Some of my best friends from high school were wanting to get together and go on a girls trip. My friend Mary Anne had a free resort stay and she wanted some of us to go with her. It was really sweet of her! Sadly it was looking like I wasn’t going to be able to go due to the house remodel. Chris was spending all of his free time at the house working on it, and we weren’t even living in our home. Chris was stressed, and I was stressed. I just didn’t think it would work for me to take off right then. I broke the news to my friends, and they were all really sweet about it. They decided to give up a trip where we all met somewhere (I think we were planning on Colorado somewhere?) and they would come up to Seattle and spent time with me and the kids. They were willing to come help work on the house, but the house was not in a state where we could just help. (Think walls missing, beams going in, no running water, or plumbing for that matter. It was definitely in the stage where we needed the pros.) Instead of helping on the house, we just got to hang out and they helped entertain me and the kids.
It was Mary Anne’s idea for all of us to get together, and she invited Kali, and Jeck, and me on this trip. Kali has been one of my best friends since we were young. I would say we got super super close in eighth grade and she was my rock, my go to in high school. I’m not the most social person, I always had a decent amount of friends, but it was rare for me to do a lot with a big group. But I was always enough for Kali and I appreciated that I could just be me around her, and she didn’t expect more. (Although I’m sure I had my moments of frustration for her.) Somewhere in high school Kali left the just friends stage and became family. She would come on family trips with my family to Lake Powell. She also was my roommate when we did a semester abroad in China. Kali and I started to be good friends with Mary Anne our freshman year of high school (her sophmore year). I will add we’ve known Mary Anne and were friends with her more by association (friends of friends). For me though that changed freshman year. I ran into the girls PE/Weights teacher at Walmart (small town!) one night and she convinced me to take power weights my freshman year. I convinced Kali to take it with me and low and behold Mary Anne was in that class. We spent the majority of power weights visiting, and walking the track, visiting some more. Did we even really lift weights in that class? I just remember visiting and walking. Mary Anne is the person that is friends with everyone and is always taking care of others. I felt like in that class though we could have a more intimate friendship (which is the types of friendships I tend to have). And I felt like we could talk to Mary Anne and she would listen/help solve our problems, but I also feel like we were that for Mary Anne as well. The three of us clicked really well! Jeck I’ve known for a long time, but I remember distinctly meeting her in second grade. Maybe the first day of class? She was really good friends with another girl named Kara, and the three of us became fast friends. Jeck definitely accepted me for me, but she was also very different than me (where Kali was pretty similar, and Mary Anne was more of a mix). Jeck definitely knew how to have fun, or where the fun was so I was included in that because of her. Jeck is also the type that is friends with everyone and knows everyone. Jeck and Mary Anne were neighbors growing up and are also related. I do believe Jeck and Mary Anne were roommates in college as well. Kali and Mary Anne were roommates in college (different college), and Jeck and Kali were roommates after college. (Kali lived with all of us, funny.) I would say we were all friends in high school, but I think in college is where all of us hung out together. Of course these are just how I remember things, and how I see each other them. I’m sure they each have their own versions of “us”. They were some of the best friends of mine since I was young, and I’m glad that we are still friends!
Anyway, I hadn’t seen Mary Anne or Jeck since we moved to Seattle 2 1/2 years earlier. (Mary Anne had since moved to California. Kali moved to Idaho, and Jeck was living in Arizona.) I had seen Mary Anne in California, and before I moved she was in town in Arizona (while Kali still lived there as well) and we all met up. Kali was one of the last people I saw before our move. She brought my kids travel gifts and brought breakfast over the day before our move. Jeck and I went to dinner before I moved as she was just celebrating her engagement. Kali and her husband Dave did come and visit us the year before and that was fun. But it had been awhile since I had seen everyone, and even longer since we were all together. I think we were all looking forward to spending time together again!
Once it was decided that everyone was coming to Seattle, travel arrangements were made. Jeck and Mary Anne were flying in, and they were gracious enough to time their flights so we only had to make one trip to the airport. Kali was going to drive and she came up the night before Jeck and Mary Anne came. The three of them were understanding enough that they also got a rental house. (Since we weren’t living in our house at the time.) It was also nice having Kali’s car as well. (Thank you girls for doing that! It really did make it easier on me.) They were here June 1-June 4 and we were able to do and see a lot!
After picking them up from the airport we went out for Teriyaki and drove around Magnolia. We went to the Ballard Locks. (Notice a theme with the Ballard Locks? See I really do love that place.) We spent the rest of the day just chatting and catching up. My kids loved getting to know them again!
The next day we went on a little road trip up to Deception Pass. We had the whole day so we took the scenic route and took the ferry to Whidbey Island. (The same trip I took my parents on.) It was fun to ride the ferry, but it was my first time driving on. (Either Chris or my dad was the driver.) So that was a fun. I love driving through Whidbey Island! We hiked around Deception Pass, and we even hiked Sares Head (my other favorite hike to take company too)! I think everyone had a great time being in nature. The PNW is seriously the best! (I really didn’t feel too bad making the girls come up to me, because seriously there is SOOOO much to do up here!) Before heading home we ate lunch at Anthony’s in Anacortes. Good food, and great views. The way home we just took the quick way home and just took the highway. (Although it still is a beautiful drive!)
The next day we hung around Seattle and went Downtown. Chris was able to hang out with us that day! (Chris also went to high school with all of us, so he was friends with all of them as well.) Chris took us by his work and we were able to hang out there. Then the Kali, Jeck, and Mary Anne went to Pike’s Place Market. (The kids, Chris, and I just stayed at Chris’ work and let the kids play. We’ve done Pike Place Market lots of times, and fighting crowds didn’t seem that great. I also figured everyone would enjoy the market more without us.) When they were finished they called us, and we went and picked them up.
The next day everyone was leaving. Kali needed to get back that evening so she had to leave pretty early. Jeck and Mary Anne had evening flights so we had a good chunk of the day to do stuff. We decided to go to North Creek Park Boardwalk. We only had a few hours so we needed to stay close to home. (Both kids were in school, and Lillian only went for a few hours). Again this is one of my favorite, close, easy hikes. It was a beautiful day so it was perfect! After our short hike we picked up Lillian, and went to get some lunch and Boba. Since I needed to pick Ryan up for school that afternoon I took the girls to the University of Washington Link station and they were able to take the train to the airport. They said it turned out well, so there ya go!
It was so nice having the weekend to see some of my good friends. Also do you know what an amazing feeling it is to see others love your children? Its the best! My kids loved the extra attention they got from Jeck, Kali, and Mary Anne. I know its not always the funnest to have kids tagging along, but my friends didn’t make it seem like a burden. In fact, I think my kids thought they were there for them. Thank you ladies for a great weekend!
Gotta love having your picture taken by a 4 year old. BUT we are all together!
A lot of the beaches up here have warnings about the dangers of driftwood. My kids were trying to make the beach a safer place by moving all the driftwood out of the water and out of the way, so people would be safe.
Kali had a little car trouble. Chris tried to help, but we ended up taking it into the shop. A bit of a roller coaster, but luckily we had a happy ending, and all was well!
