Our (Delayed) Summer Vacation

Summer vacations are a MUST. This year, we did manage a trip to Vernal, UT. But I don't really think that counted as an official vacation.

It wasn't until recently, that I remembered I had complimentary tickets to use on Southwest Airlines, and they needed to be used before the end of the year.

We also had credits with Marriott.

So, I asked Nick where he would like to go on vacation? His response, "Seattle".

Then, I asked Nick what he would like to do on vacation? His response, "Eat".

Check, and check.

It was hastily put together, but we managed to get everything booked, and went on our way.

I put the posts in chronological order, so the beginning of the trip is at the bottom.

It wasn't the most relaxing vacation, but how can it be when you are traveling with an active 2 year old???

OK, maybe I shouldn't make such a broad statement. One of us did have a relaxing vacation....

Just take a look:

Elsa at the Hotel:

Elsa at the Zoo:

Elsa at the Market:

Elsa at dinner with me and Nick:

What an Angel.

Seattle Day 5, Going Back to UT.

I intentionally didn't say "going home" in the title of this post. I didn't realize how homesick I was for the Pacific NW until after we got up there. Truly, Nick and I love Washington State.

While we were looking forward to sleeping in our own beds again, we weren't looking forward to leaving.

But, the time came. And we loaded everything in to the car to head for the airport. Our rental car, while we were in town, was a Ford Focus. I can't really say anything good about this car. At least I know there is one car I will not even consider buying when the time comes to purchase our next vehicle. In regard to the car, Nick's exact words were: "this car sucks donkey balls". Normally, I wouldn't post something so crass on my blog, but Nick's assessment was spot-on.

Because the car as a turn radius of zero, among other flaws... I was really worried about making it to the airport.

It started snowing on the morning of our departure. Nick and I were watching the news in our hotel room as they did major coverage of the snowstorm. I know it was supposed to be serious reporting, but we kept getting a laugh out of some of the things that were said.

We saw pictures of people parking their cars on the snowy freeway and walking home (this is typical). A few times one of the newcasters mentioned the "Great Storm of 2008". With that storm I think Seattle got 1.5 inches of snow. At the first hint of a snowflake the city shuts down. No joke. I'm not trying to poke fun. Driving in Seattle, when it is snowy is the pits. But a lot of that comes because of incompetent winter drivers.

Anyway, we left early for the airport. Made it through the heinous part they call "security". And arrived at our gate, only to be told that our plane was having mechanical problems and that our flight was delayed while they tried to find another plane.

2.5 hours later.... they found another plane. We boarded, AND THEN we were told that there was going to be even more of a delay, because the snow had shut down every runway but one! Nick was watching the headlines on his iPhone, and as we pulled away from the gate he saw that a plane had skidded off of the runway at SeaTac, thus causing more problems! We were worried that we were never going to get in the air. Fortunately, they allowed us to take off. We were the last flight allowed out (they had already cancelled all in-bound flights). We got home 5 hours later than planned, but at least we made it.

And the SeaTac airport got a record-breaking; 2.5 inches of snow!

Seattle Day 4

We woke up hoping to get going earlier, rather than later. Didn't happen. We made it down to Pike Place Market around 10:30AM. I kept having to remind myself that vacations aren't about being anal. Nick was much more relaxed (like usual), and in the end, it didn't make that much of a difference that we left later than I had wanted to.

We ate at all of our favorite places.
This included eating Gelato. Even though it was pretty cold Reagan was asking for Ice Cream. She had been well behaved, so we obliged.

We started to walk down to the aquarium. But as we got closer it started to snow. We changed our minds, and went back to the hotel and went swimming instead.

That night, Kris invited us to her house for dinner. She is such a phenomenal cook! Nick had seconds (and thirds!).

Reagan had a great time terrorizing/playing with Kris' pugs!

It was so good to be able to spend time with my best girlfriend! I was sad to leave her house that night. But she's promised to come stay with us sometime soon (so that she and her husband can enjoy "the greatest snow on earth", found in UT).

Seattle Day 3

In the morning, Nick was kind enough to keep Reagan while I took Elsa to breakfast with me and Kris. We ate at Sunflour Bakery and Cafe. What I wouldn't do to have a place like this close to my house in UT!

Then, Nick watched both of the girls while I went for a pedicure with my dear friend Kathleen. I think it's the first time I've had a spa pedicure in almost a year!

What a wonderful husband I have!

In the evening Kathleen graciously volunteered to watch Reagan while Nick and I went to dinner. More than the food, I miss my amazing friends!

We ate at McCormick and Schmick's. I cannot even count the many times we have dined at this restaurant. And even though it is a chain we have never had a bad meal there. Once again, we were not disappointed. They must have known we were coming because they put Sea Bass on the menu for the evening. And that is Nick's favorite!

Ah L'amour! We love good food.

Seattle Day 2

I selected the Residence Inn for our stay because it had an indoor pool and the rooms were like one-bedroom apartments.

The rate was more than other Marriott properties, but I thought it was worth it. I loved the idea that the bedroom was completely separate from the bathroom. In my idealistic mind I imagined Reagan sleeping on the pull-out couch in the living room, and having Elsa in her pack n' play adjoining our room. Everyone sleeps better if they aren't all crammed in the same room.

So much for good intentions.

The first night we put everyone to bed. Reagan on the pull-out in the living room, and Elsa in the pak n' play in the extra large bathroom, right off of the bedroom.

Problem #1: the heating vent for the entire unit was located in the living room. So, we couldn't close the door between the bedroom and living room. When we closed it we ended up freezing.

Problem#2: Even with the door open, the bathroom didn't get any of the heat. I was terrified that Elsa would turn in to a Popsicle. So, I moved her bassinet out of the bathroom and put it next to my bed.

Problem #3: Reagan picked up a cold. She couldn't breathe through her nose when she was laying down, so she would wake up crying every 30 minutes.

In the end the sleeping arrangements ended up this way: Reagan sharing the king-size bed with Nick. Me on the pull-out mattress in the living room with Elsa in her bed next to me. And none of us were comfortable. There wasn't a full night's sleep for anyone the entire trip.

Also, Reagan figured out how to open the doors in our room about 2 seconds after we arrived, and promptly took off running down the hallway of the hotel. We had to make sure the door was deadbolted at all times. And the tub in the room was more shallow than we had at home so Reagan was able to climb in and out of it as much as she wanted to:

We had pretty nice weather the second day there, so we took Reagan to the Woodland Park Zoo.

Reagan liked the Penguin exhibit the best.

Reagan and Nick with the Tapir. Jeff, I took this picture especially for you :)

We stayed at the Zoo for two hours. As we were walking toward the exit Reagan told Nick that she wanted to be carried because she was really tired.

She is still Nick's baby girl.

In the evening we went to Trader Joe's and stocked up on goodies.

We had dinner at Yeh Yeh's (the best Vietnamese deli, bar none). Reagan threw a fit at dinner and knocked over a plant in the restaurant. I was mortified. Reagan and I ended up finishing our dinner in the car.

As I mentioned... all Nick was most looking forward to eating while we were in Seattle. But Reagan had different plans. Lately, she has been a monster when we go out to eat! Luckily, the hotel had an amazing continental breakfast! We would have loved to eat breakfast away from the hotel, but that wasn't in the cards. We missed out on Voula's and Portage Bay cafe because of Reagan's antics. So sad.

I guess we'll have to hit them up the next time we go.

Seattle Day 1

Reagan struggled a little bit on the last 20 minutes of our flight in to Seattle. Plus, we had WAAAY too much "stuff" to keep track of. It didn't make for the most ideal travel experience (at one point, we lost a piece of luggage in the SeaTac airport. But we found it. Phew!). However, we made it to our hotel in one piece (minus a little sanity).

We were staying at the Residence Inn on Lake Union. I had requested an early check-in. When we arrived at the hotel at noon we were told that if we could wait until 4PM they could give us a room upgrade (to one that had a balcony and a view of the lake).

Nick and I didn't think our little family could wait that long so we settled for a regular room without a balcony and a view of the building next door.

I packed one of Elsa's play mats. When Nick saw me unpacking it he made fun of me. But Mother knows best. It was so helpful to have a place to put Elsa, other than on the bare floor or the boring bed, and she loved playing with the toys.


Before we left, I was making up an itinerary and I asked Nick what he wanted to do while we were in town. His response, "EAT.". Anything else? Nope.

So, as soon as we checked in to the hotel I ran across the street and brought back a take-out order from Duke's Chowder House.

For dinner, we invited some of our friends to the hotel and we picked up take-out from Rocking Wok. Then we took our kids swimming.



Hanging out with the Boone's and the Harrington's was very entertaining. Thanks, guys, for coming to play!

Oh, and you might notice Reagan's ghetto swimming suit in those pictures. Yes. Well.... Even though I completely overpacked I managed to forget Reagan's swimsuit.


Fortunately, I realized my mistake before the swim-date took place. But it still left me in a bind. I scoured Fred Meyer hoping to find a swimsuit on the clearance rack. No luck.


So, I went to the Goodwill. They had TONS of swim trunks (for little boys), and I even managed to find a swimsuit for Elsa. But there was not a 3T swimsuit to be found at the Goodwill. I ended up purchasing a tank top and some swim shorts to serve as a make-shift swimsuit. Reagan didn't mind at all.




The week before we left I found the shirt Reagan is wearing in the picture (above) at Old Navy for .97 cents (and in UT, no less. Strange?)! Maybe it will be worth something someday, since the Seattle Sonics are no more?

Noteworthy Items

For me, capturing this shot is like getting a picture of big foot.

Reagan eating a pear?! I never thought I'd see the day. Reagan has always been a vegetable lover. She also likes meat. I think those two food groups are ones that other parents generally struggle to get their kids to eat? Reagan is an anomaly and has never liked fruit (an apple being the only exception). So, I was completely shocked to find her eating a pear.

Reagan really is a puzzle sometimes. I never would have guessed that she would willingly eat a pear. I also would have thought she would have loved to go bowling, but I was wrong on that count too.

There is a promotion this season that says if BYU scores over 30 points in a football game you can redeem your ticket stubs for a free game of bowling at Fat Cats.

Heather and I took our stubs from the BYU vs. UNLV game to Fat Cats. We got a free round of bowling and we bought dinner from the Pizza Factory.

The trip was fun for the first 10 minutes.

Reagan and Lance striking poses.

Grant doing his best "I know I am so handsome. No pictures please" pose.

With Elsa... one second we had this:

The next there was this:

Reagan did bowl a few frames. But Nick and I finished up her game when it was her turn. Reagan and Nick tied for first place.

When it was time to leave Reagan flipped out because Nick took her bowling shoes off. She is the only person I know that likes bowling shoes. Again, the child is a total enigma.

Later in the week.... Elsa hit her 3 month old mark. Just as I did with Reagan, when she was 3 months old, I took Elsa to get her ears pierced.

Nick and I make bald (and beautiful) babies. If I can do more to accessorize my baby girls they don't get mistaken for boys (as much).

Elsa got the same crystal daisy earrings that Reagan has. The scenario was almost exactly the same as when I pierced Reagan's ears. Elsa cried a little bit after the earrings were in. But I gave her a bottle right away and she stopped crying and fell asleep.

Cousin Emree got her ears pierced that day too.

Lastly, just something funny that I want to remember...

Reagan is allowed to color with her color wonder markers. They are the kind that only make marks on a special kind of paper. Since we all know how Reagan is with writing utensils.

One of Reagan's color wonder coloring books has pictures of Handy Manny and other Disney characters.

One of the Handy Manny pages has a drawing of this guy:

I don't watch the show, so I have no idea what this guy's name is? But Reagan refers to him as BePa (AKA: Grandpa). I guess he does look a little like my Dad. Ha Ha.

Whenever Reagan colors in this particular book she will ask, "Where BePa go?", and when she gets to this page she says, "There he is! Look, it Bepa!". The real thing will be here next week, I'm sure that will make Reagan even more excited!

We can hardly wait for Thanksgiving this year.

Our Week Consisted Of...

Enjoying the unusually warm fall weather (which we deserve, after the awful spring weather we experienced). We had a cook-out in our backyard.

Lance and Reagan ran around like the crazy kids that they are.

The rest of us roasted hot dogs and s'mores.

And we all ate the scrumptious food we cooked over the fire in our fire pit. You can tell that Reagan especially liked eating the marshmallows, as exhibited by the webbed fingers she developed:

The next day, Nick, Reagan and I visited the dentist for our 6 month check up's. Reagan liked playing at the block table in the waiting room. But was having nothing to do with taking her turn in the chair for a dental examination. Nick managed to get some cooperation from Reagan when he sat down in the chair and put Reagan in his lap. It gave the dentist a good 30 seconds to examine Reagan's teeth. Then she bit him. Examination over.

Reagan and I both left the office with clean bills of oral health. Nick had two cavities.

On Saturday we trekked down to Provo for the BYU football game. It turned out to be well worth the trip. I'm going to refrain from making any snide comments about the other noteworthy football game that took place in UT that day. Mostly because the only reason we had a babysitter for Reagan was due to the fact that Jeff (Heather's Ute-Fan Husband) wanted to watch the UofU game, rather than coming to the BYU game with us. For that I was grateful.

Reagan and Grant stayed home with Jeff. Elsa and Lance came to the BYU game with us. We SO got the best end of that deal! But thanks, Jeff, for agreeing to watch the kids, and sorry your team did so downright cruddy in their game.

On the way home from the game, in the car, Elsa was playing some sort of game with my brother, Brian (if you haven't already heard, he's the one that never reads my blog). He would smile at her, and she would smile. Then, he would make a "sad face", and this is what Elsa would do:

It had all of us laughing.

We finished off the week with a little relaxation at home.

These pictures illustrate a realization I have had, of late. That: Reagan has never had to share anything, in her entire life, and that Elsa will probably have to share everything. I guess it is a good thing that Elsa appears to be such an easy-going child. And Reagan is learning. Recently, she has started telling Grant, "Thank You, Granters (his nickname)", after she yanks a toy out of his hands. Hey, it's progress, right?!