We took the girls on a trip to Seattle to visit Jesse and Bonnie DeGroff and company. Because the trip was 13 hours of drive, we split the travel into 2 days. The first day we stayed in a Fairfield Inn hotel in Nampa, ID just outside of Boise. Once we got settled into the room Eliza was bouncing off the walls. She was having a such a fun time playing on the bed watching TV and eating treats. Eliza exclaimed, "This is the best trip ever!" We were very blessed to have the kids sleep well through the night, especially Baby Jules who slept through the night!The next morning John woke up early and couldn't fall asleep. Excited to get up to Seattle, he promptly got ready for the day and waited for 7am to come around to get Paige and the others up and on the road by 8:30am.
The next 8 hours were some of the longest. Ted Esplin had told us the trip was only 11 hours. With 5 down that left only 6 to Seattle. But that was wrong. The trip really another 8 hours with gas and bathroom breaks on top! We passed through a 40 mile wind zone which really turned into about 120! We were driving for about 2 hours in heavy head winds which really strained the driving. We stopped for a bathroom break and lunch but had to abort the mission when we could barely get up the small hill to the rest rooms without falling over!
The next morning we took the kids to a park for a kid's concert with Rodney the Raccoon. Eliza was so excited to see the mascot dancing around on stage. She begged John to take her to meet Rodney. "I need him!" After the show they went up to meet him. Eliza was so nervous she had to be prodded to say hello. We then took the kids to a park to play on the playground. The weather was so nice all week - mid 70's. A lot of people hang out outside because of the mild temperatures. The Seattle area is very nice.
On Wednesday we went into Seattle for the day. We visited th
e famous Space Needle and let Eliza and Chloe run around at the huge water fountain dome. After that we went down to the pier and had Fish n' Chips - John's favorite, and visited Pike's Place fish market. Eliza wasn't too excited about the fish but she loved the homemade gilatto ice cream we found. We got two bowls with 4 scoops each so we could try many of the flavors. That is one of the recipes Paige is going to try at home for Jule's birthday next week.
On Wednesday evening Jesse took John to race the go-carts. It was pretty fun but crazy. Jesse invited all the young high school student employees of his to come with us. These kids were absolutely crazy. The action was more akin to bumper cars than Indy-style racing. One of the kids there was sent into a barricade, which was pretty standard procedure for those kids, and he broke his hand! John escaped with just a tight back and neck. Fun, but not to be repeated!
Because Jesse's employee was out with a broken hand, Jesse had to fill in for him the next morning. John ended up staying home with a cranky baby and Paige took Eliza to a fun park with Bonnie and her kids. They had a blast riding on a train through the farm as well as playing on the several climbing structures.
Eliza sure had a fun time with the DeGroff kids. She played so well with them. She got into little arguments with Colden from time to time, but in her defense he was responsible for about 51% of the skirmishes. What do you expect from little kids!
Thursday afternoon we went to the local beach. As far as beaches are concerned it wasn't great, but the kids had fun planing in the sand and in the water. There must have been a local community college near bye because the whole beach was covered by young college kids.
Baby Jules was attracted to table/ box Jesse made and placed in front of the couch in front of the TV like a bee to a flower. Whenever we were in the house she immediately went to the box and sat on it. She did fall off of it 3 times over the course of the week, but luckily it was only a foot high. Unfortunately the floor was hard! She was so cute just playing up there, gabbing in her new found baby talk. She talks as if she is saying things. In fact, she inherited her father's sleep talking. Several nights we woke up to her babbling in her sleep. She is the cutest little child. We love her dearly and her beautiful smile and sweet disposition.Thursday evening sent the adults back into Seattle to go to dinner at their favorite Indian restaurant. Although it was no match for the Bombay House in Provo, it was good and the Nan bread was very good. Bonnie's parents, who live with Jesse and Bonnie (Basement now while the addition to the house with a "mother-in-law suite is being built) were kind enough to watch the kids so we could go out. We had a great time with them and without the kids. The vacation really has been about entertaining the children, which is fine, but it is nice for the adults to have their own time too.
We were scheduled to go home Friday so we could be home for church on Sunday. But Jesse insisted that we stay an extra day and Paige really wanted to stay too. So John made arrangements for a substitute teacher for his Sunday School class.
On Friday, our last full day there, Jesse went with us for breakfast (at 2pm!) at the local restaurant Maltby's. It was a favorite of John's sister Kristin as well as John's dad who fell in love with the cafe on one of his trips up to visit the Esplins while they were living there a few years ago. After brunch we took a short trip to the neighboring city of Bothel and visited the Esplin's old home and took a couple of pictures in front. 
That afternoon John treated Jesse and Mike (Bonnie's dad) to the new premier movie, Inception. It was a fun movie and nice to get out with the guys as well as treat Mike as a thank you for watching the kids the night before.
We left for home on Saturday morning and made the long trip to Boise where we stayed the night at the Residence Inn hotel. We were all so tired after a fun, eventful week and a 8 hour car ride doesn't exactly refresh the body and mind! To compound things Julia had a blowout 1 hour outside of Boise in Ontario OR. We had to stop at a Chevron to get her cleaned up. Paige didn't realize the extent of the mess and she laid her on the front car seat which quickly became a big poopy mess! After a makeshift cleanup with baby wipes and a clean towel to cover the seat we pushed on to Boise. John then ran to the grocery store and purchased some upholstery cleaner to get the car seats clean.
Feeling a little left out, Eliza contracted the runs and had a big accident in the bathroom which required Paige and John cleaning the bathroom and bathing Eliza! What an adventure. The rest of the night was fairly uneventful with the exception of Eliza falling off the couch in the middle of the night and Jules babbling in her sleep.
Sunday morning we made our way home. This leg of the trip was the shortest of the 4 and it was a good thing. Julia was very upset with being in the car seat for 2 days strait. We don't blame her. She cried most of the way home. We did all we could to keep her content but had to resort to ignoring her and letting her cry herself to sleep. It is very nice when the kids sleep on these trips.
It was sure nice to return home. As much fun as we had with the DeGroffs in Seattle, we love our home and it is sure nice to be back in it.
