Visitors

I am convinced that when you're on vacation or when people come visit, that magically there aren't 24 hours in a day...more like 2.  The week went TOOOO FAST and we are all going through Merrill withdrawls.  Jaycee woke up this morning crying; looked in "their room" to see if their things were gone; and the final straw looked for their truck.  She is still devastated that they are gone and especially little ms. Rylee.

They were waiting their arrival Monday night so my Monday plans were cleaning the house & a presidency meeting. So Sunday morning (mother's day) I was in my g's blow drying my hair for church-running late as usual and in walks Dalynne!!! At 9am!!!   She drove through the night to surprise me.  That meant so much!  We went to church, talked, enjoyed the day at home and Craig made a fabulous dinner of surf & turf.  Best Mother's Day ever!!!  Craig made me feel so special and Dalynne was a bonus.  It was perfect for our 1 year WA anniversary.  Monday we hung out at home and made a grocery list and set out to shop.  haha.  I had to hurry home to make a dinner for a lady in the ward who had a baby. We had baked ziti for dinner and played.  The girls loved playing with each other.  Tuesday we decided was the best weather day to do Mt. St Helens.  It was beautiful!  I was excited too because Rhett sat in the front with me and was the perfect driving buddy.  Here are the pics for the day:

Playing at the playground before going to the Ridge Observatory

 Jaycee loves this kid!

 The view from after watching the movies.

 Jaycee got a penny collector book and she was SOOO excited to start collecting pennies

 KJR CLUB!!!

 RUN!!!!!

 We finished up and had to head back to make a quick pizza dinner and get ready for our Tupperware party---that NO ONE CAME!!!!  That stung a bit.  I guess I chose a bad day to do it.  Afterwards Rylee was playing down the stairs and got a little cut in her head.  I was glad it wasn't anything major.

 Wednesday was recovery day and we mostly hung out and played at home since the next day we'd be going up to Seattle.  The girls LOVED playing together.  Hadi loved saying HI to D and of course KRJ club although most the time it was Jaycee & Rylee playing.  We did take them this night to our favorite frozen yogurt and was just relaxing and fun!

Hangin out in Seattle!  They wanted to do a Seattle Day and we decided to take the kids to the aquarium.  We got a hotel up near there so we could spend 2 days in the area.  We parked there, shuttled to the trains, and into Seattle we went.  Hadi had a huge poop mishap and stunk all day!  I went to buy her a shirt at the aquarium and it was $20...no thanks.  We just dealt with it.  So we walked through the waterfront and snapped some pics on the way.  We need to come back to Ivans and eat their seafood. 

Silly faces

Even though she stunk and was belted through the city, she still had a smile on her face

At the aquarium near the beginning-the kids were so amused with all the fish

Silly faces again

They had the coolest touch pools and I loved that there were people to tell you about the sea life.  We all got to touch the sea stars and all sorts of things. 

Jaycee being silly again

She was a little scared to touch at first but then we couldn't keep her away

Dalynne loved the anemone. It was cool because it would cling to your finger-that's how it traps fish to eat them

Jelly fish.  They were so cool to see up close

The octopus was AWESOME!!!  You could see it's face and how it breaths in the water. 

Seahorse

+I FOUND NEMO!!!!

Us prettys under the dome.  It was sooo cool under there.  I could've sat there all day watching the fish.

Sea otters & Sea lions

That sea lion was super mad at D & Justin.  The kids were laughing because it sounded like he was burping but in all reality I think he was just being protective.

Walking through the city.  People were super calm & so friendly in the big city.  I loved the sealife feel to Seattle vs some other big cities I've been to

Looking out over the water front from Pike's Market

We did the 10 block walk to the space needle.  It was actually a nice walk although most of us-aka me-was onory and hungry.  We didn't want to spend the $19/person to go to the top since we already did the aquarium.  It was fun to still see it and play in the shops

After dinner and a walk we headed back to the train and caught the 9pm train just in time.  It took 25 min about to get back to the station and then we called our shuttle to come.  We had 45 min to kill so we ran around with kids and let them race up the escalators while I ran stairs.  My legs were so sore, but had to get a work out in somehow.  We headed back to the hotel suite and settled in.  Hadi was exhausted so I gave her a quick bath and put her to bed.  After we wanted to reward Jaycee because she was SOOO good in the big city.  She was such a good listener, didn't run away from us and had a good attitude.  It gets a little stressful with little kids in a big city when they aren't listening to you.  We took her to the hotel shop for a candy but they wanted $2.50 for a candy bar!!! Even the lady said "you know those are $2.50?!  I can show you how to get to 7-11"  So that's what we did.  Craig got a slurpee and Jaycee picked out Starburst.  Then Jaycee wanted to taste dad's treat and said "That's good, I want a sparkee"  She was convinced that's what they were called.  It was funny so I didn't want to correct her.  I got a thing of ice cream and made them all share with me so I didn't eat the whole thing alone.  haha.  We settled in and had a rough night of sleep.  Jaycee was snoring in my ear and is such a bad sleeper in the same bed.  By the end of the night Craig ended up on the floor with Jaycee in his spot.  We woke up exhausted and tired from a bad night sleep.  We got a bite to eat for b-fast and took the kids minus Kodee, on a walk while D got ready to go.  Then we all headed to Gig Harbor.  It was fun walking along the waterfront of the Puget Sound and the drive was beautiful!!!  We had some of the best seafood at a little cafe there.  It was a perfect trip north.

Saturday and Sunday we spent the rest of the time relaxing, playing at the parks in the rain, snacking on yummy TJ food, games, talking, naps, laughing...pretty much what a vacation is for!  

THANK YOU MERRILL FAMILY FOR VISITING AND FOR TAKING YOUR TIME TO VACATION UP IN THE RAINY STATE OF WASHINGTON!  We are still having withdrawls a week later.