Week Two: Yarrow Point, Yakima and Auburn

Thankfully our trip to Seattle overlapped with my best friend Vickie's trip to Washington (they're living in Turkey). But...they live in Walla Walla (4-5 hours from Seattle- 4 if you drive like Vickie, Tara or Trysh, 5 if you drive like Wayne or me). So, what did we do? We were creative. Luckily Vickie had two different layovers at SeaTac airport so she met us for a few hours each time before she had to board her next flight. (all Vickie's creativity there) And next...rather than any of us driving 4-5 hours, we decided to meet in the middle and that, my friends, is in Yakima. Not the greatest place on planet earth but we don't care where it is, as long as we get a little time together.

It was 98 degrees in Yakima so we went to the community pool, and then had ice cream.

This is GORGEOUS Reese.

So sweet!! I can't wait to show them this when they're 20.

Washington State amazes me:

 

Here's one hour from Seattle - still lush evergreen forests and mountains

Here's an hour and a half from Seattle - flat farmland for as far as the eye can see

 And here's 2 hours from Seattle - barren land, so desolate, only the military can use it for bomb-practice and nuclear power plants

 The next day, back on the Seattle Side - out on Megan and Larry's boat for the guys' first time wake-boarding! Larry and Wayne did so great! They both got up their first time and rode like pro's.

 Our poor little hotdog. They only had age 5-6 lifejackets so it pulled on her neck, just the slightest bit. I figure she was safer in that with possible ligament damage than sinking. =)

 Awww...poor thing. Here's Norah (2) with Catherine (8), Natalie (6) and she looks almost their same size given how stretched out she is. Sorry Norah!

 Wayne and Natalie (6) were the only ones to swim. The water in Lake Washington was about 67 degrees...

 Larry on his first try - Nick driving the boat.

Go Larry!

 Super Action Shot

I was so impressed with both of them, doing this well, on their first tries.

Wayne's First Try!



 We got to play with Tim, Shonda and Atticus at Greenlake. WAY too short a visit but it was really good to see them.

 ALL business.

 Also one of my favorite places on earth: Margarete and Siegi's House.

This is an actual camel saddle from Margarete's time living in Egypt. As in...one she used. They have an entire house filled with amazing things like this and more stories than they could probably ever tell. Though, I'll keep trying to hear as many as they'll share.

 One of the cutest sweaters I've ever seen. Uncle Marko brought this for Norah!

 Norah's first Kiddy-Table and she did great!

 She sat with the big kids and ate her whole dinner. I could get used to this.

Their blueberries - wrapped up so the deer (and bears) don't eat them all.

 Margarete's Garden's are second to none. She's an official Master Gardener so, no surprise there, but their property is unbelievable.

 How cute are these cousins!!! Catherine (8), Natalie (6), Marko (5) and Norah (2). These four will be best friends for life, I just know it. =)

 She just gets right in there with the big kids. Here, they're scheming about something and she wants in on the plan.

 Maybe the plan was for this dance-party

I love Norah's expression here. She's like, "Wait, I love this part, here's my big solo". 

Week Two: Uncle Nick Arrives - Tour of Seattle

Wayne's big brother Nick (Uncle Nick), is working as a welder in Saskatchewan and while his job is grueling, the upside is they pay for him to fly wherever he would like (equidistant to home) every four weeks, for one whole week. So, he thought, why fly back to St. Thomas (their hometown) when he could fly to Seattle and be with us for a week? Well, the answer is...Yes, exactly. So, Nick flew in and stayed with us for a week during our 3 week in Seattle. It worked out perfectly and we had a great time showing him around. We really missed him when he left and Norah is still asking, "Where's Uncle Nick?"

 Top Pot Donuts on Queen Anne - Yummmm

 She knows the drill - coffee shop - find a place to read.

 They're allllmost twins

 My Polish Mother making Blueberry Pierogi from scratch for Vickie's visit.

 Two of my favorite people on earth: Vickie and her Momma, both working away as usual

 No surprise, Richard has already gotten them some drinks and they're chatting away.

 Vickie and Trysh, thank you for letting us borrow your parents for a few days. They took us on a great walk down the Cedar River Trail after dinner so we could show Nick the big Boeing plant.

 Norah and her Babcia/Grandma (Vickie/Trysh: Spelling help?)

 Dr. Lane Gerber - one of the most incredible people on this planet. We adore this man. He's right up there with Nelson Mandela.  

 On Nick's first day visiting, we decided to take him to Ivar's on Lake Union for lunch. You can't get much more iconic than this place. Seattle Seafood with one of the best views in the city.

 And continuing on to Ballard - We wanted to show Uncle Nick the Ballard Locks

 And Golden Gardens

 Annndd...why not finish the night with Pike Place Market?

 We found a great Bolivian Restaurant overlooking the market

 Playtime at Cousin Megan's

 Uncle Dan always needs help with iTunes, his computer, or his coffee maker.

 On eof my favorite Sushi restaurants in Seattle - Mashiko's on California Avenue. We have sushi in Dublin but some reason we have yet to go out. This is my favorite food on earth and I really missed it so this place was high on the list for Seattle-visits.

 Haruko and baby Mika - this child is seriously cute.

 Luke and Aya