Summer 2018: Grandma and Grandpa Jinks' visit

On August 13th, the day after we got back from our 2nd trip to Walla, Walla, mom and dad flew up to Seattle for a week. Their plane arrived about 11:15am, so I took the kids down to play at Angel park near the airport in Seatac. We went there once a couple years ago before dropping Oscar off at the airport for a business trip. I've been wanting to bring them back for a long time, so we drove down once the kids were up and going that morning. It has a playground, a lake, and a really nice splashpark. We met some nice moms at the lake who invited us to play with their sand toys, which was where Tyler spent most of his time. Allison was happy to splash in the lake with the disposable cups we'd brought (I always bring disposable cups to splashparks).

Unfortunately the splashpark didn't open until 11, which I hadn't planned on since the ones by us open at 10. Mom and dad's flight arrived at 11:14, so the kids didn't get a whole lot of splash fun before we had to head out to pick them up.

From there I dropped mom, dad and Tyler off to do the "Wings Over Washington" attraction downtown that I did with Amy last year. Allison was too short for it, so I took her on the nearby Carousel ($4.50 for one ride!).

From there we drove to the Freemont Troll. It was super crowded with summer camp groups until just before we left when dad took this picture of me alone with the troll.

Later that evening I took Allison over to the Y while Tyler went swimming with grandma and grandpa at their hotel. Oscar took him home for bed and I brought Allison over to visit, but she really wanted to swim too. Fortunately mom is a great sport and played with her in the pool.

Here they are splashing in the hot tub while Grandpa observed. Dad wasn't up for swimming again.

The next day we all went down for a fun day at Wild Waves. The kids loved riding the rides with grandma and grandpa and waving to them from the kids' rides.

Frog Hopper with Grandpa!

 Kiddie Coaster! I never get picures of the kids riding this since I'm always going on it with them.

Scrambling with grandma and doing a few more kids' rides before we got ready for the waterpark.

I never get pictures in the waterpark, so I took advantage of two other adults watching my kids to get my camera out.

Allison is crazy about this yellow slide. She could do this over and over again for hours if we let her. I usually get bored and have to drag her away to something else.

The next morning we went to the Children's Museum, but the kids wanted to swim before we left. The air quality was pretty poor at that point, so we figured we should stay inside after spending so much time outdoors the previous day.

My little star!

Tyler playing with magnets while Allison played with trains. Tyler spent a good chunk of time in the art studio that day since dad was willing to sit there with him. Usually I have to drag him away since I'm the only adult and Allison's not willing to be downstairs more than about 10 minutes.

They had some live music just before we left. Jammin with grandma!

Unforunately Tyler threw up early the next morning. He stayed with grandma and grandpa and rested at their hotel while I took Allison to the Y since she was full of energy and wanting to play. He felt a little better throughout the day, but I still didn't feel comfortable taking him on any outings, especially since he had an obstacle course the next morning.

After Allie's nap Oscar stayed home with Tyler while I took mom, dad, and Allie on the Jetty Island sunset tour. I can't believe I forgot sunglasses! It was so bright. Mom couldn't keep her eyes open for the picture since she was facing the sun.

Selfies with mom and Allie

 Lovely, lovely harbour

The next day Oscar and I took Tyler down to Issaquah for his first big obstacle course. He'd been sick recently so he wasn't in a great mood during it and just wanted it to be over, but he talks about it with pride now, so at least it left a good impression. Hopefully he'll like it more next year.

I liked the huge coloring board they had for the kids. Tyler zonked out hard on the drive home.

We went out to Jetty island that evening, this time with lots of sunglasses! Tyler's wearing two pairs!

The water was at the perfect tide level. 

Tyler just wanted to play in the soft, wet sand. I'd never brought mom and dad here since the ferry over to it only operates in July and August.

 Allison was fascinated by the dragon kite someone was flying. Mom kept trying to tidy up even though we still had 45 minutes before we could take the ferry back.

The next day was Sunday, so we went to church and celebrated Allison's birthday a bit early with blue cake we've had in our cupboards forever. We didn't have eggs, but the internet told me I could use oil instead, which totally worked. It was delicious! No one wanted to wait for the cake to cool, so the frosting is very melty while we sang to her.

She did her own cute singing before bedtime that evening, and Tyler took his own selfies with daddy's phone.

The next day we met up with Hana and Lia at Elevated Sportz in Bothell. We hadn't been able to see them that week since Lia was at nerd camp and Hana was at Marine biology camp.

They only allow one person per trampoline, which I think is a bit strict. Altitude in Marysville allows two, which is a lot more fun.

The nice thing about Elevated Sportz though is that they also have a really great play area. We went during "hoppy hour," which is the only way to go. It was $7 for Allison to play for 2.5 hours. Their hourly price is ridiculous ($9 for 30 minutes!).

Allison got to play in a ball pit! You never see those these days.

Jumping in the pit! Tyler couldn't quite understand he was supposed to jump into it from the tramp. He kept going to the edge before jumping. By the end he'd sort of figured it out.

Allison couldn't do any jumping since they require the kids be at least 3, but that was probably for the best anyway since she never could have obeyed the no more than one person per trampoline rule.

The kids finished up on the rocking horses then we went over to Chick Fil A once Hoppy Hour was over.

 And we enjoyed one last day in the pool that evening before Grandma and Grandpa left the next day. Oscar took pictures from inside the adjacent fitness area, so they're not the best quality, but at least we got a few. There aren't nearly enough pictures of me playing with the kids.

That evening Allison kept saying "my backward hurts" and Tyler put his underwear on over his shorts.

 
Mom and dad's flight was delayed several hours due to the air quality, so we ended up meeting up with Lia at the children's museum in Bellevue. I ran into a friend from my time at the Leavenworth Summer who works there. He got us all in for free. The kids had lots of fun, but it was crazy crowded! Everyone was trying to stay indoors. The air quality at that point was supposed to be as bad as inhaling 7 packs of cigarettes a day.

Tyler had fun playing with the car ramp before we headed back home. Oscar came home from work a bit early so I could take mom and dad to the airport without the kids. I really didn't want to drive them all the way down and back in traffic both ways.