Family Reunion!!

I think I'm still recovering from the family reunion a few weeks ago in Washington! We had SO much fun.... here's a little recap (and by little, I have a feeling this is going to be pretty long):

Day 1 (Tuesday): We ended up going a day early, I'm not sure if it's because we were just THAT excited to get there, or if was a subconscious thing that I needed to arrive first. :)

Day 2 (Wednesday): Since Stefan's parents thought we were arriving later in the afternoon, we went over to their house and surprised his mom. She runs a daycare, so we had fun hanging out with the kids for a little while :) I was wearing one of my bullet necklaces and one of the kids asked me, "Is that a pen on your necklace?" and without hesitation, I said "yep, it's a pretend pen!" They are so much fun! We headed back to my parents house, and my brother Bob and his wife Allison had arrived! Stefan and I drove around and stopped by our old house, which was for sale, but completely a mess. It's so disappointing to see the house that we put so much work into, turn into a dump!! We had dinner at the Keg with Stefan's parents and then drove to UPS and got drinks at the cafe and sat in the cafeteria for a little while until we felt way too old.

Day 3 (Thursday): My mom, Allison and I got up early and went to Bikram yoga! It was their first time so I prepped them well. They did so good and stayed in the room the entire time and said they actually enjoyed it! While we were at yoga, the boys went to the driving range. We spent the afternoon at Shenanigans on Ruston Way... the weather was GORGEOUS!!! We sat outside and ate clams, oysters and other appetizers, and had a few cocktails :) That night, I met up with some friends from high school at Asado... it was so fun catching up with people I haven't seen in about 10 years!!!

Day 4 (Friday): Stefan had to go up to Bellevue in the morning for the wedding rehearsal... I met up with them for the rehearsal lunch at the Salmon House on Lake Union. The food was WONDERFUL and the view was beautiful! Days like that make me miss Washington so much!! After the lunch, Stefan stayed with the wedding party and played volleyball at Greenlake and I met up with my friend Jordan at U-Village. We had some cocktails, did a little shopping and played dress up in Anthropologie.... I have so much fun with that girl, I wish we lived closer!! I met up with my family and the Kennedy's at the Keg for their usual Friday night Keg night :) Once Stefan got back, we went to another one of our favorite places, Frisco Freeze for a late-night snack!

 Day 5 (Saturday): Before my sister and her husband arrived, Stefan and I decided to take a little trip to Queen Anne Thriftway (Metropolitan Market)... we got a few of our favorites... cioppino, clam chowder, Beecher's cheese and a few other treats :) We headed back to my parents house when Debbie and Chett arrived!! My parents had a whole afternoon planned of "backyard games" as my dad wrote out on his planning calendar. By backyard games, he meant beer pong and flippy cup. We played more beer pong and flippy cup, that the keg was empty after 3 hours!!! My mom and dad made over 200 jello shots... needless to say, I took a little "nap" mid-way through the Husky game. When I woke up again around 9pm, I was ready to go again.... but everyone else was ready for bed.

Day 6 (Sunday): Wedding day!!! We met Stefan's parents, brother, and sister-in-law for breakfast at Carr's in Lakewood before we headed up to Bellevue for Matt and Mimi's wedding festivities. My parents checked the weather for Monday (the day we were all planning to go skydiving) but it looked like it was going to rain for the next few days. While Stefan and I were in Bellevue, they were down at Kapowsin jumping out of a plane! We were upset that we missed out on going skydiving with everyone, but so happy that they were at least able to do it, since the weather never turned around for us to go while we were there. The wedding was absolutely beautiful!!! It was at Robbinswood House in Bellevue... the weather turned out great and everything had such a unique touch to it.

 Day 7 (Monday): Since the weather was still gray and cloudy (not skydiving weather), we all went up to Seattle and spent the day at Pike Place Market. We had lunch at the Crab Pot and had a giant feast of crab, mussels, clams, shrimp, oysters, corn on the cob and potatoes. By far, one of the best meals I've had in a while! After we got home, we just relaxed at home, had leftover gumbo from the day before that my parents neighbor made (SO good!) and had a few cocktails (shocking, I know).

Day 8 (Tuesday): Debbie and Chett left in the morning, Stefan and I got massages from Michelle (our favorite massage lady) and then had lunch with my parents and Bob and Allison before they had to go to the airport. We stopped by Remann Hall so Stefan could see all of his old co-workers and then had dinner at Stefan's brothers house. We met Shade, their new black German Shepard puppy! She is so dang cute and so well-mannered! We had dessert at Jakes in Steilacoom... such a cool view!

Day 9 (Wednesday): We couldn't believe our vacation was coming to an end!!! Stefan's mom made us cheese souffle for lunch and then we went up to Southcenter before we had to leave for the airport. I ended up finding an old Steve Largent jersey at the Seattle team store!

Unfortunately, our trip had to come to an end, but we had so much fun and it was a much-needed vacation for both of us! It was really nice to escape the 100-degree temps in Arizona. The rain and gray skies didn't bother us at all!! There's something about being at "home" and with family that makes it all worth it :)