First Month Back in Seattle

Auntie Mimi, Marko, Simon, James, my Dad and sister Sarah picked us up at the airport after our 23 hour journey.

And the drop-off at Uncle Dan's house - there could BE no better 'welcome vista' than this view. If this wouldn't make you excited about being back in Seattle, nothing would.

And then we look over and see this gorgeous bouquet waiting for us from Richard & Julia. Stunning.

One nice thing about flying 'this way' is that you wake up at 5 am for a week, feeling completely rested. So here was our first Seattle sunrise from Uncle Dan's place.

And the first thing we wanted to do was walk on Alki and get a rice-milk latte at Tully's coffee! Here's me at 8 months pregnant (on day 1, before our family-plague hit us).

Another gorgeous Seattle day in Week One. We left Dublin thinking it was a warm day when it was 10 degrees, we return to Seattle and it was suddenly 18/19 everyday. (still haven't switched back to Farenheit but I'm sure we will) :)

2nd Sunrise

Our first visit to our condo in North Seattle and our closest park, Maple Leaf playground.

Going to see Marko's little league game - this was about 3 days into being home and I was feeling awful by this point. We left this game and went to our first (of four) urgent care visits in the first 2 1/2 weeks.

So great to see Marko making contact and getting a few hits!

And sweet Simon in his baseball cap, showing us all his airplanes in his backpack.

And then here we are, nearly 2 weeks later after we all recovered, on our first fun-outing - the Seattle Center for the fountain and the Children's Museum (thankfully all free). :)

Basically we were all taken down by some nasty sinus infections and various other illnesses (including a vomiting bug and Norah's fever of 104) during our first 2 weeks. We all got antibiotics during the first week though (after our 4 urgent visits and calls to the Children's hospital) and after 10 miserable days, we were back up and running.

One of the best things in West Seattle is the water taxi which takes you from a few blocks from Uncle Dan's across to the city. We then walked the waterfront down to the Seattle Aquarium. This was one of the things we really 'talked up' about Seattle and our return (to Norah), so we were finally able to make good on that promise. 

Our first really clear view of "The Mountain" - Mt. Rainier.

And our first trip to Ikea! We dread going to this place but it had to be done for Norah's new bed, lamps, etc. We got there 30 minutes before they opened and were out within an hour.

In week two, we spend a full 9 hours at our condo putting together all the lamps, Norah's bed, her cabinets and her little table. And we all survived! Wayne was a serious champ with this loft bed. He had the patience of a monk and never once messed up (quite the feat for a near 8-hour project).

Here's the finished project (pre-tent top)

And the drawers on the end which double as stairs. Dreammm room.

And our place finally coming together after unloading our storage unit (and getting rid of 3/4 of the stuff we stored for 3 1/2 years), the Ikea trip, several visits to Target, furniture stores, and four FULL car loads to donation centers.

Before the artwork & pictures were all hung.

Our very favorite piece of art - the painting given to us by the running group of the East Pier in Dun Laoghaire.

Our first walk at Greenlake

And seeing a mama & papa duck with 14 babies

Nearly the best place Norah has ever been. The Seattle Gymnastics Academy - friends told us about this and now we have Norah signed up for a class each week. I don't think I've ever seen her more excited and proud about an activity. 

Random, I know.

One of my four best childhood friends, Tara - reunited, in person, at last! Four of us girls talk every single day (using a texting app) but we haven't seen each other in 2 full years. So we were finally able to visit & hug and I met her beautiful Jeremy (19 months) for the first time.

Dinner at one of our favorite places one earth - Margarete & Siegfried's place.

Super Home-Improvement super stars. We needed to replace a broken faucet which turned into replacing the sink, which turned into replacing the whole vanity cabinet. It took nearly a week but it was a fun project and we did it!

Playdate with cousin Simon

 And then some of our favorite things about coming back to Seattle/big differences we've noticed between here and Dublin.

1st: Mighty-O Vegan Donut shop - THE best donuts you have ever tasted. I do not exaggerate here.
Walking into an American grocery store for the 1st time - Safeway - and feeling amazed and overwhelmed at the scale of it. (this is not to say Tesco's are not also huge) but there's something about the sheet number of products in U.S. stores and how meticulously they're placed on the shelves.

And this is SO Seattle - at most coffee shops and cafes, you see bins for Garbage, Recycling and then Compost (with 'keys' for what goes in which bin).

Another Seattle experience - Seeing the dairy-free fridge section - Hemp Milk, Rice Milk, Coconut milk, Soy milk, Almond milk iced coffee, Flax Milk - you name it... it exists.

And this is an ENTIRE case of meat-alternatives - Yep, we're in Seattle.

And for any running friends that might see this: This is in one of these general sporting goods stores (not even a running store) and they have every single gel and bar and electrolyte fizzy known to man.

I'll keep this list going while we're still acclimating to being back.
We have four weeks to go until baby arrives and we're getting all settled. We still feel like we got here yesterday but it's feeling more like home and we're mentally preparing to welcome this new little person into our lives. (if that's even possible) More to come soon.