Get ready for the longest post I have ever written!
The friday before our trip we drove up to Logan to visit some friends. Dane and Adam made plans to get together that weekend. I tried to tell Dane that I was leaving that Sunday and needed to get ready for our trip, but he said he wasn't worried. Men! It worked out and the kids love going up to Logan.
We left around four and since all the kids were up all day, they slept entire way to Logan. I think Bray might be faking it.
Friday was Adam's birthday and we bought pizza for the kids and the adults went out to eat Sushi. The Laings are always a great time. After Dinner we went back to put some of the kids to bed and went to see Spiderman. I liked it! I don't love Kirsten Dunst or Toby Maguire so I liked this one more.
Saturday was a lazy day. They have this beautiful backyard with shade over their patio. It rained off and on but we just sat outside and talked. It was so relaxing.
The little ones went crazy with makeup
Bray and Kai have so much fun together
We drove back late Saturday. I quickly packed up everything and we got the car ready. My parents came over to sleep since my dad was driving with me. I don't think we went to bed until 2. We debated whether or not to just leave but decided on getting some sleep. We set the alarms for four a.m. and were on the road by 4:40. The kids were out cold for hours!
Baby would get crazy in her seat so who ever was not driving had to sit next to Kiele
The drive wasn't too bad. We made good time and potty breaks weren't bad at all. It was great to see the Welcome to Washington sign and know we only had a couple more hours left.
The drive took us about 13 hours. We were so happy to arrive at my brother's place. They just moved about two weeks before we came. Amanda had some yummy chili ready for us to eat. After dinner we decided to go for a drive. I will have to ask my brother because I can't remember the name of the park. It has a beautiful view of Seattle at the top and a cool park at the bottom part. I want to say Kerry park. Either way it was a beautiful park in a very nice area. When I become rich, I'm going to own a home there.
Seattle has some amazing parks. I think the same person designs all of them because the have similar things at all of them.
Ani's favorite part. She loves climbing and monkey bars. This was perfect for my little monkey.
It had a climbing wall that the kids would just continue all the way up and over the fence
That evening we drove by the University Shopping Center. We went to get a crepes. The japanese crepe places are the best. I love all the japanese crepe places in Seattle. The crepes in Paris were so disappointing to me. They don't compare to these! My favorite is always the custard and strawberries.
The next day was a Monday and it was Ani's birthday. She wanted to be in Seattle for her birthday and I'm glad we could make it happen.
For breakfast we went to one of our favorite local food restaurants, Saimin Says. She ordered the mac nut pancakes and I don't think she loved them. I think she ended up sharing the sumo saimin I ordered for the kids. My sweet bread french toast was delicious. The bottle of syrup bursting all over my food and pants was not so fun. Should of taken a picture.
After breakfast we went to a fun park close by. I forget what it's called. We bought the unlimited pass for the kids to ride the rides. Bray and Jo hit the batting cages. My dad, brother and I did this crazy ride that swings you high like a pendulum. It was fun.
Mei Mei watched the other kids
After we got bored with that we went to Golden Gardens for my brother's beach volleyball game. It's a really nice park.
The water was freezing but the kids didn't care!
For dinner we found a Korean restaurant on yelp. I think my kids like their bathrooms more than sitting and eating the food. I swear they all had to pee! Multiple times!
We got back home kinda late and I felt bad that we never sang her happy birthday. I ran to safeway and bought a cake and some ice cream. The kids were all watching a movie on the air mattress when I came back.
We sang her happy birthday and by then it was after 10 and we sent them to bed
I think she had a memorable birthday. She got to spend it with some of her favorites!
Tuesday morning my Aunty and Lauryn flew in bright and early. That blow-up mattress the kids were laying on to watch the movie was their bed for the duration of their trip. I can't remember if we did anything. I think we ran to Costco in Kirkland. They were pretty tired. You can see them dragging while the kids did some dance central.
My brother had a fenced yard but when I didn't want to go outside, this little one had to stay inside.
We took the kids to a park close by so bray could play some baseball and the kids could run around. Kiele loved the swings and slides at all the parks.
same spinner as the first park we went to
Wednesday we made plans to go with my cousin Kumu out to Deception point and Whitby Island. My Aunty Sharon and Lauryn had dinner plans and stayed around Seattle. Deception point was breathtakingly beautiful! The bridge was scary. On one side you can see how high up you are and the other side had cars whizzing by. My pictures don't do the place justice.
We decided to hike down to the beach. It seriously felt like the movie twilight. Tall pine trees. I love Washington.
Once we hiked down to the bottom we realized you could drive your car down to a parking lot. We moved the cars so we didn't have to trek back up with the little ones.
We split up with my cousin with plans to meet for dinner close to the ferry back to Seattle. It never happened. We found our way to fort Ebey and spent a lot of time there. It was a defensive fort back in the days with canons and barracks. I think someone said something about it shutting down because they realized the guns on the boats were bigger. This area wasn't the best for little kids. Lots of areas for them to fall. We were a nervous wreck yelling at them to stay away from the edge. The kids had fun chasing all the rabbits in the area.
Cute Eli always walking around with his mitt
Ferry in the background
cute eli chasing his mommy
my crazy brother
we drove straight to the ferry to Mulkiteo. It was a short ten minutes or so... We yelped a place to eat since were starving. I can't remember the name of the burger place but it was GOOD!
Thursday we went to the Outlets in Tullalup. My Aunty Janice and Uncle Ron arrived that day. They came over that night to eat spaghetti with us. They are driving to Canada and so they were staying in the fifth wheel.
Kiele was a terror. She did like Uncle Jo.
Friday, July 20th was my Anniversary. Dane was still in Utah so we just face timed. My cousin, Kevin, and his family were flying into town that day. We had plans to go to Alki beach that day but since the weather wasn't the best we changed plans. We had him meet us in the city to go to the Pacific Science Museum. It just so happened that the 'Bites of Seattle' was also happening that weekend. They had bands and all kinds of different booths. The kids loved dancing and tackling each other.
We all met up at the entrance of the Museum and went inside for a couple of hours. My kids have been there before but they still had a lot of fun. They love the butterfly exhibit.
She loves all kind of slide
We stayed until closing and Kiele helped the worker put all the soft play blocks away.
I was trying to become her favorite
While we were playing Seattle, Daddy was test driving cars he can't afford
Just teasing, his friend let him drive his car. After we were done with the museum we had dinner at the 'bites of seattle' and listened to more music.
Saturday we had belgian waffles for breakfast and went to pick up my mom and Dane from the airport. We were so excited to have our daddy there. It took forever for them to get their bags because the carousel for baggage was jammed.
Dane took this picture of Mt. Rainier as they flew into SEATAC.
After we got the luggage we went straight to Pike's to meet up with everyone else. Since it was a Saturday, it was insanely busy!
We actually didn't stay very long. With nine children and two double strollers, it was chaos maneuvering through there. We decided to head to the aquarium.
Mei Mei
From below
The girls looking at the seals
For dinner we went to this place Aunty Sharon had seen on TV. It's called marination station. It was really good but also really spicy. It was kind of hard to find something they could eat. I know the adults enjoyed it.
There were these hula hoops outside the both the kids and adults had fun playing with
Everyone wanted to go to this japanese dollar store next to Uwajimaya. The place is called Daiso. It' s fun store. After the store we had to spend 15 bucks at Uwajimaya so we didn't have to pay for parking. I think we spent more than our fifteen.
We met at Baskin Robbins for some ice cream. Well...most of us. Aunty Janice, Uncle Ron, Lauryn, and Aunty Sharon wanted to skip the noisy kids and find their own. :) Just teasing. GPS took them to a different location but I bet it was much quieter at that one.
Since Daddy was in town we moved all the kids to the top bunk so we could sleep on the bottom. It was rough getting them all the quiet down but they loved being together.
On Sunday Kev and Tam had plans with their friends. We decided on taking the ferry to bainbridge island. It was a 35 minutes ferry ride with gorgeous views.
The beach we found to have a picnic at was great. We were able to hike along a trail with all the kids and strollers. It was such a beautiful area. The kids loved seeing the bald eagles.
Hard to see but there is a bald eagle on top of the post
Gangsta in the woods
Monday morning we took our boat harbor cruise. It was part of the city pass. It wasn't the best day but it was still a nice ride to see and hear about all of Seattle.
Some of the group outside
Some of the group inside
It was so nice to have daddy with us
dane thought it was funny someone named their boat midget
After the cruise we had lunch at Ivar's. It is really good. You stand in line and shout out your fried orders to them. After we were done eating the kids went to feed the seagulls our left over fries.
Bray really got into gang signs this trip
We wanted to see Pike's again since Saturday was sooo busy. Lauryn and Kevin stood in line for their coffee's at the original starbucks.
the line
the band playing just outside
Those two girls loved Lauryn. Baby was tired from the day and fell asleep while we walked through Pike's.
Some of us were slower than others so we met up at a grassy area at the end of the street. It had people from all different walks of life. Very interesting place to people watch.
We all decided to check out the olympic park in the area. Since parking is so expensive in Seattle we didn't want to move our car. The place we found to park in that area was relatively cheap. Our short walk was actually a trek. We definitely saw a lot of Seattle.
My brother had his beach volleyball game at golden gardens. Aunty Sharon guys picked up Pizza for everyone and the kids were able to play at that park. Love their parks. We watched Uncle Jo's and were mean parents and told the kids to stay away from the water this time around.
My buddy is Eli
Even the adults were climbing with the kids
After his game we went to have crepes for dessert at the place we went to last week.
Bray loved his nutella one
Mika spits her out and decided she does not love crepes
On Tuesday the girls went to Marshall's in the morning. I love Marshall's. It was my first time and it's similar to T.J. Max. The boys went to the golfing range. Bray did well.
We got ready for a long day and left after lunch to the Music Museum (EMP).
The kids loved some of the things in it. It was cute to see them listening into the earphones. On the third floor you could pay music with different instruments and that was fun.
rocker mika
If you love music and groups like pearl jam, aerosmith, and nirvana, it is a must see. It has some pretty cool things in there.
Space needle was next. It was the longest line we had to stand in on the trip. It was also part of our city passes.
We had a quick dinner at McDonald's before heading to Safeco field. The traffic was ugly. Parking was expensive but everything in Seattle is expensive. Dane was looking forward to this game since we first planned this trip. He loves the Yankee's. He even said during the game that it felt surreal to watch them. I'm glad we were able to do this. Bray is really getting into baseball and he loved it too. Ichiro, the Mariner's favorite player, was traded that day to the Yankee's. Lauryn spent 20 bucks on a shirt the night before and laughed when she found out he was traded. You can tell they still love him. They would only cheer for him and boo everyone else. Especially Jeter and A-rod.
I love Mika's smile and I love how she is finally starting to smile in pics
The Yankee's lost! We are bad luck. A-Rod was hit and fractured his hand. Yankee's won the night before and the game the next day but lost the night we went. Of course!
The Tougas family
Wednesday we made plans to go out to Alki beach. We had a picnic at a park nearby. It had a great view of Seattle. We had fried chicken and rice.
Kids were rolling down the hill
Daddy hit him with the ball when playing catch
After lunch we thought it would be hard to find a parking spot. That beach is quite popular. We were so surprised we found parking spot right next to each other. The beach was busy too! We walked to the bike rental place and rented to three surrey's. Two doubles and one single. We loaded everyone inside and had the best time. People would stare at use and count how many people we had on one. I think one had ten. Two kids in the front basket. Three adults on the front seat. Two adults on the back seat with babies in the baby carriers on their chest and a child between them. It was hilarious.
We were racing each other and laughing. We had the best time. I think those are the best when rented with a group.
We stopped at this statue. It's a miniature statue of liberty. We learned on our boat harbor cruise that the settlers of Seattle first thought of this area to be the new new york city of the west coast. The weather is harsh during the winters and the local tribe told them to make their city where Seattle is today. The statue still remains here.
That evening we grilled food on the bbq and had everyone over. Including my cousin Kumu and his family. They live in Seattle. We saw him last week but he wanted to see the rest of the gang since my mom and Dane weren't here yet when we met up.
Their cute baby duke
The weather was the best that day
Kiele loved Kumu
On Thursday, Aunty Sharon and Lauryn were leaving to go home. We drove down to eat at Saimin Says for lunch and then headed to gasworks park to hang before they left.
Lauryn looking at Seattle. She was sad to leave.
We said our goodbyes and they headed to the airport and we went to the Woodland Zoo.
The Elephants
Komodo Dragon
Harriette Potter (got that from my friend)
Bray and his cousin
I don't think we stayed very long. It was warm and most of the animals were hiding from us. We ate dinner at Jack in the Box and headed to hamlin park to play some more.
I love this picture of Eli trying to catch Kiele at the bottom
Friday was shopping day. Half the group that didn't go the first time went up early to the outlets. The rest of us only wanted to go to a couple of stores we missed and came up later. We also found another Marshall's store in the area. After shopping we got the kids ready for the grandparents. They were watching the kids while the adults got a night out in Seattle. We had reservations at Dragonfish Cafe for 9 pm. It was happy hour. Happy hour is so fun. I wish Utah had happy hour!
The food was good and we ordered a lot!
Tuna Tataki
Bacon Tempura. Sounds interesting but was really good.
sushi!
My drink was really sour. I think all the non-alcoholic drinks were sour. I think Amanda said hers was too.
After dinner we walked around the city. I love hot chocolate.
We ended up at Cheesecake factory and decided to have dessert. I don't love cheesecake and decided to get my nachos which I love. Dane teased me and asked how second dinner was for me.
We drove past the happening area which I think was called the capitol. Lots of nightlife. We went home to all the children awake except for the babies. I think the grandparents were tired too. Good thing they had the opening ceremonies of the olympics to keep them entertained. Thanks for watching the kids!
On Saturday we were all leaving except for my Aunty and Uncle. In the morning we watched the Olympics. We kept asking if anyone wanted to go anywhere but everyone didn't mind just sitting around watching TV. Around 3 we decided to go to Alderwood Mall and do some shopping. We said goodbye to Kev, Tam, and the kids so they could catch their flight.
The girls hugging it out
The kids didn't want to say goodbye
We went out for Jo's birthday before we were planning on starting our drive back. Aunty Janice and Uncle Ron were with us too. Despite some drama, it was a nice dinner. The food was really good. Thank you Aunty and Uncle for dinner. We said goodbye to them at the mall.
One of the best mud pies ever!
My buddy Eli. We have the same smile!
We went back to Jo's and packed all our stuff in the car. It was a sad goodbye since we don't know when we will see them next. I think we left a little before nine but had to go back to the mall and grab Kiele's sandals she left under the table at dinner. Most of the kids fell asleep right away. Mika was the last to fall asleep but she slept the entire way back. I think we got home around 11 am on Sunday. It's a long drive and it was so nice to pull into our driveway!
I can't believe how smoothly everything went for the reunion. There were some plans changed and it just went really well. It was great to spend time with everyone. I know my kids will always remember this vacation and I'm glad they got to spend time with their cousins and form friendships. Thanks Amanda and Jo for letting us take over your house. Thanks for everything and letting us enjoy your beautiful state.
We caught a quick nap before heading over to the Tanaka's for dinner. I'm glad we decided to drive back the night before so we could meet up with Mike and Sherene before they left Utah. I love those friends that you can get together with and it feels like no time has passed. The kids played well together and the adults were able to just sit on their deck and enjoy the nice weather.
All of our kids!
