On our summer trip to Seattle the boys had a layover in San Jose, where my Lambert grandparents live. It seemed a shame to be so close and not be able to visit, so in September I planned another trip to Seattle via San Jose, but this time we stopped and stayed with them for a few days! We had a great time visiting with them, and then we continued up to Seattle to see my parents, with a quick side trip to also meet up with my sisters in Camas, WA. We were gone for a total of 10 days and had so much fun!
Thanks to our Southwest companion pass, the boys and I were all able to fly on a single ticket (paid for myself, Davey was my companion, and Charlie is still a lap child).
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA: the boys had so much fun visiting with GG Grandma and Gray. Highlights from this visit including spending lots of time in their beautiful backyard, and a day trip to Monterrey to enjoy the aquarium and the coast.
I had told Davey that GG Grandma was going to take us swimming in her community pool after we arrived, but the weather never warmed up that day. It was cloudy and 65 degrees, but he wanted to go anyway so we watched from the side in jackets while he splashed around in the cool water.
Coloring and eating lots of spaghetti - he requested this for lunch every day because I guess GG Grandma makes the best spaghetti noodles.
Helping make dinner
Charlie exploing the front yard with GG Grandma
We walked the boys over to the school park on Sunday to burn off some energy
Davey helping Gray in the garden. He picked lots of tomatoes and dug up a little onion
My grandparents were able to borrow enough guest passes from ward friends for all of us to go to the aquarium for free!
The kelp forests and giant pacific octopus were pretty amazing
Checking out the rays
Out of the pier overlooking the ocean
They had lots of binoculars available for spotting wildlife. We were able to watch a family of otters floating out in the bay!
Jellyfish are always mesmerizing to watch
Two kids in a clamshell
Watching the penguin feeding
After the aqarium we drove along the coast to visit Carmel, since I have never been there. They boys were both exhausted and slept the whole way home.
One last night of bedtime stories with GG Grandma before leaving the next morning
BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON: The flight from San Jose to Seattle is nice and quick, which is great because our travel days this year have normally been marathons. We arrived on a nice day and were able to spend time at the State Park and down at the lake.
Weather in Seattle in September can be all over the place so we used a cooler day to visit Kelsey Creek Farm. The kids loved seeing the animals, and the playground had been remodeled and was decorated like a farm - so cute!!
Eating dinner at Sahalee so we could "play Paco's golf" was one item on Davey's bucket list
There are so many great parks near Grandmari's park and we had fun exploring a few of them. Amarillo doesn't have the best park so it was nice to get outside and take advantage of some free fun!
We had one day that was warm enough for lake activities! We took out the kayaks, rode the wave runner, swam and ate watermelon. We love the lake!
CAMAS, WASHINGTON & PORTLAND, OREGON: My sister lives in Camas, which is a few hours south of Seattle. My mom and I drove down with the boys one morning so we could see her new house, spend time with her family, and meet Luna's litter of puppies! My sister and her daughter also drove over from Oregon so we got to see them too!
Luna had 4 puppies a week before we arrived. They were so tiny and cute!!
Charlie and cousin Briggen in the bath
We went to the OMSI in Portland, OR during our stay. It's on our museum pass so we got free admission and the boys had fun exploring and trying new things.
Testing out static electricity!
All the girls
Poor Charlie took a tumble down the front steps and got a little banged up, but luckily it looked worse than it was and he healed up in just a couple days.
We took the boys for a walk before driving back to Seattle and they had a great time throwing rocks in the water.
A farewell rainbow on our last day in Washington
Ready for the trek home. It's always a long day going from Seattle back to Amarillo, but these boys have been good little travel companions this year!
