My parents came the end of May to deliver my dad’s old truck, and our new truck to us. Before they knew they were coming then, they already bought plane tickets and rented a house to come visit us in August. They were coming in August to come over Sea fair. We’ve done just a small portion of Sea fair in Seattle the last two summers, and both times I knew it was something my dad would LOVE. My dad’s birthday is at the end of June, so for his birthday my mom was going to bring him up here for Sea fair. Then they ended up coming in May, but since things were already booked, they decided to come back again in August.
I was really happy that they were still coming in August. We were able to do a lot of really fun things with them in May, but it was a quick trip, we weren’t in our house, and I was just looking forward to them coming. It ended up being a great trip and I think they are super happy they came again!
They rented their own car, and had their own place to stay which was pretty nice. That way if I couldn’t go somewhere with them, they could just go. They also had more freedom to do things without kids which can be nice sometimes! Our house isn’t at full capacity yet, so it was nice not having to try to figure out where to put them as well. Although, I am happy to report we were able to take down a lot of the tapped off areas of the house. We had our dining room, our bathroom, our hallway, and our kitchen open. (Just waiting on counter tops, and flooring for our kitchen to be done, but our cabinets are in!) It was fun to be able to show off the progress on our house since the last time they were here, but still nice to have them stay somewhere else.
The first day they were here we decided to drive up to Crystal Mountain and do the gondola rides up there. We had been one time previously last summer and I found it breathtaking. Its a decent drive out there, just over 2 hours, but it really is stunning. My parents were up for the drive (I get my wandering nature from my dad) and they thought it sounded really fun too, so off we went. I was nervous about how it wold be because it was pretty overcast that day. It was going to be the clearest day they had, but I was nervous we would get up there and just see clouds. As we drove up the mountain the higher we got, the more clear it got. It was looking like it was going to be a pretty nice day! We made it to Crystal Mountain and got our tickets for the gondolas and as we rode up to the top of the mountain we would pass clouds. We still had great views of everything, but there were clouds below us that were stunning. Last year we went we saw an elk on the ski hill. Just like last year, we saw another elk! We made it to the top and views were stunning. The clouds I was worried about, just added more dimension and depth to our views. It was even more beautiful than I remembered. We walked around enjoying the views for awhile, and then it was time to go down. As we rode the gondolas down we were completely covered by clouds and at one point all we could see was white. It was pretty spectacular! On the way home we stopped a cute little restaurant and had a great meal. It was the perfect day!
The next day we decided to go to the Naval Undersea Museum. My dad loves museums, military type things, and the ocean. I thought this would be a perfect fit for him! It was a bit of a drive for us, and we had to take a ferry to get there, but that was part of the fun! It was a great drive and we all really enjoyed it! The Naval Undersea Museum was really cool and the kids really liked it. Of course the kids did get bored a lot more quickly than my dad did, but thanks to the great weather in Washington I was able to take them to the car while my dad finished up. We decided to eat at Hop Jacks, its a chain restaurant up here that we like, but this one had a great view. We were able to sit outside right next to the Sound. Everyone really liked their food, but the view was the best! We didn’t time the ferry just right and had to wait about an hour for the ferry. We decided to walk around Kingston and we stopped for ice cream and crepes for dessert. The timing of our treats and the ferry were perfect and we were able to hop on the ferry right after we ate. Another perfect day!
The next day was the main reason my parents were here. Sea Fair! We got tickets to the Museum of Flight, and with these tickets were able to see the Blue Angels take off for their air show. (We were able to see glimpses of the the show, but there was a hill in the way for a big chunk of it.) The Museum of Flight is a really cool museum and that we’ve been to before. For Sea Fair they had a bunch of exhibits outside. There were a lot of things for the kids to do, and they all had a really great time! The favorite booth was taking apart old kid/baby electronic toys. Ryan could spend his whole day there. They also had trampolines for the kids to jump on that they loved. Watching the Blue Angels take off was really cool, and really loud. The kids also loved hearing Papa talk about when he was in the Air Force and what kinds of airplanes he worked on. It was really nice having two cars for this as well. My parents got there before us, and they stayed longer than we did. After we left the Museum of flight we went to eat Hawaiian food, and next door was a Hawaiian bakery. We got Macadamia nut pie, that was amazing, so of course I had to tell my mom to go get some when they were done. My parents loved that pie too. mmm.. good stuff.
The next day we were going to continue Sea fair, but Lillian was puking so again, nice to have the rental car, and we sent my parents on without us. The toured an Aircraft Carrier, they went on an Argosy boat tour, and enjoyed the day together. I’m glad they were still able to have fun without us! That night we were talking about what we wanted to do the next day, and we wanted to go whale watching. I was able to find tickets for the next day and booked them! I was so excited!
I LOVE whale watching. I love being on boats, on the water, and I love looking for whales. I’m still hoping that one day I will just be out on a boat and see one without having to go on a whale watching tour, but that day has not happened. Luckily I have been whale watching two times in The PNW and both times I saw whales. The first time we went out of Anacortes and we were able to see Oracs. It really was a magical experience! This time we went out of Edmonds. The tickets cost a little bit more, but its basically in my backyard so we don’t have to drive so far to go. We reserved our tickets and went to pick them up, and when they gave us our tickets they told us we had a table and assigned seats. (I guess most of the seats are first come first serve so you want to get on quickly to get good seats. I will also add that once you get going you are free to walk around, and when you see whales there are tons of spots to see the whales, so the initial seating isn’t that important.) But it was nice that we had a good seat saved for us! We also ordered their blue berry buckle (kind of like blue berry coffee cake) that was delicious! We also had unlimited hot coco. My dad was hoping to see Orca whales, since he hasn’t seen them before, but sadly we didn’t see any. We were lucky enough to see a grey whale, which is a little more uncommon the time of year we went. Part of the problem was there was a lot of fog out where the Orcas are, and the visibility just wasn’t there, so we didn’t go out quite that far. It was great to see it and we were able to sit and watch it for awhile. The boat ride out was amazing, and well worth it in my opinion! I think everyone had a great time. After whale watching we stopped to get some lunch and went back to my house.
The next day my parents had an evening flight out of Seattle to go home. But we wanted to end on a high note. They thought about touring Boeing, but the tickets were sold out, so I decided to take them on my favorite hike to Sares Head, and then go eat at Nutty’s Junkyard. My dad had never been to either, but my mom had done both with us. She loved that hike, and that restaurant and she knew my dad would love it too. We got to Sares Head and made the hike. When we got to the bluffs overlooking the sound all we could see were clouds. It looked like we were on top of the world. It was a crazy experience and I had never seen anything quite like that. We were able to stay for awhile and watch the fog dissipate. It was a really cool experience! One of my favorite times going there. I was glad that fog left so my dad could see the views as well. After our hike we went for our burgers and they were just as delicious as I remembered. After we ate we headed home, and then my parents went to the airport.
It was one of my favorite trips with company. We did a lot of really amazing things and it was fun to experience them with my parents. I think they both had a blast and I think they were glad that they still made the trip out even though they had just been.
Mimi and Papa brought the kids a Spiderman Mask
Crystal Mountain
Naval Undersea Museum
Kingtston to Edmonds Ferry.
Sea Fair at the Museum of Flight
Sea Fair. My parents touring the Aircraft Carriers
Whale Watching out of Edmonds
Sares Head hike
