We took an amazing family trip to the Pacific Northwest back in June. It was the week after school got out and I am just now getting around to blogging it! Summer be crazy! Haha. Anyway, here's part one. The fun of getting there and the super fun of our stay in Seattle.
We left on a Friday morning. We drove most of the day and stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Pendleton, OR. On the way there we only stopped twice. Once in Boise, where we found a fun park to play at after discovering that the Chick Fil A play area was closed. The kids had fun climbing around and swinging and burning off some energy before getting back in the van. They were good travelers all that day.
We loved the Holiday Inn Express! We went swimming right after we checked in. The pool was awesome! It helped that we were the only ones in it. There was a giant bin of beach balls and other blow up toys to play with. The pool was nice and warm. We had a blast. After we swam we stepped outside to admire the view. Holy cow it was just gorgeous. We will definitely stay here again!
Ian went and filled the car up with gas and picked up a pizza for dinner. We ate at a picnic table in the grassy area at the back of the hotel. Again, the gorgeous view! The room was a little bit small, especially since we have to cram 6 people into a room that is really only meant for 4. We got a roll away bed for Talia and slept Beckett on the floor. Everyone was happy with their spot and slept well.
Saturday morning we were up bright and early for hotel breakfast! We packed up with less chaos than I thought and hit the road. That last stretch to Seattle always feels long. It's really the shorter end of the drive, but for some reason always seems to last longer than it should. We had a pretty crappy stop in Yakima. Kids were super tired and grouchy and we tried to be cool and get them something at the dollar store, but they all ended up throwing fits and whining. Sheesh! We made one more quick stop for some food at McDonald's (of note: this was our only stop at a McDonald's the entire trip AND it didn't have a playplace!) before arriving at G&G Squire's house.
We were all pretty happy to get out of the car. We went up and visited for a little while then put on our shoes and went for a walk down to the water. It was warm and sunny during our entire trip, which was amazing. The tide was all the way out when we got to the beach, so Weston found some dead crabs and a few other creatures. We walked on the exposed sand bars, because they are less rocky than the shore, until the tide came back in and covered them up. Beckett was not a fan of the sand/rocks, so he had to be carried the whole time or sit on the blanket. Once he was settled on the blanket he enjoyed digging a little bit.
After our beach walk we left and checked into our hotel. This time we stayed at the Homewood Suites. It was perfect. There was a little kitchen, living room with a pull out bed (where Beckett and Talia slept), a huge main bedroom with two queens and a bathroom. I loved that we all fit. I loved that we could close a door between where Tal and Beck slept and where the rest of us were. I'm a big fan of Homewood Suites. They also have really good breakfasts and the pool was pretty nice too. It even had a big water slide, but unfortunately the slide was only open certain hours and we always missed it. The kids survived though and we still had fun swimming every day. Once we were all settled we headed back to G&G's house for dinner.
Sunday morning we piled in the car again to take a day trip up to Anacortes. We met up with all of Ian's aunts and uncles and several cousins from the WA area. We had a big picnic lunch and visited all afternoon. It was so wonderful to catch up with everyone and spend time getting to know each other better. The kids enjoyed the tide pools, the rocks, and the playground. We are so glad that everyone could come! By the end of the day Sunday we were all pretty bushed. Ian snuck away to have dinner with his buddy, Adam, while I took the kids for a quick swim then got them all to bed.
Monday was our Seattle sightseeing day. We had bought tickets ahead of time to go to the top of the Space Needle. Our reservation was pretty early, so we got moving that morning. The hardest part was parking! We found a public lot to park in then took the monorail over to the Space Needle. We sat in the front of the train. It was pretty cool. The Space Needle was really cool. The littles were done with it about 5 minutes after we got up to the top though. It was a bit of a battle to keep the little ones happy until we were all ready to go back down. There were lots of cool exhibits inside to explore and the views were amazing. It was another clear, sunny day. We were so lucky with the weather!
When we got back down to the ground we walked over to this cool playground area that was set up outside the EMP. It was a little bit too hard for most of the kids to manage except Weston, but they all found something to play on. Davin liked the spinning merry go round. Talia went in the swings. Beckett had fun playing these giant chimes made from pipes with billiard balls strung up inside them. Everyone was getting tired, so we called it a day. We took the monorail back to the car and stopped for Dick's for lunch on the way back to the hotel.
Ian took the kids for a quick swim while I caught a quick nap before we headed over to spend some more time with G&G Squire. Grandma took us for a walk to the toy store in Edmonds and spoiled the kids with new toys too. They loved it! We had dinner and played with toys that evening. It was really nice to get to have some down time to spend with Grandma and Grandpa. Talia shared some of her glow bracelets with her great grandparents and Beckett was happy to play trains. Weston showed off his Kendama skills. He and Davin both played a couple of songs they had memorized on the piano and we had lots of time to talk. Ian hunkered down and talked music with Grandpa. Such a nice visit!
Tuesday morning we packed up the hotel room and drove over to say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa before heading down to Great Wolf Lodge. We had a banana bread snack and gave lots of hugs. We are so glad we could spend a few days in Seattle! We love you Grandma and Grandpa Squire!
