Trip to Seattle

So-the pictures uploaded funky so I am not going to try to move them-the first 2 are some of the Blue Angels. Then there is a picture of some of the cousins pretending to be airplanes while we waiting on the bridge. Then one of Alli enjoying her popsicle while waiting for the Blue Angels, and mama and Alli at the Blue Angels.
So-there's a long version and a short version (the highlights at the end). Feel free to skip to the end. :)
About 2 weeks ago we went up to Seattle to visit Ryan's family and be there for Blake and Kelsie's open house. We left late Tuesday night and drove through the night (switching off driving and sleeping) and stopped for 2 hours to sleep so we made it there Wednesday afternoon. That night we just hungout and recovered from the long drive. The next day we went to Mukilteo, which was one of Ryan's favorite places to go fishing when he was younger. Sadly, when we got to the dock area, Alli had fallen asleep and we hadn't slept well the night before (thank you record setting heat and lack of air conditioning anywhere because of the rarity of the extreme heat :) ) at all so we opted to let her sleep so for the first hour or so she and I hung out in the car (don't worry I turned the air conditioner on and off to keep us cool). Ryan loved the fishing and it was fun to see Alli with the fish and crabs. She really wanted to pick up/hold the crabs, but she only got to enjoy touching the fish for now. She wanted so badly to hold the fish, but then she would touch the fish and immediately pull her hand back because it was slimy. She did this probably 3 times until she lost interest. After that we went and finished officially buying our car since we bought it from an auto broker who lives there and we went out to some outlets and found Alli a bunch of cute winter/spring clothes for super cheap at Children's Place (I love getting good deals!!). Then Ryan went and played volleyball with his dad and brothers in a church game (and I somehow got locked out and no one would answer their phone when they were playing pick up games after :( o/well we got to play later in the trip so it made it a little better) Friday we went and saw the Blue Angels fly. That was pretty cool to see them fly in formation and do tricks. After that we went to downtown Seattle to some fountains. Alli had a fun time playing in the fountains (but mostly running from the water) and wandering up the slanted sides. Then one of Ryan's good friends from high school was having a bbq at his downtown apartment so after we walked through Pike's Place market (I wish we lived close to a place like that so I could get fresh, beautiful flowers for a good price!!!) and did some shopping in downtown (this became especially vital after Alli had a wet diaper that leaked onto Ryan's shirt so back to American Eagle we went) we went to his place. It was fun to meet and hangout with some of Ryan's best friends. They were really cool guys and everyone loved Alli. They thought she was so entertaining (she kept dancing and giving people knuckles) and was so well behaved, so that was good because I was worried how they would do with a kid at their bbq. We had a really good time! Saturday Ryan and I went blackberry picking (it was awesome because I ended up with 4 batches of freezer jam!). I LOVE how Washington has wild blackberries ALL OVER! We just drove down the road and 3-4 different places. We only picked for an hour or so, it was pretty fun despite all of the scratches I managed to get on my forearms (Ryan fared better in the scratch department only because he wasn't quite as determined to get ALL of the berries :) I actually think he was just smarter) and then we helped cut the fruits and veggies for the open house. The open house was a lot of fun, it was great to see more people Ryan knew. Sunday we all went to church and hung out and had a combined birthday party for Blake, Forrest, and Bailey so we got to enjoy yummy homemade ice cream. We ended up leaving late Sunday night so that Alli would hopefully sleep more of the drive home, which she did, but because we were so tired we also ended up needing to sleep more during the night so we switched off, and then stopped twice for both of us to sleep. Then we also found a McDonald's with a cool playplace so we hung out there and let her play for little longer than planned so with our extra long stops our 14 hour drive took 19 hours! So we pulled in Monday night exhausted from a fun trip.
Some of the perhaps not so fun things about the trip, that were nonetheless very memorable were:
* The heat with no air conditioning and lots of people in the house (which wasn't too bad, I like the heat, but I think it made it hard for everyone to sleep-especially our little Alli and Ryan).
* Our little family sleeping in a twin bed
* Twin bed breaking the second night at about 3 am-I woke up under a 2 x 4 to a sleepy frantic Ryan wondering where I was because I had just fallen. Luckily Alli was sleeping on a makeshift bed on the floor this night.
Some of our favorite parts:
* A massive water fight Saturday afternoon! I think it was as fun to watch as it was for those participating.
* The homemade ice cream Sunday afternoon.
* The yummy cupcakes left over from the open house- I am pretty sure I ate at least 10 of them- they were decorated so cutely with this edible gumdrop flowers with yummy frosting etc.- pretty much irresistible for both me and Alli.
* Playing games and hanging out with family.
* Letting Alli play with cousins and grandparents, she had a lot of fun, and showed her assertive side a few times when cousins would try to pick her up too many times. She wouldn't cry, she'd just push them away.
* Yummy Caramel Macadamia Chocolate clusters- Ryan and I ate way too many of these!!!
* All of the way fun things Seattle has to do. I am already excited for the next trip and all of the fun things we can do! I am so glad we have people to go see there!
Thanks Paul and Christyn for letting us come stay with you and for everything you did to make this vacation possible! We're excited for our next trip up there!