My Aunt Sue came up earlier this year for a whirlwind, 24-hour visit. It wasn't nearly long enough. Last month she came back up and this time was able to double her time here. It was still a quick trip, but we managed to pack in a lot of activities.
We picked Sue up at the airport on Friday morning and headed straight into Seattle to spend the day at the Pacific Science Center. Katie and her kids were planning to meet us, but Jordyn woke up puking. No bueno!
As a homeschool mom, I'm used to enjoying places like the PSC on less-crowded week-days. Though we were visiting on a Friday, I failed to take into account that it was Veteran's Day, so everyone was out of school. The place was packed! Regardless, we set about exploring new and old favorites, and managed to make it through the day only losing one child, briefly (Graham).
One of the best things about Aunt Sue, is that she's the first one to get down and play with the kids. Anticipating big crowds, the PSC staff put out a number of extra, hands-on activities. While I wrangled Nellie, Sue and the boys built some neat structures.
The kids couldn't wait to take Sue into the butterfly house. Despite the fact (or maybe because of the fact) that Sue has traveled to 120 countries, she was deeply curious and eager to look and learn about all she saw. Her enthusiasm and curiosity was contagious; I don't think we've ever stayed in that exhibit as long as we did this time around.
She didn't have quite as much success convincing the kids that the human brains were worth spending significant amounts of time examining.
We didn't enjoy all the extra people, but still managed to have lots of fun.
Nellie didn't nap (which no longer surprises me), so by the time we left, she was pretty unhappy with the whole situation. The following days would not improve this situation.
Saturday morning, we loaded up again and drove out to Northwest Trek. Again, Katie and her kids planned to meet us, and again Jordyn woke up puking. Doubly sad. When we arrived, it was cold and pouring rain. Thane asked if we could just get back in the car and go home (an hour drive!).
We hopped on the Tram tour first, which provided heat and cover, and the rain stopped swiftly. You never know what you'll get on the wildlife tours, but this time around we managed to see all the different animals, including three moose.
Nellie was definitely tired, and even pretended to lie down for a few minutes, but nothing we did the entire day could entice her to close her eyes.
No doubt, the kids' favorite part of the Park was the new kid play area. Sue jumped right in and played as hard or harder than the kids! Thane really wanted to go down the long pole, but was a bit nervous. Sue went down a few times first, encouraging him until he got the courage to do it himself. After the first time, he went down over and over and over.
After seeing his big brother go down, our little parrot decided he wanted to try. He's not quite big enough to go it alone, but Sue came to the rescue again.
Nellie thought the play areas was fantastic. She was fascinated by the water running by and kept sticking in her fingers and exclaiming in joy.
She also loved the rock slide and insisted on going down again and again. So much for being tired.
On the drive home, we stopped for what is now our traditional Sue-is-visiting dinner at Mod Pizza. Yum, yum, yum!
Like her last visit, Sue brought a suitcase full of treasures for the kids (and the parents too!). Since Katie's kids couldn't attend in person, they Face-Timed to join in the pre-Christmas gift fest. The kids all took turns choosing their favorites from amongst the many options.
One of my favorite gifts didn't come from the suitcase-of-marvels, but instead from Sue's backyard chickens! The kids loved that the eggs were a blue-green color.
We are so grateful to Sue for taking the time out of her busy schedule to come and spend a couple crazy days with us! It is such a treat.
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