Visitation or Vacation?

Issac & I went to Seattle for 8 days at the end of January. We didnt get to go for Christmas this year since Donavon is "the new guy" at work and it was too late to submit leave by the time we 'arrived' at Recruiting. Which is fine I guess, at some point we are going to have to start doing our own thing. Although I really do love & miss Seattle so its a good excuse for me to go home. I honestly probably wouldnt miss it if I lived by the Ocean... ok so maybe I would. I love hanging out with my siblings and cousins, always a good time. Makes me sad I miss out on so much of it. Especially since Donavon's family is so large, he couldnt tell ya who half his cousins were. I grew up with my cousins being my best friends and family get togethers happened very regularly. Usually every Sunday I saw my Grandma Gwen, which there was usually always someone else at her house too. Along with a lot of Sunday Dinner's at Grandma Elyse and Grandpa Carl's house and my 3 Henderson cousins were always there. I suppose I miss my family more than I think. (Pot Roast was always my favorite, Grandma Elyse makes a good Pot Roast... mmm)

We scheduled our trip while my mom had a day off so it gave her a long weekend & both my parents usually have Fridays off anyways. Our flight was quick, we arrived 40 minutes early! Always a bonus when you are flying with a toddler!

If you follow our blog you know my parents got a yellow lab puppy, Clive. When we got to the house we got to meet him. Issac loves dogs, maybe not so much puppies. He always got upset when Clive got yelled at, I think he was confused as to who was getting yelled at. To make things worse he's pretty shy and doesnt get to see his Seattle family enough to really know them at this point. Always takes about a week to warm up to them and then we are headed home. Hopefully now that he's getting older he'll be remembering them more often. We didnt do much on Friday since a few of the cousins had the barf-a-ramas.

On Saturday we made a trip to the Aquarium with all the cousins. Before we left I got Issac a 'child's safety harness' (a leash). It really came in handy not only at the airports but at the Aquarium. He's not a big fan of sitting in the stroller, he likes to get down and run. I think his favorite part was taste testing the ocean water. Yum...? For those who havent been there, there is a big tank that you can touch and feel sea creatures. Issac kept dipping his hands in, then licking them. I dont think he really cared for touching all the slimey and hard things.

Sunday we went to Church with my parents, Issac didnt attempt once to escape because Grandma & Papa were sitting on the end of the bench and are scary. Was kind of nice. After we had a family dinner. My sister even brought their new pup Ruger and the two puppies got to play around. I also got a chance to really hold my new little neice Victoria. She's so tiny! I'm so used to man handling Issac that I was afraid I was going to hurt her! Issac didnt much appreciate her stealing his Momma. At one point while she was laying in my lap he turned around and tried to sit on top of her. He's never been fond of babies, and apparently not fond of them stealing his Momma either.

During the week I shopped around for fabrics for window treatments for the house and matching shams for my new bedding. Fun huh? Actually it was, I went down to U-Village. Love that place. Issac didnt think so, he's become a real treat to take out lately. My sister & I also met my cousin Monica in Monroe for lunch one day. Nice to get out and have some girl talk, even if the kids are in tow! They were all good kids though :)

We did go up to my brothers one night for dinner and Issac got to play with his cousin Jack, another my cousin Deanna came by with her two girls who I used to watch in the summers along with my Uncle Bill & Aunt Diane.

On Friday night we went to the Mountlake Terrace Pool. Issac hated it. I was really shocked he hated it. He loves bath time and its like pulling teeth getting him out of the tub. He loved swimming lessons and all the other times we've gone swimming he's loved it. The only thing I can think of was the noise. It was pretty loud. Or quite possibly the 12 year olds creating tsunamis in the baby pool... not quite sure which one it was. After awhile he finally calmed down and his cousins came back from the deep end and played with him. After we were done swimming his cousin Jack was pretty stoked that they had the same PJs on! Definitely had to capture that one!

Saturday morning was time to go home again. We had a good trip and it was nice to get up there and get away from Utah for awhile. I think with every trip we take I realize that much more how much I miss it. It will be a cold day in hell before Donavon ever moves up there so I can just kiss that dream goodbye.