Vacation with all the good stuff

 All good things must come to an end, and this vacation was certainly a GOOD thing.

We were blessed with amazing weather, amazing company, amazing scenery. Truly everything was amazing.

We started in Seattle where we got to stay with Nick and Jess and their adorable pups Linc and Grayson. We were certainly happy to reunite with these wonderful human beings. We had an amazing time reconnecting with them and all our favorite spots in Seattle.

We, of course, had to hit up Dick’s cheeseburgers. This time with Addie being old enough to truly appreciate the glory of a milk shake.

You can see from this series that she stole this from me and getting it back to “share it” was a difficult feat once she tasted how good it was.



We also got to explore all the typical sightseeing sites around Seattle. Adler recognized all of them thanks to Juju and her book “S is for Seattle” that she gave Adler a while back. 

The gum wall:

Pike’s place market:

And, Mount Rainier, which was out in all of it’s glory many times over the week.

Breakfast at Portage Bay Café didn’t disappoint either:

Somehow I managed to NOT get pictures with the other glorious reunion I had with my “wine & mags” crew --- we were the study crew in medical school that dubbed our study session as wine and magazine parties even though neither wine nor magazines made an appearance. Since I last saw them, Anna and Oliver welcomed baby Lila to the world, and Matt and DeeDee welcomed baby Avi. They were so cute, I guess I couldn’t put my mind on taking pictures because I was so busy watching them wiggle and coo.

We explored the Woodland Park gardens and this dahlia was just a sample of the beautiful flowers.

The Seattle aquarium was next on our list which Adler ADORED.

Of course it’s hard to adore something more than how much she loved her time with Grayson dog.
But, I’ve got to say, I loved the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium more than Seattle. We got to explore it with Auntie Katie.

Between the gorgeous atmosphere and this exciting tiger, it was incredible!

We then wandered down to Point Ruston to see the views of Rainer again

and to play on the play set

We then headed to Grantie Anne’s house, a new favorite for Adler because it was home to her “car.”
And I found the perfect tea drinking spot for those gorgeous PNW mornings

Yet again, I missed another photo op when we got to have another reunion with none other than Al Craven. Albeit, we were supposed to meet up over a UW Husky Football game vs Michigan (cancelled due to covid) but we still got to stop and have lunch at a lovely lake-side park. I cannot believe I didn’t snap a pic, but you’ll have to believe me that it was a good time, and a much needed quick hello. Take this beautiful view of the woods instead of the views of our reunion.

Our last stop was the cabin in Cle Elum, which we have lovingly dubbed “Chateau Michaud.” It is the perfect respite from the city – gorgeous views, “rides” and equipment for days.

Not only were there tractors, dune buggies, and motor-homes, there was a pool and puppies too!

We got to explore the woods and the amazing "swimming hole" that Ann and Tim found.

We were all in heaven, but Adler loved it most of all I think.

The smoke from the forest fires started to creep into town and over at Cle Elum lake

“Gruncle Tim” slowly morphed into “Grandpa Tim” and eventually they were inseparable since Tim was kind enough to take Addie on the tractor OVER AND OVER again.

It was an amazing time with family that will not be soon forgotten!

It was with a heavy heart that we packed up and headed back for one last night at Grantie Anne's before we boarded the last plane. Addie knew we needed to fill up first :). Now we're back to reality and ready to get through the rest of this Houston summer.