Vacation Day's

John is given 14 days of vacation time each year with his job and sadly he doesn't ever have time to use his vacation time. But this year we decided to use it - all! His time runs out the start of May so we are taking a few days here and there up until our big trip to Chicago in May. So this weekend John took Thursday off to do yard work, and Friday we took off to Seattle to stay for the weekend.

It was an absolutely perfect weekend, except that all three kids and John were sick to some degree, but other than the coughing you would never even know it.

Friday we got up and had a very relaxed morning getting ready to leave for the weekend. I am still amazed at how much 'stuff' you have to pack for kids and babies. But with a full car we headed out and actually made it to our ferry with perfect timing. We pulled into the waiting line, took a potty break (where Tyler's snap on his pants broke, so he was having to tug his pants up the rest of the day) and then drove on to the ferry. The ferry ride was smooth and calm with big boats, cargo ships, tug boats and other ferries to watch. We were able to get off the ferry and drive through Seattle with little effort or confusion, and make it to the Woodland Zoo off of 'really good' guesses for where to turn. We found a perfect parking spot and made it into the Zoo with amazingly happy and well behaved children, especially when they were feeling crummy. They were just so excited to be at the zoo (or jungle as Tyler called it) and to have this adventure as a family where the entire day was for them.































We looked around a bit, then stopped to eat a picnic lunch including chips (sad to say my kids consider those to be a huge treat) and then started off again to see as much as we could before it closed. By 5:00 we still were not ready to go, but they were closing the zoo and 4 hours at a zoo with kids that were still happy, cooperative and very cute was just another thought to make me smile. The weather had been perfect, and I just loved being able to walk around holding Weston's or Tyler's hands. There is something so perfect about holding a child's hand.

Weston and Tyler loved seeing all the animals, walking in the cool jungle, and climbing on all the sculptures and even though Tyler was having a hard time staying out of the animal pins, remarkably there were no injuries! Elayna even did well as long as she was able to get out and walk every now and again, and had something to chew on - teething is a bear! But she was great, and seemed to get a lot of smiles, and 'oh, how cute', comments from everyone since she was waving hello to everyone and anyone we passed.

Weston was very curious about everything and very accommodating to John and I who kept throwing words out for him to learn. We were encouraged to 'talk' to our kids to help build their vocabulary so Weston picked up words like sculpture, omnivore, Africa, Asia and slothful to add to his growing list!


































We didn't see even half of the zoo so we will definitely be going back! It is an amazing zoo with great layouts and things for the kids to enjoy.

After the zoo we headed to our hotel in Bellevue through rush hour traffic, but it only took about 20 minutes (another perfectly lucky experience) and got settled in, just minutes before our friends called to say they were there and ready to meet us at the temple. So we hopped into our car and rushed over. Miriam and I were able to go do initiatories while John and Dave took the kids to the park next door.

I had the most amazing and sweet experience at the temple that night and had it reaffirmed to me how true the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the gospel is, and that just all added to my 'perfect day'!

After we were finished there we all joined up and went for dinner. We decided to try an Indian place and the kids really enjoyed it. At this point (almost 9:00 pm) Tyler was starting to show fatigue, but all in all was still great. And not only did the boys like the food, Elayna REALLY liked it. I probably shouldn't have, but I let her try some of the curries and she liked them so I just kept feeding her. Not necessarily baby appropriate foods - but I guess she likes flavor!

When we got back to the hotel, the boys were very ready for bed. Elayna went to sleep immediately and the boys followed right behind. Except for Elayna waking up at 1:00 and needing a lot of close cuddling to sleep until 6:00 when she was awake, we all slept great! Still sick, but ready for another great day.

After a quick leisurly morning of Jimmy Newtron and Tyler and Elayna cuddling (they are the best of friends), we went down for Breakfast. (yes I am aware of how redneck this looks!) After that John and Dave went to the temple and Miriam and I took the kids to the park where they had soccer and La Crosse games in the fields next door, and great play sets for the kids, including a 'spooky forest' to accomodate their dragon hunting games! The weather was probably the most perfect we've seen in a long time!

John saw my parents in the temple unexpectedly so we went over to say hi and let the kids visit with them for a little while before they needed to head back in, and we needed to go for lunch!

We went to Chipotle which was great fun and great food, and again Laynie ate more of what she shouldn't, but she really likes flavor - and drinking salsa ! We then headed to the mall to look for shoes for Weston, Socks for Laynie and make the promised trip to the lego store. Success on all accounts, and we ended up leaving with 2 new webkins, free!

The two hour drive home was really nice with all 6 kids asleep, Miriam and I in our car and John and Dave in their car. We finished the day with an exquisite meal of home made macaroni and cheese and some really good great harvest bread the Squires had picked up.



















The weekend was perfect. The boys were amazing, kind, considerate, appreciative - just perfect! And though very tired, teething and a little sick, Elayna put up with everything! Laynie did finally cut her 2nd tooth, and is now a few days into crawling hands and knees and pulling up to furniture, including her crib so after getting that lowered everything seems to be looking good.

Wow - in just 3 weeks she has gone from doing basically nothing but walking with her walker to now rolling around, stomach to sitting, crawling hands/knees, climbing up, and being a little neussance who thinks everything is her teething toy! She still prefers to walk, so independent walking is still probably just a few weeks out which will be cute to see. She has been an absolute joy to watch as she is growing more and more into a toddler and less of a baby.