12.05.2011

Thanksgiving 2011

We anxiously awaited the holiday with so much to be thankful for. My dad, mom and both of my sisters flew up to spend Thanksgiving with us (for the first time ever!). We packed a lot in to their week-long stay and, of course, it went by too fast.

They arrived in the afternoon the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Jason was working so the girls and I met them for lunch at Purple Cafe in Kirkland which was about half way from the airport to our house. We were SO excited that we arrived over an hour early! After lunch we headed north to their hotel in downtown Everett then to our house to relax until Jason came home from work. We went to La Palmera for dinner that evening.





Wednesday we went to Maltby Cafe for a yummy breakfast then my sisters and I snuck away to Alderwood Mall for a little shopping. That night we went to Emory's on Silverlake in Everett for dinner. I have been a few times for brunch (which is yummy) but this was our first time for dinner- AWESOME!


Thursday (Thanksgiving) sipped Bloody Mary's at our house along with some fruit and yogurt to snack on. Our Salty's reservation was for 3:15 and we were seated right away. Dinner was fantastic! It was so nice to just be able to relax while enjoying an incredible feast together. After dinner we made our way home and took a 'nothing short of a food coma' nap- then my sisters and I decided to do some black Friday shopping. Many stores opened at midnight (and some earlier!). First we stopped at Toys R Us, they opened at 9pm and we arrived a little after 11pm thinking the crowed would have died down. No such luck, there was still a long line outside and in the rain. We headed north to the Seattle Premium Outlets. We got some awesome deals then crawled into bed around 3am. It was crazy busy and we ended up parking by the casino. We stopped in to use the bathroom and for giggles we put a few bucks in a penny slot machine. Katie lost her money within seconds but I walked away with $13 (after only putting in $3!)



Friday- my dad and I went to Costco. He always gives us a "Costco Care Package" for Christmas every year. Then we met up with everyone else at Jersey Mike's.  Later that evening, we went to Claim Jumper for dinner.

Saturday- we went took the Santa Train to Snoquamie, it was really fun and the kids had a blast! Afterwards we went home and actually cooked dinner rather than going out. We made 'thick-juicy-steaks' (as my dad always calls them), giant tiger prawns, baked potatoes, steamed asparagus, and salad with "dad's famous dressing" (another family favorite).














Sunday- Christmas shopping!!! Then The Keg for dinner.

Monday- Savannah missed school in order to spend the last little bit of their vacation with us. We went to Blue Moon Burger's in Fremont then walked up to the troll and around some of the neat shops in the Seattle neighborhood. Then we said our goodbye's- until next time!
I am posting this one week after they left and can I just say, I am STILL full from all the eating we did!

12.02.2011

GWL- 11/2011

The first weekend in November we took a quick trip to Great Wolf Lodge. It was Jason and Maddy's first time at the lodge and Savannah and I couldn't wait to show them the ropes. I even bought a waterproof camera! We invited Stephanie and Mathew to join in on the fun too!

On our way!




MagiQuest



                                           A splashing good-time!!








                                   
                             

                                'KidsKamp'- bunkbeds in our room


                     Until next time....