Grandma Tanner’s Sister Joan, who lives in the PNW, was celebrating a birthday. Grandma Tanner and Nadine decided to make the flight up and celebrate it with her. We were excited that we were going to be able to see the Grandmas for a bit! They were coming right as our house remodel was really taking shape, and we thought there was a chance that we would need to leave our house for a month or two, while some of the necessities were being replaced. (The big one being plumbing.) They were coming and were planning on staying with us so I did give them a little heads up that we we may need to leave the house while they were there, but we just wouldn’t know until basically we needed to be out. So we all agreed that they’d come and if we had to leave, we had to leave.
We had a good day with them, then things started falling into place for our remodel and we needed to leave the house. We had a rental house lined up, but not quite as early as we needed it, so we got a hotel for the lot of us. It was a crazy time, trying to spend time with family, meet with a contractor, pack up all our stuff. (Not just the stuff we would need while we weren’t living at home, but ALL the stuff that was in our house so we could begin demo.) all while having one car. To complicate things, Chris’ mom ended up getting sick while she was here! It was definitely one of the most crazy company experiences we have had!
Our family and Grandma Tanner were able to make it to the birthday party. And Nadine and Grandma were able to stay at Grandma Tanner’s niece (Nadine’s cousins) house. Kids were still in school, and Lillian had her kindergarten assessment, and Chris was working (did I mention we only had one car too?) so juggling things was crazy! Oh and of course Chris had to get hurt during all of this and ended up at Urgent Care to get a tetanus shot. Luckily we were able to squeeze in a few fun things with Grandma Tanner (and Nadine on the last day)!
Grandma Tanner and I took the kids to the Ballard Locks (the fish ladders were closed) before the party and we had a good time there. It is one of my favorite places in Seattle! Grandma Tanner was also able to spend some time with Joan and Jerry and they took her to the Fremont Troll and other places. I’m so glad Grandma Tanner got that extra time with Joan and Jerry. We also were able to go to Richmond Beach Salt Water Park with Joan, Jerry, Grandma Tanner, and Nadine. The kids loved playing in the water.
I needed to take Grandma Tanner and Nadine to the airport a little early because Chris needed the car in the afternoon (did I mention we only had one car?) but before we went to the airport we were able to spend some time driving around Magnolia, and getting fish and chips at our favorite place!
It really was one of the craziest company visits we’ve had (actually it was one of the craziest few weeks I’ve ever had) , and honestly I hope to never repeat it. But I am still glad we were able to spend time with family. I’m glad that Grandma 1 and Grandma 2 have other family up here that are willing to help us out when we need it, and not judging us too much for our crazy projects. (They’ve been there before!) Mostly I’m glad its over, and I’m glad we’ll get other chances to show them a better experience when they visit again!
