by eating fries and salad. With only a little prodding from Leasie, though, Kylie decided she was game to try an oyster shooter. 

Little lemon,

ready to go, 

down the hatch.

Verdict: it was okay. (My favorite part of these photos are Libby's face. I don't think she will ever fully recover)

After lunch, we walked down the pier to see David's sailboat. It was a lovely boat, but a disappointing weather day. No chance of going out into the sound. 

We did find a boat that was destined for Kylie. It only cost $35,000 and came complete with many weather beaten tarps and some gently distressed lawn furniture. We decided it would be a great investment in her future.

After eating some gelato, we headed back to house for some very needed rest. 

After dinner the girls wanted to head back out, so we ended up in the International District and loaded up with mochi, purple bread, and other treats to bring home with us. 

Then the girls decided they needed bubble tea. We were able to find a bubble tea shop within walking distance, so we splashed through the puddles to get a frosty drink with the added bonus of pinball. 

 On the way back, Libby also had to demonstrate the waterproof nature of her boots and rainjacket. One is never too old to jump in a puddle or two.

Seattle -Day 1

Libby and her friend wanted to go to Seattle to attend a concert. We agreed to take them if they paid for the concert and half of the lodging. Our Seattle trip was born!

Earlyish Wednesday morning, we hit the road, leaving Ethan at home to keep the pets and younger kids alive.

We arrived in Seattle with plenty of time to get checked in, walk down the street for some falafel, take a brief rest and head out on the town.

We dropped the girls at their Backseat Lovers concert and then Michael and I walked around a very chilly downtown Seattle. Neither of us had ever been, so we enjoyed just exploring.

The sound was beautiful and very, very windy.

The wind kept us chilled, but the sunset was worth it.

We still had plenty of time to kill, so we leaned into the tourist stereotype and took pictures of everything. Seattle has so many great little details, every block had a new curiosity. 

The light hit this fish fountain in such a way that scales shimmered and changed colors. Not a great picture, but a pretty great little fountain.

Chilly hours later Libby said the band was playing their last song, so we walked over to the Paramount Theater to gather the minors. As we stood outside, the temperature continued to drop and I was freezing. Unfortunately for me, but fortunately for the girls, the band played an encore, and then another, and then a third. Half an hour later the girls finally appeared and we headed back to the rental for some well deserved rest and to unthaw for the evening. We all happily crawled into bed and were quickly in slumber land.

 

21 Years

Our marriage has reached the legal drinking age! 

We've had our ups and downs, but we are still here, and still so happy to be here. Life can be hard, crazy, funny, devastating, and beautiful. I'm so thankful that we get to go through this together.

This is the love note Michael sent me for our anniversary. It has a ring of truth to it and made me laugh at work. Then I had to share with my co-workers the joke. It was the height of hilarity for my fellow library chums.

I'm so grateful that we are still laughing after 21 years. 

Easter

 Once again Andy and Georgette hosted an amazing Easter for the Hobson family. The youngest child there was 12 years old, but they still hosted a spectacular Easter Egg hunt for the granchildren, several of whom are far into their legal adult years. It was fabulous. And of course there was enough food to feed the neighborhood.  

Easter morning we only had three kids at home, but we still made a basket for Ethan and his partner. They just got their baskets later in the day!  

We also had my family over for dinner and an egg hunt. It was wonderful to have people over, but also very hard. In past years everyone has always had Easter plans, so we did Easter at home and invited Mom and Heidi over for a traditional dinner. Heidi always filled a few (or a lot of eggs) with hand crafted items and hid them for my children. It was so hard to celebrate without her this year. She would have loved watching all of our nieces and nephews running around, and I hate that she is missing them grow up.

Having everyone over was amazing, and I'm glad they came. But that doesn't mean I didn't spend the morning crying as well. Life is never all one way or another. 

That being said, look at these cute people who came to visit! 

They are amazing and perfect and I love them so much. Even when they almost kill the fish by helpfully feeding them. It's hard for little people to realize the difference between a few flakes of food and the entire large bottle of fish food. No children are fish were harmed, though. The frog, though, has put on some serious weight. I didn't know he could get that fat, that fast. He doesn't seem to be any worse for wear, though. 

Mid-West Adventure

Due to violence at her university, my niece, Amanda, was in desperate need of a visit. Her mom and I found plane tickets and headed out to Michigan.

Despite getting desperately lost in Detroit airport, we did eventually make it to Lansing, and found our lovely Amanda!

She happily showed off her newly learned crochet skills and made her mother model her newest hat. She also set Becca and I to work crocheting a lot of granny squares. I didn't know I was flying across the country to end up being used as free labor. 

We did have to eat, to keep our crocheting energy up, so went out to eat, a lot. We ended up at Bob Evan's twice. I learned you can't visit Michigan without eating at Bob Evan's. 

There was also a fair amount of napping, with and without cats. I woke up to attacked toes on more than one occasion. 

There was time for shopping

and for a nature walks. I did feel left out without a unicorn hoodie, though. I might have to fix that in the future. 

Amanda also took us to all of her favorite shops, we ate a lot, went for chilly walks, watched zombie shows and crocheted granny squares. We also ate a lot of carb heavy food and bought overalls at Menard's. I believe we had a well rounded mid-west experience. The highlight, though, was visiting with our gorgeous girl. Before we left, Amanda tried to convince her mother and aunt to uproot our families and join her in Michigan. The housing prices make it look awfully tempting.