Travel

I spent Thursday and Friday in Chicago meeting with our new client and despite the fact that this meant I spent half of my birthday on plane and the other half with a stranger who didn't know it was my birthday, I'm still really pleased about growing our business so it was worth it in the end. I enjoyed exactly 24 hours in Chicago before coming right back home.

This weekend has been a whirlwind. I landed in Seattle at 11pm on Friday and then had a family birthday brunch the following day, a family wedding last night and then a family Easter celebration this morning - all in Bellingham. Jeff and I are home tonight with Edie at my parents' for a sleepover. She'll return tomorrow evening to Jeff's care until I come home on Wednesday night.

Tomorrow, I leave for the East Coast for another work project. Spring is always my busiest season, but it always sneaks up on me. It'll just be 2 nights, but it's been a busy week.

March is nearly over and I failed to mention here the milestone this month holds - Jeff and my dating anniversary! We have officially been together for 19 years my friends. And that, I think is a very long time. I told Jeff this morning that I"m going to rack up as many miles as possible with all this work travel and I think it's very important that next year, when we celebrate 20 years together as a couple (and also our 10 year wedding anniversary that June) we need to do it IN STYLE. I have big dreams of us flying (for free) to somewhere very relaxing and doing nothing for days and days.

Sunny day

It was beautiful last night. We headed to the center for wooden boats, wandered the south lake union area and ate at Cactus.

Movie Night

Penny joined us for Friday night movie night tonight. Her parents were having a dinner party (2 doors down), so we fed and watered the kiddos and Penny brought Tangled over. They were MESMERIZED and it was SO CUTE. Penny came in her jammies and Edie immediately had to run upstairs and put on her "matching" ones - Penny's have peacocks and Edie's have hedgehogs. Edie helped me set up a picnic on the coffee table and picked out all the snacks to assemble a dinner for the two of them. 

Strawberries, Cheese Nips, Ritz, cheese cubes, tiny chicken sausages and
ketchup (not seen here because they were in the microwave),
ranch dip, carrots, gummy Mickey Mice from Disneyland, and raisins

Morningtime Adventures

Edie wakes every morning around 7am and yells from her bed, "Is it MORNING TIME YET?"

Jeff and I trade sleep-in days on the weekend so it's my job to answer that question on Saturdays and his job on Sundays. Whereas my Saturday morning wake-ups usually take the form of cream cheese bagels on the couch while watching cartoons, Jeff's Sunday mornings usually entail what Edie and he call their "adventures". He throws jeans and sneakers on before heading to her room and they are out the door. Sometimes they head to Boeing field to watch the planes and helicopters, other times they end up at "the hat and boots" - a park down south with a GIANT cowboy hat and boots to play on. Other locations have been hit up on these Sunday mornings and I like that they are something special she does with her Dad. I wish I was that creative in the morning, but my face doesn't usually like to be seen in public without a shower and quick make-up application. I like to think this is as much a favor to the general public as it is to my vanity. But a few weeks ago, I gave it up and took Edie to Pike Place at the crack of dawn. It was a good time.

California - day 3

These pictures of our Disneyland Day are reminding me of how much I love my kid. When she's not The Worst, she's for sure The Best. She was SUCH a trooper at Disneyland. There were a few rough moments upon entry to the park where Edie wanted to do everything at the same time and I think her brain almost exploded for 2 seconds, but after we moved past that and got in line for Alice in Wonderland - the day just got better and better. 

And my friends? I love these guys too. Because how lucky am I to have these people in my life who happily carry her on their shoulders for longer than I can (Heidi), friends whom I trust to take my child through the most crowded place on earth without losing her while I ride Indiana Jones and Space Mountain (Katherine). Friends who value Edie's experience at Disneyland more than their own - who enjoy seeing her enjoy the park (almost?) as much as I do. It takes a village, and I have THE BEST village. My village can kick your village's ass.  

Kidding. 

Kind of.

Waiting outside while Katherine and I buy tickets.

End of Main Street.

Pixie Hollow.

Alice in Wonderland.

I can't remember - maybe in Toon Town? Or waiting for Whinnie the Pooh?

Goofy's house.

Attempted group shot.

Inside the Casey Jr Train Ride with Katherine (Heidi and I were on Space Mountain).

Showing off our blue tongues after sharing a blue raspberry slushy in Toon Town.

Goofy's House.

The required "jail shot" in Toon Town.

Required dumbbell shot.

Edie kept turning around every time I asked for a picture.

I feel like maybe I offered her a gummy Mickey in exchange for this shot.

In line for Peter Pan - last ride of the night, just the two of us.

We went on a crazy number of rides, given how busy we expected the park to be - Alice in Wonderland, Storybook, Haunted Mansion (which Edie liked!), The GoCoaster in Toon Town (which Edie declared the "BEST RIDE EVER!", Whinnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, and Katherine took Edie on Casey Junior and Small World while Heidi and I went on Indiana Jones and Space Mountain. The only real misses, were Matterhorn and Pirates. But there's always next time.

Edie napped during the late morning drive to Disneyland, and then chugged along, enjoying herself the entire time, until 8:40pm when we all caved to exhaustion. She nearly dropped off to sleep on the tram ride to the parking garage, finally caving when Heidi carried her to the car from the escalator. She slept the entire drive home and stayed asleep when I carried her to the bed at Katherine's house and tucked her in. I pulled the blanket up and whispered, "I love you" and through her fog of Disneyland exhaustion, she still tried to say "I love you too" back to me.  I really do love this kid.

California - day 2

The morning of Day 2 was spent at Americana - a fancy new outdoor mall. We enjoyed the sunshine, bought Edie some things she NEEDED (like a pink sequined baseball hat and glitter t-strap sandals - you know, the basics), almost jumped into the fountain, enjoyed a fancy sushi lunch at Katsuya (checking the box on my need for outdoor dining while in LA), and played super hard in the sand playground.

Wikki sticks are so much more entertaining than crayons for kids! All restaurants should catch on to this new trend. This is Edie wearing her Wikki glasses.

Dear Everyone, I'm sorry about my hair. I don't think it really looked like this all day, but maybe? 

The afternoon was a mixed bag in which Edie fell asleep on our way to a birthday party for a friend. She did not wakey so happy. It was a bit of a party fail, so we hopped back in the car where Edie promptly fell back asleep for the long drive to Griffith Park. She woke happy the second time and we did a loop around the Observatory. Such an amazing view, I can't believe this was my first time there after so many trips to LA.

The evening was fun, but not really very photogenic. We stayed in, ordered take-out from Mozza - which turned out to be some of the best pizza of all time, put Edie to bed, and watched trashy tv on E! and GIRLS on HBO while I binged on cake and wine. Carbo-loading is very important before a long day in Disneyland.