Two visits

Summer is waning, but we have still squeezed in two fun visits this month! Last week (August 10th) my grandparents came to visit us for an afternoon. They were on a big road trip and swung by our house to visit us. It was so good to see them again! I loved talking with my sweet Grama and watching her and Grampa talk with their great-grandkids. The next morning, I met Grama and Grampa at the Columbia River Temple and we did a session together, with family names that Grampa brought. It was: 1. the first time I've ever done temple work for a family name, and 2. the first time I've been to the temple with my grandparents since the day I was married. Double the goodness!

With three of their eight great grandkids.

Grampa's first selfie. :)

The next day (on August 12th) we drove up near Seattle to visit my mom and sister Mel for the weekend. We had a long list of back-to-school/fall shopping to do while we were there, but we also went to explore the tide pools along the Puget Sound. Of course my mom cooked us amazing food and took us to Chick Fil A while we were there, and we left feeling so full on Monday afternoon that we didn't want dinner when we got home! Jeff and I also relished several trail runs among the lush (in spite of the drought) greenery while we were there. The kids relished time with their Grama and Aunt Mel (and so did I). We sure love living less than 3 hours away from Grama Meri's house.

 Happy little traveler...as long as she had someone to talk to.

Nike Outlet!! The neon shoes!!

Alki Beach Park tide pools:

Baby in a bonnet in a basket at the beach: the best.

A crab! It was dead. 

It was rough, slippery going on all those barnacle covered wet seaweed-coated rocks. 

We didn't have any extra clothes with us, so we did our best to keep the kids from falling into the cold ocean. 

Awesome anemone!

Amber's first tide pool. She said "no big deal, guys. I do wet and slimy allll the time."

Touching a rough purple sea star. I let Amber touch it with her foot too.

The sea stars look so fat and squishy, but they were hard and rough!

poke.

It looks kind of gross, but that green stuff is just seaweed, not algae. There was such a cool fresh briny breeze there.

Amber wanted Rose's hair bow.

This guy was acting far too regal for his status as a lowly seagull. 

Grama Meri and Jay exploring afar.

After the tide pools, we took our wet sandy feet to lunch at the Husky Deli for sandwiches and ice cream. Delicious! The Pacific Northwest coast is one of my favorites.

Playing around at the house:

 

Sunday morning hair salon.

We did our share of errands, and that meant messing up the baby's routine. Amber was quite happy to eat/slime her banana in the car one day.

Ho hum, Target.

All tuckered out at Grama's house.

We built Amber a barricade in the corner for a crib. 

It wouldn't be Grama Meri's house without STORY TIME.

One of my favorite places to take pictures of my kids is on the porch at my parents' house, so I did a 5 minute photo-shoot while we were there:

"Kiss the baby"

Love

We love you, Grama Meri!