Seattle 2012

It has been a busy weekend!  Dad's birthday was this weekend, so Mom and I had to make a super birthday dinner.  We barbecued steaks, baked potatoes, and made salad for dinner.  We had a vanilla cake with pineapple, cool whip and coconut for dessert.  I think he had a great day.  It's hard to believe he is 29...again! 

We headed over to the Seattle area on Saturday.  Mom had a hair show to attend and Dad and I decided to tag along to see some of the family that I haven't seen in years.  Dad and I were also the official baby sitters for Mom's friend's child.  This kido is super cute and well behaved.  We dropped the ladies off at the hair show and we went to the mall to walk around and find the little guy a toy.  He is the most polite little two-and-a-half year old that I have met.  He was great and we had a fun time babysitting him.  It reminded me why I went into pediatrics...I LOVE CHILDREN!

After Mom finished with the hair show, we met up with my long-lost cousin Kayla.  We have not seen each other in 22 years!  We had the most fun hanging out with her for a little bit on Sunday and the whole day Monday.  She is so sweet and wonderful and we can't go another 22 years without seeing each other again. Here is a picture from Saturday:

Sunday night we went to my dad's cousin's house.  She made us a great meal and I got to see her "boys" (they are both married, so I guess they are not really boys anymore).  Their whole family is so funny and fun to be around.  We laughed the whole time we were there.  I can't believe that I haven't seen them in almost 5 years!  I missed both of their weddings so I am very happy that I finally got to see them again.

On Monday, we spent the day with Kayla.  I haven't been to Seattle in almost five years, so I thought it would be fun to do the tourist things and hit Pike Place Market.  We started out at the waterfront and headed up to the market.  Everything was just as I remembered--even my favorite mini-doughnut stand hadn't moved and was just as yummy as before!  I picked up a beautiful tiny canvas picture of the market and a spoon rest.  I don't think there is a person in the world more excited about a spoon rest than me.  Here are some pictures from the Market, but unfortunately for you, I don't have a picture of the spoon rest... yet:

It was a super windy day so our hair was a mess.  The wind was chilly, so my cute cardigan had to be buttoned and I look like I am a missing extra from "Little House on the Prairie," haha!

In front of the "Gum Wall"

Blue Trees (I think we were on 4th)

 Mom and Dad wanted to hit  up Buca de Beppo for dinner, so we headed to the Seattle location.  We had an early dinner; in fact, we were the first customers in the place!  We had a great dinner.

The Space Needle was pained orange to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Space Needle. 

After dinner, we headed back to our hotel in Bellevue to say our goodbyes.  We had a great time in the Seattle area seeing our relatives.  We didn't get to see everyone, but we had a great time seeing those who we had time to see.  I wish we could have stayed longer to see more people and have more fun!  The drive home went by relatively quickly; but as a general rule, if I am driving through the pass it will be poor visibility.  If anyone else is driving, it will be clear.  This rule stayed true for this trip as well.  I guess we knows who isn't driving though the pass(es) down to Vegas!