Bloedel Reserve- 1.5+miles, little elevation
Pass-Pay to get into the park Difficulty-1/5 Rating-4/5
The Tanner’s are Chris’ maternal grandparents. I have known them for several years before Chris and I got married. They are some of the best people I know. From the start they have treated me like family and I have always known that they love me!
When we lived in Mesa, then Chandler, we were lucky and lived only about 20 minutes away from them. It was always great being so close to family. The Tanner’s were always willing to babysit, let us use their home, feed us, and just visit with us. They made leaving Arizona extremely difficult! Luckily for us they had a trip planned to the Northwest beginning of April, so we knew we had that to look forward to! This past Thursday, April 7 was the day we were going to see them!
I was looking forward to the Tanner’s coming since we moved here. Tuesday night I went to bed not feeling very well. Wednesday morning I woke up feeling worse and by Thursday morning I was feeling awful! I definitely didn’t want to miss out on all the fun we had with the Tanners, so I decided to go to the doctor to see if I could get on anything to feel better. Lilly had preschool that morning, while she was at preschool, me and Ryan went on a date to the doctor. The doctor was nice, I told him I thought I might have a sinus infection so he checked me over. I had a decent fever, high heart rate, and I was lower on oxygen so he wanted me to get an x-ray to rule out pneumonia. He also gave me an inhaler, good cough medicine, and some stuff to help with my sinuses. We had time before preschool so Ryan and I went to get some cupcakes near by!
At the preschool they have a daycare called the MAC (multi age classroom or childcare, I’m not 100% sure what the “C” stands for). Anyway, I picked Lilly up from her class and dropped both kids off at the MAC. I then went to the hospital for my x-ray. Luckily it came back negative. I think I just had a bad cold/flu. I’m glad I had some medicine so I could still play with the Tanners!
Thursday evening the Tanner’s arrived! The kids were SO EXCITED to see them! They had been looking forward to it for a long time! We decided that we could keep the kids up late and we decided to take the Tanner’s to the park with a view. (Ella Bailey Park.) It was fun to show them the great views of the city! (Grandma took pictures on her camera, I don’t think I got any of us at the park.)
We went home, put the kids to bed, and visited for a little bit before we went to bed. Friday was going to be a busy day!
Friday morning is my morning to work with Lilly at preschool and Grandma wanted to come see how they do things in Seattle. (She is a teacher and has spent time teaching at a special needs preschool.) Lilly was a busy girl and wanted to show Grandma EVERYTHING! It was nice to have Grandma there with us! While we were in preschool, Ryan took Grandpa to the Community Center Park and to Starbucks for hot coco. I wasn’t there, but I am sure they had a great time. I don’t think any of us got a picture of the Grandpa Date.
After Preschool Ryan and Grandpa met us outside of the preschool and we caught the bus to downtown Seattle. Chris took half a day off at work so he could hang out with us. We showed up at his work a little early, and Chris was still working on finishing up. I decided to take Grandma to the Target that is next to Chris’ work. It is a city Target for sure. It is three stories high with escalators and elevators. There is even an escalator for shopping carts. After Target we went a picked up Chris.
Grandpa really wanted Fish and Chips and we all thought it sounded great. So we went down to Pike Place Market to get some. We went to the place where Chris took me when we were looking at houses. It was delicious! The Tanner’s wanted to watch them throw the fish, so we went to that part of the market that throws fish. It was fun to watch them throwing the fish and even more fun to watch the Tanner’s watch them throw the fish! After that Grandma bought me some beautiful flowers!
We got back on the bus and headed home for a bit. Lilly was super grouchy, so we wanted her to take a nap. We all went home and rested. The kids and I were the only ones who didn’t nap, but I think just having down time helped the kids a lot! We were having dinner at Grandma’s sister, Joan’s house. But we wanted to show the Tanner’s Discovery Park quickly before we went to dinner. We loaded up and off we went!
Discovery Park is one of my favorite places in Seattle. I think it is so beautiful and peaceful. We walked along the beach for a while, then we walked around the lighthouse. We loaded back up in the car and drove through some nasty traffic to get to Joan’s house.
Joan and her crew fed us a great dinner and it was great getting to meet the new-to-me-family! Everyone was so welcoming to us! They gave us great advice on things to do and see around us! It is great knowing that we have family so close!
After dinner we went home, made a game plan for Saturday and crashed!
Saturday we finally decided on taking the bus, to catch the ferry, to take a bus to the Bloedel Reserve. We had been there before and LOVED it. The whole time we were there before I thought the Tanner’s would love this! I think they really enjoyed walking around and seeing the different types of gardens the Reserve has. The kids like it there because they love being outside and being able to set their own pace (RUN). We played the I spy game again, and Ryan found all the “treasures” again.
After the Reserve we caught a bus to downtown Bainbridge Island. The Tanner’s got us all pizza and we had a great lunch! After lunch we went out for Ice Cream at Mora! Chris and I shared a banana split, and the Tanner’s shared one as well. The kids each got their own scoops! I think the kid’s impressed the Tanner’s by eating ALL their ice cream!
We walked to the ferry and went back to Seattle. We found our bus and went home. I fed the kids dinner and let them have a little down time, then we went out for fish and chips again. This time we went to the Fisherman’s Terminal that is near our house. The weather was beautiful so we were able to eat outside. After we ate we walked around the marina for a bit, looking at boats.
We went to bed fairly early that night. Then the Tanner’s had to head for home! It was hard to say goodbye! We had so much fun and we are so grateful they took the time to come and visit us!
The Tanner’s came at a perfect time! The weather was warm and sunny and not much wind! I think they were able to see all of the mountains the whole time they were here. I think the only downside us Grandma lost one of her cameras when she was here. (Although, I am hoping she found it!) We loved every minute of it and hope they did too!
