Something Different 2.0

Remember last year when my mom and I took off on an impromptu visit to the Sacramento zoo? Well, this summer, we did the same thing...only 10 X bigger! My dad had a meeting to attend in Seattle, and we were lucky enough to get an invite to join them (Well, I may have invited myself, but with family it's all the same, right?) Thank goodness James is so good to us, and just says, "Go and have fun." He had to stay behind and work.

We took off Monday afternoon, and made it to Seattle at 4:30 Tuesday morning. My poor dad had to sit though boring meetings all day while his ladies (and gentleman) got to sleep the trip off. I vaguely remember waking up around 2 AM (driving through Portland) and eating a package of E.L.Fudge cookies. I hope I was dreaming. That flash of memory is still haunting me. I must say, I love my mom. She makes everything fun!

The next day we got up and headed to downtown Seattle. I have to admit, I loved Seattle. It's such a fun city. I loved the market, and all the fresh produce. All the tables set up with random homemade crap goodies. My kind of place. I love my sweet Raychel's face.

The beautiful bouquet of flowers was only $5!!

Here's some of our random crap goodies. Raychel loves these bun-maker things. She loved picking out her fabrics. I learned this trip that her favorite color is purple.Pretty Princesses

Raychel buying some caramels all by herself. So grown up.

Anna and Leah were just dancing around in the middle of an open area. Not a care or concern in the world!

We ate dinner at a little restaurant that was In Sleepless In Seattle: Athenian. Grant is sitting where Tom Hanks sat.

BTW: (Or if you're my dad, you say "B T Dub-Ya) There were some killer deals that day at Old Navy that day.More views of Seattle.

Space Needle. The elevator guy told us that the year this was built was the same year the microwave and touch tone phone was introduced. Of course, this isn't the tallest structure in Seattle anymore, but you can imagine how spectacular it was 50 years ago. It was still pretty amazing to this country bumpkin! haha

Checking out all the sights below.

Enjoying some treats at the top. Beef jerky, chex mix, reeces pieces, and Diet Pepsi. Life doesn't get much better.

That afternoon, we packed up and drove to Tilamook, Oregon. We rented a beach house for a couple of nights and just enjoyed some peace and quiet. The girls loves this jetted tub.

This was our view from the deck. Jealous?

Sweet little morning faces.

I absolutely love how Anna and Leah go everywhere just like this...hand in hand.

This picture is what I call "Classic Mom". Phone in hand, ignoring everything around her. hahahaha!!

Sure wished I owned one of these houses!

I was thinking about how lucky I've been this summer. I've been able to visit the Atlantic Ocean AND the Pacific Ocean.

Grant was off searching for starfish (or getting swept away to sea, right mom? ;-))

The girls really enjoyed writing in the sand.

The starfish.

Anna and Raychel were the only ones to hold it. Leah flat out said, "Nope, I'm a 'fraidy cat. I don't wanna touch it."

This was a time I missed my Nevada. Had these wet pants been flapping in the wind here, they would have been dried out in 5 minutes. They didn't even dry one bit In Oregon. There was no time to change, however, we HAD to see the cheese factory.

This stop was a little disappointing. None of the cheese machines were running. Not to mention there was NO squeeky cheese.

BUT the day wasn't a complete loss. Raychel ate an entire corndog. Seriously people, that's HUGE. I remember when she was a baby, I would be elated when she would actually finish a bottle. I feel that same sense of joy when she eats a lot...of anything!

2 feet long beef sticks for a $1, folks.

I can't believe our Grant-y is going to be a senior this year! We'll be taking pictures all summer!