We are almost through the first month of 2026 and January was a whirlwind of a few trips for me and a nice two-week long visit from Grammy and Grandad.  The very first day back to school for the girls and I had a very quick one-night trip to Spokane to make.  I felt like absolute trash basically the entire two days that I was there.  Thought I was on the mend from this terrible cold but felt horrible on the flight out.  It was still good that I was there to see the office fully staffed (doubled in size in the past four months) and operating and feeling like a solid office.  We had a team social that Tuesday afternoon and then I flew back to Seattle, feeling some better.

Mom and dad were coming to visit us, arriving the night after I got back.  Their flight got in late so Bryan put the girls to bed while I went to collect from the airport and got them checked into their Airbnb a few blocks away.  Their Airbnb was a nice little setup that I think worked out well for them and they were about an 8-minute walk away.  I spent a little time catching up with them and then went home to catch some shut eye. 

I was letting them get some sleep the next morning and got Reese on her bus but Brooke wanted to see them before school so we drove bye to say “hi” and Brooke somehow easily coerced Grammy to ride with us to school for drop off.  Grammy and Grandad were on babysitting duty Thursday night so that Bryan and I could volunteer for Guest Chef Night together at FareStart for the first time since Reese was born!  I went for a nice walk with my parents around Madison Park Thursday afternoon before then getting ready to volunteer.  The girls were very excited to be picked up in the afternoon from them and enjoy a night with just them.  They had a great night, showing them their new gifts, having some Pagliacci pizza, and playing games.

Friday was more or less a normal day.  Work, school, Reese’s gymnastics.  We had dinner at home of chicken fajitas and then I made a command to get some solid sleep since the past few nights were late ones and Bryan and I were going to have another late one the next night.  Saturday started off nice and relaxed at home.  We then all headed to Montlake Community Center for Brooke’s good buddy Halle’s 4^th birthday party.  This was a fun dress up themed party that Brooke thoroughly enjoyed and then we all headed to the playground to get some fresh air.  Mom and I opted to walk home from the park to talk and get some exercise in. 

Once back the girls packed their overnight bags to head over to their Airbnb for a sleepover while Bryan and I went to the party.  The girls were very excited and packed several games to take with them.  Bryan and I started to get ourselves ready for the party; 70s vintage Vegas themed.  We did alright with our costumes but never took a single picture all night.  Our party was just down the street at our friend’s Becky and Aaron’s house and was a murder mystery potluck party.  The crew really went all out with costumes, acting and food and drink.  Everyone nailed their part and it was very fun playing along with the cue cards and directions of the game while imbibing and catching up with one another.  We had a great time with good people and headed home a little before midnight since I needed to be up about 5 amthe next morning for my next work trip.

Sunday morning, I left early for St Louis for my first Annual Management Meeting (AMM) for United Rentals.  I had to get there by 4 pm to check in at the convention center but fortunately my flight was on time and I arrived without issue to my hotel next to the Arch and got checked in with some time to spare and time to walk around the Exhibition Hall and various vendors.  It was impressive its shear size.  From there I had a team dinner at a place called Rigazzi’s with one of our vendors.  It was good to see familiar faces from the Trench Safety group at this dinner and the food was mediocre at best but conversation was good.  

Monday and Tuesday were full days of scheduled meetings.  Monday started off early with a presentation by many of the executives, concert style, and then we all broke off to our respective meeting rooms for the workshops on being “All In and All United”.  I wasn’t sure if my group would be totally random but I was at least placed in a table with people all from the Pacific Northwest.  These meetings lasted all day, before and after lunch.  After we were finished with those we had the big Awards Ceremony with noise makers and lots of videos and applause.  From there, I walked with my group to the Awards Party at Ballpark Village.  Drinks, food, the football game, concerts, etc were available here and I stayed for the majority of the night and had a good time but really need a buddy at these sorts of things.

Tuesday was a little less scheduled for me in the morning as I had a break in my agenda which allowed for me to get caught up with work a little bit and get a walk in around the Arch Park.  After lunch I headed to the Trench Safety specific meetings which were interesting and informative but quite long.  This headed straight into another dinner at the conference center and once this was over my time at the meeting was over and I headed back to my room to relax.

I had a relaxed morning but was more than ready to get back to my family and parents who seemed to all be having a good time.  They spent the majority of Sunday together, sleeping in on Sunday morning and then Grammy and Grandad took the two lucky girls to see the new Wicked movie and lucky Bryan got nearly a whole day to himself.  They sealed the night with Thai food from Manao.  On Monday and Tuesday, Bryan got the girls ready for school but my parents were on pickup duty.  Bryan got some evening workouts in and they got takeout from Ezell’s one night and Pagliacci’s again another.  The girls had gymnastics Tuesday night and then I was home Wednesday night and the parents cooked us an excellent salmon dinner at home.  Such a treat!

Thursday and Friday were nice and quiet nights and typical days.  I was slowly starting to feel better.  I had signed up to chaperone Reese’s school field trip to the Seattle Art Museum on Thursday, not realizing that I would be sick still or coming back from a trip, but I’m glad that I went and Reese was glad to have me there.  I blazed through my work when I got home and then was able to meet the crew at Little Park in the afternoon before coming home and having dinner of chicken paprikash.  

On Friday, we had Reese’s first real meet of the season at the Battle of Bellevue just across the lake at the Bellevue Convention Center.  Reese had an 8 am start time so we had to leave early and both girls got to skip school on Friday.  Reese did great again and it was still so fun getting to watch her compete and do something she loves.  I think the 8 am start time is a bit rough for the girls though, who are not used to practicing or competing that early in the morning.  Reese ended up getting a medal for her vault event for her age group and her team placed third for their gym.  After the award ceremony was over, we all walked over to Bellevue Square to have a great, filling lunch at Tavern Hall.  From there we walked over to Downtown Bellevue Park to play at their amazing playground and walk around their little walking trail.  The weather was absolutely perfect but, on our drive back to Seattle, the fresh air and sunshine put us all to sleep.  We had a nice lazy night at home on Friday.

On Saturday we had another nice and quiet morning.  Mom and I took the girls on a walk/bike ride to Sam Smith Park for some sunshine and fresh air and Grandad brought them back home while we walked back home.  Then Bryan and I got ready for the first Seahawks Playoff game against the 49ers and the girls were having one more sleepover at Grammy and Grandad’s.  We were excited for the game, and to get there early to enjoy the atmosphere and a drink before the game started.  Then we were especially pumped when the Seahawks just came out totally swinging and the 49ers never had a chance.  Such a fun game to be at and sealed another playoff game at home for us.

On Sunday, we got to sleep in slightly and then I went to play soccer for the first time in ages and Bryan went to the butcher and then got a run in as well.  It was another beautiful day.  We headed home for showers and then waited for the girls return home.  We spent the evening watching more football and getting Thai food, this time from Hanuman down in Madison Valley, which ended up being equally good.

Monday was MLK Day and my parents were watching the girls for me while we both worked.  They came over in the morning to collect them and then all went bowling at West Seattle Bowl and then shopping at the GAP in University Village.  This was super helpful and Monday night Bryan had prepped and prepared a delicious roast beef like we had at Christmas.  I made my homemade bread and we rounded this out with mushrooms, green beans and mashed potatoes.  It was a fantastic meal!

Our last full day with my parents here was on Tuesday.  We still had beautiful weather so after an online exam I had to take in the morning I went for a walk with them through the Arboretum.  This was a nice, long one and then they took the girls graciously one more time to gymnastics.  That night we made the shrimp and green bean dish together and had some of the homemade potstickers that we had made and froze Christmas Eve.  It was sad to say our goodbyes to them on Wednesday.  They came over early to walk with Reese to the bus stop and then said goodbye to Brooke before she headed to school.  After they finished packing up at their place, I drove them to the airport and said my goodbyes.  

It’s seemed a lot quieter since they have left.  Fortunately, the good weather lasted for awhile longer.  It has rained a bit today for the first time and I think we will have a few more days of rain before it clears again but we had such a nice stretch of weather while they were here.  The day after they left, I volunteered once again at FareStart for a sold out and delicious night by the Homer restaurant.  The girls have continued to have gymnastics and Brooke had her first mini tap dance class with her two buddies on Saturday.  Reese had a sleepover at Georgie’s house on Saturday night and Bryan and I were able to get a sitter for us to attend the NFC Championship game against the Rams on Sunday afternoon.  This was quite a suspenseful game, no surprise as it always is against the Rams.  We loved it though and felt so fortunate to be able to attend this game.  And the last update is that we have now had two sessions with a reading tutor for Reese and we like her quite a bit.  I think this is going to be a great thing for Reese and our family and looking forward to having her come once a week.

It’s been a really great January and I am still feeling very thankful and happy about all of the various activities and time we have had this month and coming up.-

– 
Chelsea

This winter break was a relaxed, lengthy break full of family time and good food at home.  As much as we enjoy being with family over the holidays, this year, coming off of our trip to Japan, it was much needed for us to spend the holidays at home.  The break felt like a long one but this means that we all did get to catch up on our sleep and enjoy friends and activities locally.

Bryan was off of work beginning on the 24^th through the 1^st so that helped with care of the girls while they were off of school.  Right before the break we enjoyed a great cookie exchange at Brooke’s school. The weekend before Christmas we had a nice and quiet day on Saturday thanks to Georgie’s family taking Reese with them to a holiday concert downtown and to lunch and then on Sunday I took Reese to a holiday ladies tea party at our friend Clara and her mom Becca’s mom’s house.  It was nice being able to catch up with a few of the ladies from Reese’s friend group. 

Brooke went over to Madison’s house for a little play date while we were at the party.  When we got back from the tea party, Georgie was planning to spend the night and Madison and Brooke walked over with Bryan to spend some time at our house, have dinner with us and watch a movie with the big girls.  Everything was going well and they were far into the movie and nearing ready to go to bed when Reese developed what we are now guessing are pediatric migraines.  She complained of a headache, wanted to lay down in the quiet and dark room, and then threw up one time.  While we then felt fine after that, the vomit aborted the sleepover and we had to sadly drop Georgie back home.  Both girls were disappointed for sure.

For the two days that Bryan was in the office, we made due at home while I worked.  Reese went out with Georgie and her sitter for some fun most of the day on Monday.  Brooke had her buddy Halle over for several hours to keep her entertained.  On Tuesday after a quieter day at home and Brooke’s 4-year checkup at the doctor’s office, we drove to the east side for our annual visit of Snowflake Lane in downtown Bellevue.  We made a reservation for 12 people at STK to enjoy some happy hour snacks and drinks with Halle and Madison’s families and then all enjoyed the parade together.  We had a great time and Brooke was in hog heaven with her buddies.

Christmas Eve was fairly quiet.  I still had to work but also had to make a grasshopper pie and coffee cake for Christmas morning and then as a family we made Chinese pork dumplings and Brooke snapped us a bunch of green beans.  We magically got that all done before the Christmas Eve service at 5 pm at church.  We even got there fairly early and were able to snag a Lowrider cookie they had out, hot chocolate, and got a rare family photo taken in their picture taken setup.  The service was great and Reese was patient sitting through it (she was also given a goodie bag with some snacks and activities at the church entrance that helped) and Brooke fell asleep on Bryan for the duration of it.  We couldn’t even wake her up enough to hold and light her candle for silent night.  After service we headed back home to fry and steam our dumplings, which we had with some of Brooke’s green beans and a spicy smashed cucumber salad.  It was a great meal!

Once we got the girls in bed there was a fair bit more of work to do.  I had a bunch of little presents to wrap, Bryan assembled Reese’s new bike, and then we put together the girl’s new vanity.  We finally wrapped up our work sometime around 12:30.  Fortunately, the girls slept in until about 8:30, which was their norm during the break, so we were able to get some adequate sleep before heading down and starting to unwrap presents.  Everyone made out really well with gifts and were all happy.  There were certainly a few hit gifts that the girls really enjoyed.  We spent our day playing with our new things and setting up the new Tin Can phone.  Bryan then went to work searing and sous viding his roast.  We sat down to dinner around 5 pm and had the delicious beef, more green beans, my homemade bread and salad.  It was a delicious lazy Christmas Day and I didn’t even get out of my new Christmas jammies, which I had put on Christmas Eve!

I was back to work the day after Christmas but the slow day allowed me to spend some more quality time with the family and also help find places for all of the new things.  Sarah and her mom offered to take Reese and Lottie to the Burke Museum for Natural History at UW’s campus, thanks to free tickets she got from the library, so she spent most of the day with them.  We got some lowkey quality time with Brooke.  I showered and changed for the first time in three days and then took Brooke to a playground in the dry weather before going to get Reese.  

For that weekend we did a few fun activities.  We went bowling on Saturday morning with our friends Anne and Phillip and Rosalie and Reid.  The bowling was a hit and the girls loved it.  We then went with them to Lincoln Park to play on the playground since it was sunny out and after we had been there for some time and had worked up an appetite for lunch we went with them to a great little deli for a delicious lunch.  On Sunday we got to watch the Seahawks with an easy win over the Panthers and then in the afternoon we drove down to the Rainier Beach Community Center Pool for an hours swim in their lazy river, slide and shallow area.  We then showered and changed, got McD’s for the girls on the way to Harvest Vine where the girls, without coloring books or tablets, sat and enjoyed a dinner with Bryan and I for a nice night out.  The solution ended up playing a whole bunch of telephone at the table.

Monday and Tuesday were work days for me so Bryan tried to keep the girls entertained.  Girls, who were starting to get a little moody and testy at times.  Both days were actually beautifully sunny so after some time at home each day they were able to get out and enjoy the weather.  On Monday, they headed to Sam Smith Park, the I90 bike tunnel and surrounding trails for Reese to try out her new bike and then play at the playground.  We then had Lisa and Georgie and Sam over for a great dinner at our house.  On Tuesday, Bryan took them to the Luther Burbank Park on Mercer Island and then took Reese to gymnastics, which she very much needed to see some friends and exert some energy.  I got my hair highlighted that day so was out of the house for a few hours.

Wednesday, New Years Eve, I woke up not feeling the greatest.  I had set a goal to have 100 outdoor miles in the months of November and December, and all of my miles had been jogging but I had 5 miles to complete and couldn’t do a run so I took a nice solo 5-mile walk in the Arboretum before we got ready to head over to Anne and Phillips to watch the Texas vs. Michigan bowl game, me with three UT alumni.  The game didn’t end up how I would have liked but the rest were happy and it was nice to socialize through the game.  We then headed home for about an hour, mainly to prep my bread, to then head over to Sarah and Lottie’s house for NYE at their place.  We had some great wine, my bread and some nice cheese, and soup that Sarah had made.  We toasted to east coast New Years and then headed back home after that.

I had the day off on the 1^st and we really didn’t do much at all that day.  I honestly can’t remember much about this day other than we watched a lot of football and movies and picked up Thai food for dinner.  Bryan was back at the office on Friday so I had one more day of working at home with the kids there.  Lottie came over for several hours and the three actually played pretty well altogether and were not too distracting.  Reese had one more gymnastics practice that she was excited for we took Brooke down to Sky Zone trampoline park for a friend in her classes birthday party and then we had one more weekend over break.

On Saturday we had the big Seahawks vs 49ers game to watch that night so we wanted to get the kids outside and expend some energy before that.  We headed to Montlake playground and Madison met us there for some time as well.  The Seahawks managed to defeat the 49ers in a good game and we were quite pleased.  Our last day of break was a day that Brooke had another no-sibling birthday party at All That Dance so Reese went over to Lottie’s for a few hours and for dinner while I took Brooke to the birthday party which she loved the hour dance/movement class the teacher led them through, she got to see a bunch of her school friends, and then they got to have pizza and cupcakes after.

Whew!  We made it through a very, very long winter break and survived.  

— 
Chelsea

Japan and the Christmas season has not been the only things keeping us busy since the beginning of November.  There has been a slew of things:

End of soccer:  At the very beginning of November, Reese’s team capped off an amazing fall soccer season with a solid win against their friendly opponents, the other TOPS and Montlake team.  After the win, we headed over the short distance to Powell Barnet Park for some glorious November sunshine, hot cocoa and Top Pot donuts and I handed out certificates to each of the girls.  They essentially had an undefeated season and I was super proud of all of them.

Halloween:  Second year in a row for a rain-soaked Halloween here in Seattle.  Fortunately, it was warm but it rained a ton.  We frantically changed and headed to Brooke’s school for pick-up and to head out with her class to start, managed to grab some clear ponchos that a friendly neighbor had left out for people, and were able to see several friends throughout the night and brought home a boatload of candy.  We have learned over the past two years that Nerds and M&Ms packaging does not hold up well in the wet weather.  Someone should let those candy companies know.

Disney on Ice:  I took Brooke to Disney on Ice, something I had done with Reese at about the same age, and it was so much fun again.  This was again thanks to a mystery shop and free and again back up at the Everett Angle of the Winds Arena.  This time there were seven mini performances done for a variety of movies:  Frozen, Tangled, Moana, Lion King, Little Mermaid, Wish, and Aladdin.  Brooke and I had a great time during the show and got pizza and our nails done before the show.

Wild Waves:  While Brooke and I were at the Disney on Ice, Bryan took Reese and Luis and Eliana and Lucas to Wild Waves for the day.  They managed to luck out with dry, nice weather and no lines.  Towards the end of the night, they started to put on their Fright Night scenes.  They stayed a long time and had great fun and then got Red Robin before getting back to Seattle.

NYC trip:  My engineering department headed to NYC for the second year in the row for our end of year trip and site visit.  This year we stayed right in the Theater District and could walk or ride the subway everywhere, which was nice logistically.  This was also the first time that I was seeing most everyone in my company since being promoted.  We had three great team dinners, took a sightseeing cruise, got passes to go see another landmark so I went to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, which was great, and then had our site visit of the Hudson Yards project.  Everything went swimmingly until my return trip home, which ended up as a saga and I ended up having to get the last hotel room near Newark and fly back early the next morning.

Vaccines and trampoline park:  We all got our vaccines done on the same day and decided to again treat the girls for getting theirs by going to a trampoline park.  We headed up to Montlake Terrace’s new Sky Zone to spend a few hours there which was totally packed.  Girls still had a good time but I wouldn’t return to that one again.  After that we went to Tom’s Watch Bar to have dinner and catch the first half of the Georgia vs. Texas game.  

Dinner at Polly’s:  I hadn’t seen Polly in literally forever and they have recently bought a new house.  We had invited them over for dinner but couldn’t make it down here so we drove up to them and had dinner at their house.  The girls loved playing with Niko and Hugo so much they have since requested going back there.  They also were able to loan us a Japanese phrase book and some Japanese cash to get us started for our trip.

Hair appointment, dentist appointment, eye appointment:  This past month we have had an eye appointment for Reese, dentist appointments for both of them and a hair cut appointment for Brooke.  Getting all of those appointments in always adds a lot on the calendar.  All went well enough though.

Conferences:  We had conferences for both girls right before we left for Japan.  Our conference for Reese’s teacher, Ms. M, was insightful and inspiring and we truly believe Reese is in good hands and has made a lot of progress in reading and excelling in math.  Brooke’s conference went very well and we got to look at a lot of pictures of her doing things.  They don’t believe Brooke is silly though which was shocking to both of us.

Brooke’s Stone Soup:  The Friday before Thanksgiving, Brooke’s class rode the bus to Miller Community Center and fed the families the soup that they made, with bread and cookies, and did some songs for us to showcase the Stone Soup they had been reading and learning about community.  It was a nice day so the kids got to play together at the playground before and after the celebration and Reese even got to come to the even to support her sister.

Mini Nutcracker:  As a family this year we attended a difference version of the Nutcracker than we are used to.  DASS Dance puts on a miniature version of the show with more contemporary dance and costumes and at a 45-minute duration for younger kids with shorter attention spans.  They had some hot drinks and sweet treats before the show and the girls really seemed to enjoy this production, held at Seattle Central.

Rosalie’s meet:  To get Reese some exposure to gymnastics meets and to support her friend Rosalie, we went to the Star A gymnastics meet at the Burien gym.  Reese was totally focused on the meet and Brooke was off playing with Reid.  It was good insight into what the meets are like, just scaled way down from Reese’s future meets.

Reese’s meet:  Reese’s first meet was really just a practice meet where they are critiqued and scored by judges individually but not competing against the other teams.  Reese was so excited for this meet and her friend Mira came with her mom to cheer her on, which made Reese’s day.  They were supposed to start at 5:30 pm on a Sunday but it ended up starting at more like 6:30 pm so it was a late night.  You couldn’t tell from Reese though because she was full of energy.  She did so well and appeared so confident out there.  She started with her floor routine, which I was the most nervous about, and then went to vault, bars (her strongest) and finished with beam.  She was on cloud nine on the drive back from Tacoma.  As a family, we got a very early dinner at the Wooden City tavern in downtown Tacoma before heading to the Tacoma Convention Center for the meet.

Brooke’s bday party:  With us in Japan over her birthday and being a December birthday, we didn’t have much planning for Brooke’s b-day party this year and decided to do the same thing we did for Reese for this.  We headed to Playdate, paid for everyone’s admission, got some pizzas and snacks, and brought cupcakes and goodie bags.  Reese got to bring Georgie and Clara and Brooke probably had nine friends there.  She hung mostly with her besties, Madison and Halle, and had a great sweaty time.

Madison’s bday party:  Madison turned four right before our trip but we were able to attend her birthday party at Arena Sports inflatable zone.  Reese came with too and we brought Lottie for her.  Brooke had a great time and it was a good time for them to get some energy out on a rainy Sunday evening.

Cookie Exchange:  Brooke’s school had another event just on Friday at the Miller Community Center again.  This time we did a cookie exchange and the girls had helped me make the peppermint chocolate cookies we love so much for the exchange.  We have a full cookie box now which makes me so happy.  They sang a couple of songs and had a hot cocoa bar and the cookies out plus some crafts to do at the table.  Reese was again happy to come along and enjoy in the festivities.  

Seahawks vs Rams:  Bryan got out for the last Seahawks home game of the season for Thursday Night Football against the Rams this week.  It was a crazy game.  We started off brilliant and then quickly fell behind.  The people next to me left when we were down by 16.  Next thing you know we start to catch up, getting two two-point conversions in regular time and then again at the end of overtime to win the game by a point.  So crazy and so, so fun!  We rode the scooter over to Bait Shop for our third annual date night there during their Christmas light show and I swear it gets better and better.  It doesn’t hurt that the bar itself is so fun and their food and cocktails are really good!

— 
Chelsea

While I’m far behind in reporting on general life around here I must recap on our most current adventures across the big, big pond to Japan as a family.  This was a milestone trip for us because it was our first real international travel together as a family and as Bryan said, it was confidence boosting in many ways.  The girls were definitely exposed to a world and lifestyle much different than our own.  They handled all of the various modes of travel extremely well and for the most part were on great behavior throughout the trip.  Reese started off really experimenting with the foods and differences but once she was sick, I think the need for comfort of home and familiarity outweighed any new experiences for her.  And I get that.  But overall, I’m impressed with the things we saw, did and ate.  I would do the trip over again…although I’m good getting over this sickness we have all gotten from it.

So, our Thanksgiving was quite a bit different this year.  There was no turkey dinner, or sides, or pie, or get together at all.  We had our bags packed and were headed to the airport around 8 am on Thanksgiving morning.  We had no issues with departure and were able to enjoy the Alaska lounge for a few hours before boarding our flight.  We were able to get coffee and food, stretch out and relax in a more peaceful environment, and the girls love their pancake printer.  At noon our flight to Japan boarded and we occupied the four middle seats.  We got blankets, and pillows and an accessory pack and two meals were served on the plane.  Although our 10-hour flight boarded at noon we made sure not to sleep so that we were more than ready to go to bed once we got to our hotel in Tokyo.  We landed at the Narita airport at 4:30 pm their local time, the next day.  We spent much longer in the airport than we would have cared for, first through customs and then they couldn’t find our umbrella stroller that we had checked in Seattle so we had to file a claim form with the airport.  We got our bags and boarded the Narita Skyliner train for Tokyo.  This was about a 40-minute train to one of the subway stations in the city and then we got on a short bus to our hotel, Hotel SAILS in the Taito area of Tokyo.  

Checking into our hotel was a good feeling as it was now the middle of the night Seattle time.  We had two separate bedrooms, a little kitchenette, a big bath and shower and washing machine.  The hotel staff were very friendly and the hotel room was very clean and even had robes/jammies for us to use.  After getting settled in we were fast asleep….and then up at the early hour of 4 am. 

It took us a little while to adjust to the time difference and for several mornings we were waking up no later than 6 am.  And one thing I had read prior to the trip is that businesses start normal hours but many restaurants, museums and other places don’t open until 11 am or so.  Even after taking our dear sweet time that first morning we were dressed and out the door by 8 am.  Every day was sunny and surprisingly warm for late November.  Most days were in the mid-60s and one day even got up to about 70.  Glorious!  And not a drop of rain!  The girls were walking on their own two feet for about a ½ mile to a breakfast place near Ueno Park that had the fluffy souffle pancakes I’ve read and seen.  We got there right as they were opening at 8:30 am and got two types of pancakes and a prosciutto toast (and a slice of chocolate cake for Brooke).  The food was very good and the staff were friendly and the girls made several in the café laugh as they tested out the bidet in the bathroom, giggling through paper-thin walls.

From breakfast we continued on foot through Ueno Park which was a great adventure.  The park was beautiful and we stumbled upon a koi fish market, a bunch of families going to the zoo together, some lovely walking paths, a little playground, some street food that we got to watch and try these little hello kitty bite-sized waffles, and a pop-up Christmas market where we got some photos taken.  From there we went to Ueno Station to activate our 72-hour metro cards and took the subway to Shibuya Station.  Shibuya Crossing is apparently the most pedestrian traveled intersection in the world.  I was expecting a bigger area but we crossed and then shopped at many stores in this area.  The girls got to try their hand at Gacha machines for the first time (little toy vending machines) and a claw machine.  It became a good lesson for counting money during the trip.  We explored Miyashita Park where Bryan watched the end of the Texas vs Texas A&M game and then we grabbed a late lunch/early dinner that was super filling at the all-you-can-eat MoMo Paradise, which is a shabu shabu (hotpot) style place.  The girls did great, Reese tried some udon in the broth, meatballs and potstickers.  Brooke stuck to rice.  Both girls finished the meal with ice cream.  We were stuffed and tired already by this point so we explored the Sanrio (Hello Kitty) store some and then took the train home to our hotel for sleep.

On our second day, Bryan and I each got out for a run from our hotel, venturing north towards the Sumida River, with views of the Tokyo Tree over the river in the sun, which was very nice.  We had breakfast at our hotel and then headed to the subway station for Ginza, the ritzier area of Tokyo.  We headed first to Tokyo Station to find some great ramen underneath the station at Ramen Street.  This was an interesting place, a basement filled with many, many highly acclaimed ramen restaurants.  We didn’t know what we were doing but chose one that looked good and used a ticket machine to order our food, got a ticket and then waited just a few minutes for a table.  It wasn’t long for that or our food but long enough that Brooke fell asleep on me and slept on me all through lunch, all while eating super-hot ramen over her.  Mom skills.  Reese even enjoyed the thick ramen noodles in the broth that we made a bowl for her.  From here we explored Character Street in the station as well but managed to get out of there without buying anything.  We headed west and our next stop was a four-story toy shop that I had read about where you can try out all of these toys before buying.  This was a cool place and we were able to pick out a few Christmas presents for the girls and birthday presents for Brooke.  

Moving on, we headed by subway the short distance to Azabudai for our timed entry at the teamLab Borderless museum.  This visual art interactive museum was very cool and I knew the girls would love it.  You explore yourself, moving through whatever rooms you want to all of these visually amazing displays with lights and crystals and various elements.  There was one room the girls could slide down and there was another room that you could color your own sea life and then a machine would bring it to life on the wall and ceilings.  Super cool experience.  We headed from there back to our hood by the subway and managed to get tuckered-out Reese to a local izakaya (Japanese tapas of sorts) of a variety of grilled meat kabobs, tempura, and veggies.  Yum!

Monday, December 1^st was our day at DisneySea.  We left the hotel around 7 am and took two subways and the Disney train to get to the line at the entrance a little after 8 am.  There was already a hefty line waiting.  The park opened at 9 am and we were able to get in not much after that.  The park was beautifully stunning and so clean.  The attention to detail was super cool but navigating the rides and lines was something else.  You have to do a lot of it from your phone which is a little frustrating.  We were able to get on one ride right away and booked a rollercoaster for Reese and Bryan right after that.  We were off to a good start.  Brooke and I headed to Ariel’s Lagoon to enjoy some of the smaller kiddo rides and then we moved on to the Arabian Coast area.  We rode a double decker carousel and had a few rides booked with timed entries in the afternoon and were still trying to get the very exclusive access to the Frozen ride for Brooke so we decided to get lunch while we could.  For lunch we decided to wait in line in the Mediterranean Village for a lunch that would be more ideal for the girls.  Once we got a table, Bryan and I were able to order a four-course holiday special adult meal that was interesting, beautiful and enjoyable while Reese got a Mickey Mouse kids plate of pasta, meatball, and dessert and Brooke a margarita pizza.  

After lunch we headed to the Finding Nemo ride that we had booked and this was a fun ride.  We then set out back towards the back of the park, first going on the Sinbad ride and then it happened, we got Elsa.  We hurried over to the ride and skipped the 180-minute line and it was a very fun and magical ride.  We went on Rapunzel’s Tangled ride next which was quite lame and then Bryan and Brooke went to the Tinkerbell ride while Reese and I went to the 3D Peter Pan ride, which Reese said was her favorite.  After this, we had done most that we could.  The Indiana Jones ride was unfortunately closed and the Toy Story and Tower of Terror lines were too long.  We took the electric train to the American Harbor and explored the US Columbia ship that they had.  We took in the lights and had hoped to stay for the show and fireworks but it was still two hours before that would happen and we were still not time adjusted.  Reese had fallen asleep in the stroller (yes, SeaTac had still had it and had it shipped to us the day after we arrived) and Brooke fell asleep on me as we were exiting the park.  We got back to our hotel and both girls continued to be passed out and the parents had survived.  

The next day we could tell that Reese was feeling a little under the weather but not a full-blown sickness yet.  I went for another beautiful run along the river and we took some time getting ready in the morning.  We then set out by subway again to explore another area of Tokyo, Yogogi Park and Harajuku.  We first got off at Yoyogi Park, explored an interesting children’s playground and then got a kid-friendly lunch of burgers and hotdogs and milkshakes at a place next to the park called Arms Burger.  From there we walked to the north edge of the park to the Yoyogi Pony Park where they have a free and open pony brushing and riding session everyday starting at 1:30 pm.  We got there a little early, bought a drink from the ever-present vending machines, and met another mom with her two kids from Australia (an English speaker!).  Then the girls each got a turn to brush and pet the pony before riding them around the corral.  The girls would love to ride horses more, both were so happy and content on them. 

From there we walked through the park to the Meiji Jingu shrine.  We had promised the girls to rent bikes from the Yoyogi Park Cycle Center for their adjacent cycling field for kids but we had to walk all the way around the park to get there and after coercing them (and carrying them) the 30-minute walk we get there to find it closed for some sort of cleaning/renovation.  Major bummer.  We walked back into Harajuku which I had heard was the hipster area of Tokyo.  There were a lot of coffee shops and some narrow streets but we did a little shopping but were mostly tired, in need of food and a good night’s sleep.  We settled on dinner at a basement restaurant on one of the main streets for gyukatsu which is essentially a good steak, lightly coated in panko and then you finish searing it on your own little skillet.  This came with rice, miso and cabbage and an assortment of dips, sauces and spices which was very fun to kind of explore how you liked it and fun to cook it.  After dinner we headed home for our last night in Tokyo.

On Wednesday we woke up, packed our bags, and were greeted with the first cloudy morning and some very light mist.  We checked out around 9 am with all of our bags and stroller and took the train to Toyosu in Tokyo as I had purchased tickets to the KidZania there.  I was very excited about this experience and so were the girls but Reese was now full-blown sick, very low energy, lethargic and had chills.  She still wanted to go and was a trooper up until we were just about to leave at 2 pm.  This was such a fantastic experience though.  Each girl got a job sheet schedule and first got themselves open with a bank account and a debit card where they deposited the 50 KidZania dollars they were given to start. 

They then proceeded to try their hand at a variety of jobs of their choosing that each lasted somewhere between 30 minutes and 1 hour and could earn more money doing each job.  They were each a baker and made fresh, delicious croissants, then a lab scientist and made a yogurt drink they got to enjoy, then they signed up to be a makeup artist and loved this (although they did have to “fix” Brooke’s eyeshadow), then they were flight attendants and were assigned the food and beverage service and I was a passenger.  Reese hit her limit at this point so she cashed out with Bryan and I took Brooke over to the hospital to be the eye surgeon which was certainly the most entertaining to witness from the hospital window.  They then withdrew their money with their debit card from the ATM and could shop at the KidZania department store to leave with a goodie.  

We got our bags back and headed to the bus to go to Tokyo Station to catch the high-speed train to Kyoto.  We had assigned seats and I was grateful that Bryan had actually been on this train before.  It took about 2 hours (I think) to travel all the way to Kyoto, only stopping three times on the way.  We arrived at the Kyoto Station around 7 pm, then took the JR rail to the Nijo Castle stop and had an 8-minute walk to our new apartment hotel.  This was a very cool apartment.  We again had two bedrooms, which is great when traveling with kids.  We had a nice big bed in a big bedroom and the girls had some pretty comfy mattress that were on the floors.  We were again given jammies and house shoes for our stay.  We had two more toilets with bidets and a huge jacuzzi tub.  The coolest feature was the living room/kitchenette that had a table inlaid in the floor with cushions and a temperature control to heat the floor for your feet under the table.  Loved this!  Reese was so tuckered she went straight to bed which meant we had to go out to bring dinner back.  I managed to find a ramen shop offering takeout but that was quite the experience because once I was back home, I realized that the noodles weren’t cooked and the broth itself was frozen solid so we had to do a little kitchen work to get dinner together, thankfully the girls were already asleep.

Our first full day in Kyoto was Brooke’s birthday.  I had picked up some donuts for her to have that morning.  The girls were really wanting an easy day, Reese was still quite sick and Brooke was just wanting to hang with her.  While they soaked in the jacuzzi, I explored the nearby market which was super close to our apartment and very cool.  I was in search of a pizza lunch for Brooke to bring back and some slices of cake for her birthday.  Managed to find both after some time but didn’t have cash so Bryan went out exploring and to buy the cake later that day. 

That afternoon we finally got the girls out to explore the nearby Nijo Castle, which Brooke immediately fell asleep in the stroller for.  We then went back to the local market to a kimono store and the girls each got a beautiful kimono and sandal set from a very nice lady.  We went to dinner for Brooke’s birthday at a place that specializes in tempura dishes and very cheap food and beer and it was so much fun.  They sell all pieces by the price so we tried a bunch of different skewers, a bunch of tempura shrimp for me, a bunch of $1.50 beers for Bryan, the girls enjoyed the soda that they got, the fries, the edamame, and rice and tempura sausage.  We headed home to sing to Brooke and have the slices of cake we got earlier.  I think Brooke enjoyed her birthday just fine.

We had two more days in Kyoto and Japan and the weather was still much the same, Reese was slowly getting better, but I think both girls were starting to miss their home, their foods, their bed, etc.  But we were still having fun.  For the first day we set out on foot to explore the Nishiki Market.  This was like the market next to our apartment hotel but much, much bigger.  Reese tried a snoopy pancake with peanut paste filling and a cup of strawberries with chocolate fondue and Bryan and I tried some scorching hot octopus fritters.  Literally burned the inside of my mouth on these.  We also got some chicken skewers a la 7-11, if only our 7-11 were anything like the ones in Japan.  We then got two e-bikes for rent with kid’s seats on the back, one for Reese’s size and one for Brooke’s size.  We set out on a 3-hour rental and headed north along the Kamo River to the starting point of the Philosopher’s Path.  This pedestrian/biking narrow street winds along a little creek lined with shops and was just really peaceful and idyllic.  We stopped first at the Nanzen-Ji temple and then continued through Maruyama Park and into the tangled web of neighborhoods in east Kyoto which are cool and highly photographed but weren’t maybe the most bike friendly.  We then headed back west to drop the girls at our apartment for a warming soak in the jacuzzi while I returned the bikes.  Bryan picked us up a huge sushi platter for dinner and KFC for the girls, lol.

And on our last day we didn’t really know what we were up for but Bryan picked out a cool adventure setting out north of the city to take the cable car and ropeway up to Mount Hiei.  The views of the city and the large Lake Biwa were magnificent on this sunny day and we caught our first dusting of snow on the ground at the top of the mountain.  Brooke learned that she actually does like hot chocolate, just not when it is so hot.  We made our way back to our place for the girls to have one more soak in the jacuzzi before we set out for our last dinner in Japan, to grill our own meats yakiniku style.  This was fun and Bryan certainly enjoyed all of the red meat.  Girls did great again, eating and coloring and sealed the deal with really the first ice cream of the trip.  

Sunday was our day of departure but I was really wanting to get out for a jog so I set out early morning in the brisk but beautiful weather towards the northwest part of town, hoping to be able to see the Golden Pavilion.  It was a 5-mile round-trip run and the entire journey up to the temple was slightly uphill.  Unfortunately, the gates were not open until 8 am and so I couldn’t see the temple from the street but I enjoyed the scenery on the way back, nonetheless. 

Back home, showered, packed up, breakfast eaten, and we started our epic adventure back to our house in Seattle.  Light rail to Kyoto Station, Shinkansen fast train to Tokyo Station, subway to Nippori Station, Narita airport train to the airport, wait for the gate to open to check our luggage, 9-hour flight “overnight” to Seattle, light rail to Beacon Hill Station, bus to home.  Ahhh.  I had access to the lounge in the Tokyo Airport but only for two of us and Reese was starving and really wanting to go.  We decided to do something we rarely do, split up.  Reese and I enjoyed the lounge and Bryan and Brooke went to go get pizza and ice cream.  Both of the girls I think needed a little distance from each other and enjoyed the solo time with each of us so this was actually a win.  Reese and I enjoyed the peace of the lounge for a little bit and then all reunited for the flight.  Flight was super smooth and had no issues other than only sleeping for a wink, but the girls probably got a good 7 hours of sleep in.  

Happy to be back and happy for the memories and experiences.  Japan was a very cool visit and some place I would visit again.  We felt safe, comfortable, and in awe at many times.  It’s a beautiful country and exceptionally clean.  Reese would also now like a bidet for Christmas!

— 
Chelsea

It’s been a month let me tell you.  The month of September flew by, as has the month of October, although per usual, they have been eventful months.  Some of the events:

•  The first Seahawks game is still the only one I’ve been to.  Bryan has been to more Seahawks games but I’ve either had to coach or out of town for them.
• Reese’s soccer team has played seven games so far and has a record of 3 wins, 3 ties and one loss that we didn’t get to finish as it was called for thunder and lightning.  We’ve also had practice every Monday and Thursday night.
• We finally got Brooke’s gymnastics class moved from Wednesday to Tuesday so both girls are back to having a practice on Tuesdays at the same time.  Of course Reese has practice again on Friday but at least now we have Wednesday free.
• Both girls seem to really be enjoying their schools and teachers and learning a bunch.  Reese just got her standardized test results back for the beginning of the year and is doing so well and we are committed to working with her with reading every night.
• I spent a quick day trip to Spokane for a dinner with our VP for Trench Safety one week and then another two-night trip at the end of September to work with our new office manager there and get the office ready for three more new employees who have started since.
• Chad and Sarah came to visit and we had a wonderful five nights with them at the house.  We got to have several dinners out with them, we watched some of the Michigan game at the UM alumni bar, we took them and Jordan and Lindsay out on the boat and stopped at Gasworks Brewing for a drink off the boat, we had the four of them back to our house for dinner in the backyard, and let the two of them borrow the scooter to ride up to Jordan’s house their last night.  They were great visitors.
• I’ve played the occasional soccer game and have gone on the very occasional bike ride.
• I fell sick to what we assume to be Covid shortly after getting back from Spokane.  This was the first time I ever lost my sense of taste and that was no fun.  I had a solid headache for days and then just so tired and achy for many more days.  Fortunately, I’m over it now, feel myself, and starting to get back into activities I enjoy again.  The taste buds are nearly back…
• I celebrated my birthday with the family and had my epic yearly chocolate cake with peanut cream cheese frosting.  We got an easy takeout dinner while Reese had gymnastics class.  I was still pretty under the weather on my birthday, as was Brooke.
• Brooke got my sickness and was home with me for three days, including my birthday.  She wasn’t too bad to have at home while I worked and did a lot of resting and watching some TV but I did have to drag her out of the house to go get my free Starbucks on my birthday.  She was bribed with chocolate milk to do this and I didn’t make her get out of the car.
• We’ve been jamming out a lot in the car with Pink Pony Club and other song requests that the girls now give me.  And Bryan has still really been enjoying the new car.
• I’ve taken both girls out shopping to get new clothes for school picture day.  We went to Gap for Brooke and Nordstrom Rack for Reese.  Somehow Bryan got stuck solo with both school picture days.
• Bryan took Reese on a hike to Mt Rainier one Sunday when we had a bye for soccer.  They hiked about 3.5 miles and then got milkshakes and pizza to round out their adventure day together. 
• Bryan organized a very large and successful two-day workshop at work for many high up in the org.
• We managed to get Reese’s doctors appointment in for the year but Brooke’s won’t happen until January.  They’ve been quite the ordeal to get scheduled.  
• We all went to Remlinger Farms last weekend for the annual Farm Fest and had a great time riding all of the rides and getting their epic mini pumpkin donuts.  The farm was packed and we did have to deal with a bit of mist but did manage to do it all and the girls each got their pony ride in.
• I took the girls to the Children’s Museum to give Bryan a break before my trip this week to Nashville.  I had gotten the tickets thanks to the library and the girls enjoyed several hours playing at the museum before getting lunch on our way home.
• We’ve enjoyed our fig pizza twice at Tutta Bella during the pizzas short run for the season and it is as delicious as ever.
• Bryan’s been our representative for both school’s curriculum night.  They both were informative and good and he got to enjoy a drink out after Reese’s with a bunch of the classmate’s parents.
• We’ve each volunteered once at FareStart in the past month but we did not attend or volunteer at the Gala this year and we will only be here for one more Guest Chef Night before the end of the year.
• We’ve caught quite a few football games on TV but the Mariners had really stolen the show and hearts of Seattlites this fall and we equally enjoyed their run in the postseason.
• Reese had a big Halloween party at gymnastics last Friday which was a total hit in her book.
• Reese has officially lost three teeth in the past five weeks. I’m calling her “Toothless in Seattle”

And I’m just getting back from a wonderful trip with my mom in Nashville starting with my presentation at the Deep Foundations Institute’s (DFIs) 50 Year Conference.  I took a very late plane ride Monday night and got to the hotel past midnight local time.  The conference and our hotel were at the Gaylord Opryland and it was truly a beautiful massive resort.  I got lost so many times in that hotel and only really figured it out the second to last day.  There were five of my coworkers present for the conference and our booth was right adjacent to where I presented Tuesday afternoon so they all witnessed it.  Following my presentation was the Welcome Reception which I attended before getting a drink with my mom at the Falls Bar and finally getting some good rest.  Tuesday was such a long day!  

Wednesday was also a full conference day and after the day was over we decided to ride the Broadway Bound bus to the conference party at the Ole Smoky Brewery and Moonshine where they had Charlie Gorsham give us a concert, a taco bar and complimentary drinks which both mom and I got the apple pie moonshine mule that was very tasty.  That was a fun night.

After Wednesday we had a lot more time to spend together fully.  On Thursday we went out for a long brunch at Le Peep on our way to a hike at the Mossy Ridge Trail near Belle Meade.  We had set out for a 5-mile loop hike but took a wrong turn right from the start and ended up doing 7.8 miles, which was for the better.  We got to the Belle Mead Winery right in time for our 3 pm wine and bourbon tasting experience.  We were led up into the beautifully restored hay loft for the class with just six others and our experience guide, who was so sweet and friendly.  We started off with some bubbly Riesling, a white wine, a bourbon cocktail, a Cabernet and last some bourbon, and each drink was paired with a delicious bite.  The experience only lasted an hour ut didn’t feel rushed and was absolutely perfect.  We walked the grounds afterwards and then went to the tasting room to try a few more tastes before heading out.  We changed in the car for dinner and went downtown where we had a great dinner and mocktail at the Black Rabbit and then walked down to Broadway to play tourist for a bit and then went to the Honky Tonk bar at the Twelve Thirty Club where we each got an amazing espressotini.  I was wired the rest of the night, well past the time we got back to our hotel.

I had to sit in a work call on Friday at 10 before we checked out of the hotel and set out for our next hike.  This time we had planned to do a 12-mile loop but we didn’t have large breakfasts and were feeling our legs from the day before so we took the shortcut to make it 7.2 miles instead.  Good decision.  We scrounged for a grocery store lunch before heading downtown and changing in the car again.  We got a coffee to perk us up, walked Broadway for a little bit and then headed upstairs in the Whiskey Barrel Saloon for our line dancing class.  Our class of 23 were all girls and was so fun.  We learned two different line dances and just had a blast doing it, videos to come.  After that we headed back to the Twelve Thirty Club where we had a reservation in the lounge of the Supper Club for dinner, a la mystery shopping.  This was swank, fancy place and so much fun.  The band playing right in front of us was so good but also allowed for conversation.  We were given glasses of champagne for our birthdays and then split the wedge salad, filet, scallops, broccolini and lastly the butterscotch molten cake and another glass of wine.  It was perfection!  After a little more time on Broadway we headed to our one-night accommodations at the Courtyard Marriott by the airport before our early morning flights on Saturday.  This worked well as we were only about five minutes from the airport, where dropping our car off and checking in was a breeze.  We grabbed some coffee and breakfasts to go before saying our sweet goodbyes.  It was such a wonderful, fulfilling trip and one I definitely needed after such a long time being sick and stressed.  Till next time Mom and Nashville!

It’s been a lot coming back home too, especially since I’m only home for a week and a half and the end of our soccer season and Halloween is sandwiched in there.  It’s good to be home and be complete with the family and trying to contribute in all the ways I can before leaving again, one more time this year.

Thank you Bryan!

– 
Chelsea

We’ve officially wrapped up summer.  The girls are back in school, the paddleboards are stored under the house, and the leaves are starting to change.  The past month has been insane.  When I last reported, I was on my way back from Spokane to Seattle where we were kicking off a few days with Grandma and Papa Miller.  They arrived in Seattle and their basement unit Airbnb just a few streets over just before I landed in Seattle.  I arrived home as they were all settling into some Pagliacci’s pizza at our house, catching up with one another, and finally getting to relax after a long drive up from Phoenix.  We had to call it a night as some of us still had work/school the next day. 

Reese was home with me on Friday and we enjoyed some quiet time together at home.  Friday night Reese had gymnastics like usual but we had a nice dinner of Bryan’s Alaskan salmon outside on the deck once she was back home.  Saturday we were back at gymnastics with Lon and Trish as Reese had an additional 2-hour routine clinic to learn her floor routine and then we let Brooke do the one-hour Indoor Playground since she had missed her last few gymnastics classes due to our availability.  After class we headed back home and picked up lunch from Feed Co.  The girls decorated some bird houses that they were gifted from the grandparents and tried on some of the new clothes that they were brought.  Bryan sous-vided some steaks for all of us that came out so nice and again enjoyed in the excellent weather outside.  

On Sunday, Bryan took the opportunity of the nice weather to paddleboard around Mercer Island with Luis and Phillip.  It took them four or five hours for the 15-mile trip.  I played soccer with my team at the Arboretum and then we all headed up north to Lynnwood for Lucas’ birthday party at the Pump it Up there.  Reese was in a full bore sweat by the end of the party and Brooke was enjoying herself too.  Both girls enjoyed the pizza and cake and then we took advantage of the stores up north to go get the girls some new kicks at Sketchers before heading back to Seattle where we picked up Thai food to finish the night.  

Our last day with Lon and Trish was on Monday and the girls had their various places but we all went up to their rental to hang out for a bit before heading back to our place and Bryan and I got a rare dinner out, walking down to Harvest Vine for a delicious dinner.  We said our goodbyes to them Monday night and they set back out on their long ride back the next morning.

The last week of summer break Reese had a four-day 9-2 cooking class through Frog Legs Cooking School, held at the Mt Baker Community Club with her friend Mira.  She learned to make homemade pasta, banana splits, brownies, cupcakes, cookies, tacos, pizza and breakfast for lunch.  She seemed to really enjoy it but logistically it was not the easiest.  Brooke’s last day at Creative Beginnings was on Wednesday of that week and she was home with me Thursday and Friday.  On Thursday, we had her buddy Madison over for a playdate for a few hours and then we got Reese and Mira together and played at the park for a while before bussing back. 

On Friday, Madison’s mom took Brooke to Madison Park with her girls for a few hours and this was a much-needed break for me to get some work done and get ready for Reese’s birthday.  I wrapped her presents and made her a cookie cake.  Bryan took the day off of work and took Reese for her first time to Wild Waves for the amusement park and water park.  They both had such a good time and were there for their full hours of operation; from 11 am – 6 pm.  Once home we had dinner, opened presents and sang happy birthday to our new 7-year-old.  On this day Reese also woke up with her first wiggly tooth.

Our Labor Day weekend was fairly low-key and relaxed.  We had our Texas friends, Phillip and Anne and their kids over to watch Texas’ kickoff game versus Ohio State.  Unfortunately, the outcome was not as we would have wanted but we still enjoyed waffles, fruit salad and mimosas.  On Sunday afternoon we got a last-minute reservation to take one of the boats out.  This time we took Reese’s buddy Clara and her sister Fiona and dad out with us and got it in the morning slot.  We picked them up from the Leschi marina, close to their home and first had fun swimming off of the boat and then the girls spent about 30 solid minutes or more tubing.  They had a blast and we were bummed to have to cut it short to take the boat back in.  

On the Monday of the holiday weekend, we got a new sitter to come over to watch the girls while Bryan and I got to go out on the boat for the first time without the kids.  Our FareStart group of friends had been talking to get together for a wine/whiskey night for ages and we made it happen…on a boat.  We had six of us on a beautiful night on Lake Union, enjoying wine, whiskey and snacks on the boat and then docking at Westward for some snacks off of the boat.  It was a super enjoyable night and we got a new sitter that the girls really enjoyed for future outings in our address book.

Tuesday was a day that both girls had no school but I had work so we had Lottie over for the majority of the day.  The three girls really played pretty well together, keeping each other occupied and entertained.  They spent half the day outside on the bounce house and started winding down in the afternoon.  Reese also lost her first tooth! Reese had gymnastics and then we got the girls all cleaned up ahead of their first day at school the next day.

Wednesday morning came early but I was expecting it to be even worse than it was.  We managed to get up, get lunches/snacks packed, dressed and to the bus stop well before the bus driver arrived.  We all walked Reese to the bus to see her off and then Bryan and I both took Brooke to Interlaken for her first day of preschool.  She was very excited and couldn’t wait to get there.  Drop off was easy and before I knew it, I was back to my normal empty house for normal work hours, although some very busy work days.  In addition to this week being the first week back at school it was also our first week back at soccer for Reese.  We have soccer practice Mondays and Thursdays this fall and games on Sundays so it’s a lot of soccer!  I was solo coaching for our first practice after school on Thursday.  It was good to have the girls back on the field but was quickly reminded how chaotic it all is.  

The end of the first week came quickly with only three days of school and so far we have received great updates from school.

Saturday afternoon we had Reese’s birthday party at Playdate.  We had 16 kids, including our two, attending the party and most of the parents staying to hang out.  The venue worked great and pretty much all of the kids were lost in the maze of play spaces for the entire two hours.  We ordered a couple of pizzas and I made some cupcake toppers featuring KPop Demon Hunters for the cupcakes provided by the facility so aside from assembling goodie bags it was a pretty hands-off party.  We did have one major accident and that was with Reese actually and a kid that ran into her.  I was so shocked when she came out of the play space sobbing with a huge green and white bump already formed on her forehead.  We immediately got ice for it and sat outside with her for a bit until she felt better.  It was toward the end of the party so as soon as we came back we had to sing happy birthday and do cake before her friends left.  Of course we didn’t leave though, our family stayed a full hour past her party end time with a few other close friends playing in the play space and watching Michigan lose to Oklahoma on the TV.  Despite the injury, Reese is a tough cookie, the party was great fun and went really well.

Sunday was an eventful day as I played soccer at Miller Park then hurried home to shower and get ready for the Seahawks first game with our new sitter coming over, then immediately followed that up with Reese’s first soccer game down south.  My team lost but I had fun, then the Seahawks lost a game they could have won, and finally Reese’s team won by a landslide to not make my sports weekend totally tragic.  I was very proud of how all of the girls on her team played and it was fun playing my friend Nikki’s daughter’s team.  

Last week was the first full week of school and all of the things.  Both soccer practices, three days of gymnastics between the two girls, I went to FareStart for Guest Chef Night, one more win for Reese’s soccer team, and we bought a new car; the Ford Mustang Mach-E.  We are now entering the world of electric vehicles and it is exciting and also all new to us.  The girls love the new car and its color: red.  After test driving a few on Saturday morning we ultimately decided to go with this red one, sight unseen down in Portland which meant Bryan took the train down there at noon, got the car after doing a test drive of it, and drove it back to Seattle getting home around 9:30 pm.  

I’m in Spokane for just the day and will fly back home tonight after a team dinner and then Chad and Sarah land in Seattle tomorrow night.  Looking forward to spending a few days with them the next few days!

Chelsea

We are nearing the end of summer and that is so sad!  Summer is always a blur and this year I feel like it especially was so.  There have been moments this summer that Bryan and I look at each other full of happiness and contentedness but a whole lot of exhaustion too.  It’s just a part of the summer swing of things I guess.  And our summer weather days and free time are numbered.

Full exhaustion was indeed experienced after our house guests departure and the culmination of SeaFair.  This is the case every year after SeaFair I believe but especially so this year.  We needed a few days to recover and then midweek we had our 9^th anniversary to celebrate.  We did so after Brooke’s gymnastics, getting a sitter for the first time in awhile, getting relatively dressed up and heading out in Capitol Hill via the scooter.  We opted to try a new to us Middleeastern place called Café Suliman, located in Melrose Market.  It was a cozy little nook of a place but we sat at the bar on the end and I felt very private in a good way.  We could still see the chef cooking in his miniature kitchen.  Everything we had was good and shared including the cauliflower (always a must in Middleeastern restaurants), a hummus with lamb dish and fresh pita, this charred cabbage dish which had a good amount of spice to it and was delicious, and the salmon entrée with labneh and potatoes.  We tried their sparkling take on a negroni and a couple of interesting but delicious wines.  

After dinner we wanted to head to another place for an after-dinner drink and settled on another new-to-us place called Belmont.  This place was what you would want in a cocktail bar; good, extensive cocktail menu, not too pricey of drinks, very comfortable sofas, chairs and various seating arrangements, and a fairly full house for a Wednesday night.  We each got a drink here which was perfection and then called it a night.  I honestly cannot believe it’s been a full nine years.  Bryan as usual delivered nine beautiful roses while I made Bryan a disturbing card of us in old age, AI-generated.

Fast forward just two more days after our anniversary and we are split for the weekend with Bryan going on his annual guy’s trip, this time to the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, and me with the girls to the Girl Scout Camp River Ranch with Reese’s troop and their families for two nights. Bryan left very early on Friday morning and we didn’t set out on our short 45-minute drive until 8 pm after Reese’s gymnastics practice.  We got to the camp just before it got dark, which was my goal, and I unpacked the car which I packed solo and got our open-air cabin ready for the night.  The girls were so amped up and excited that they proceed to stay up way too late and I somehow ended up with two other girls in our cabin of four beds.  I knew Brooke wouldn’t sleep in her own bed anyways so Brooke and I were comfy cozy in one together.  I slept terribly the first night, go figure.

But Saturday morning came quickly and all of the kids were up early and hungry for breakfast, which I was on duty for, along with one other family but essentially was me.  I had to feed 40 people and I had selected fruit, pancakes and bacon.  Well we went through 3lbs of bacon, two large boxes of pancakes, 2 bunches of bananas and 2 lbs of strawberries and two jugs of juice very quickly, and food wasn’t coming out quick.  The kids devoured breakfast and I was left with PTSD.  I recovered though, somewhat.  We dressed for a short hike with everyone and I was amazed at how beautiful the camp was.  There was a lot of old growth trees and as someone else described it “looks like Fern Gully”.  It was.  The hike was a loop but became an out and back because it got quite thick about .5 mile in and there were a lot of stinging nettles that the kids grew worried of.  On our way back to our camp we found the art shelter where they had all of the supplies and directions to tie-dye your own handkerchiefs.  The girls mainly did this on their own, sealed them up in baggies for us to take home and rinse and wash.  It was a fun 30-minute activity.

Back at camp, our cabin became the activity cabin.  I had brought along Bryan’s trusty speaker and the girls danced hard to Huntrix for a good 90 minutes.  The sibling boys and others were playing with our helicopters, stomp rockets, soccer ball and various other items we brought with.  We had to pause the music to get the girls to eat lunch of sandwiches with all of the fixings.  After lunch we got ready to swim, however, there were no lifeguards on duty so we couldn’t actually swim in their swim area at the lake.  We decided to head to the river right adjacent to our camp and had an interesting time getting down to the river and once there it was rocky and hard on your feet.  Brooke wouldn’t let me let go of her hand, in or out of the water.  I walked around with her and the water felt refreshing but not freezing like I thought it might.  Brooke picked a bunch of blackberries until the group headed back to camp.  Some took a rest time, myself and Brooke included, but others, like Reese, went to archery for a few hours.  The camp was nice and quiet during this time and I enjoyed catching up with some of the adults who had stayed behind.  Upon their return there was wheelbarrow racing and dinner making and other various activities.  We had a great group dinner of all of the taco fixings and then settled around the campfire for s’mores and then sparklers that Georgie’s family brought.  I slept much better the second night and Brooke went to sleep instantly she was so tired.

Sunday morning started much calmer than Saturday.  We had a continental style breakfast and people started to pack up their things.  The girls played a bunch more and finally at about noon our car headed out with the last campers.  We thought about driving to the lake to go swim there, if that was an option, but decided against that and instead I picked up a tall iced coffee and then we headed to the nearest spray park in Snoqualmie for the girls to cool off because it was a very hot day.  This was a great spray park that we more or less stumbled upon.  We played here for a little over an hour and then headed back home to take it very easy the rest of the day and night as we were all tired from the weekend.

Meanwhile Bryan was in Alaska having an eventful but refreshing weekend with the guys.  On the first day they took it pretty easy and made themselves a steak dinner at their luxe Airbnb on a lake.  On Saturday they went river rafting.  While it wasn’t as extreme as maybe Bryan was hoping for they had a good time.  And Sunday they woke up really early to take a tiny float plane to go river fishing for salmon with a guide.  The whole experience sounded like something else but the float plane was super cool, and a bit scary, they caught a whole bunch of coho, and there was a grizzly bear super duper close to their boat while the guide filleted the coho from the boat.  He got back Monday night and I was happy to see him and have him home with us again.

Reese spent the first two weeks of August at an all-outdoor camp in the Arboretum that she enjoyed a lot at first but I think grew tired of by week two.  She had Lottie in the camp with her and she seemed to learn about a lot of different plants and animals while there.  She even had two rainy-ish days with very little rain gear and didn’t complain too much about it.  I enjoyed delivering both girls at school and camp via my bike and found that to be pretty easy.  On the very last day there was a large amount of rain expected and Lottie was gone to New York so I had Reese stay home with me for the day and that was a good decision.  She did some fuse beads, some coloring, watching TV and then we baked banana bread together.  While I’ve been in Spokane this week we have used our Bright Horizon Backup Care for three days of camp for Reese.  While she stayed home with me again on Monday, on Tuesday she went up to a camp called Steve and Kate’s and did a lot of sewing projects.  On Wednesday and Thursday she did one of their field trip camps which essentially take them to at least one place in the morning and one in the afternoon and takes them out to lunch at a restaurant during the day and it is all provided.  The first day they went to Dave and Busters for the arcade and lunch and then went to the Imagine Children’s Museum and a playground up in Everett.  On the second day they went to the Burke Museum on UWs campus and then to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch and then to The Ridge Activity Center and Play Zone for the afternoon.  She made friends at each of these camps and seemed to really enjoy them. 

Brooke has been to visit her new school in two occasions with me, spending an hour each time, and seems to be pretty excited about it. It will still be a big transition for her but it will be good. She only has four more days at school as they are on break next Thursday and Friday before the Labor Day weekend.

And I’ve had some solo time the past week.  I finally got back to FareStart for Guest Chef Night for the first time since May and enjoyed volunteering for the majority of it and then dining in at the end of the night with four girlfriends who came in to eat.  It was a great dinner and nice to enjoy their company. 

And the past two nights and three days I’ve been in Spokane for work.  My company is still looking for a new lead engineer to take on duties as the office manager and in the meantime various members of the engineering department are coming in to oversee the office.  The big news for me around work will be announced tomorrow.  Since my supervisor, our Engineering Manager, was let go at the very end of July, I have been talked, interviewed, and approved to backfill that role.  I was flat out stunned when I was first presented with this opportunity, mainly it just wasn’t something I thought would even be open for some time, nevertheless me be the person for the job.  I’ve only been at the company not even three years but it’s a job I know I can do, was approved in both interviews I had, and have had many of my peers said unsolicited that they would want me in that role.  My peers were the thing that gave me the most worry, and still worry to an extent since I will now be their direct report.  It’s also been a lot to know and be in the know when everyone else is so lost with everything that has been going on in the office. I’m excited for this step though and officially accepted the offer and the role this morning.  I’m ready to be going back home to my house and family tonight but it has been a productive and restorative trip.  I’ve gotten a lot done in the office, been able to have some sit downs with some of the employees there, have enjoyed the Davenport Hotel once more, and have found some good places to eat while there.  

Bryans held down the fort wonderfully and I’m so appreciative of his support in all of this.

Back at home, Lon and Trish’s arrival should be this afternoon and we are all excited for that.  They drove up from Phoenix and will be getting to Seattle before I even get back.  They have an Airbnb only two blocks from us that we are hoping will be nice and convenient for all of us.  They’ll get to see the girls in action some and we will just enjoy their company until Tuesday.  

— 
Chelsea

I hurried and tried to get out updates on our first two trips and the bike ride at the beginning of summer and then Bryan’s birthday, party and other things hit and I haven’t gotten around to writing about Bryan’s big 40^th birthday!

Coming off of the STP, our bodies were recovering and Bryan wasn’t wanting to do anything big on his actual birthday so we had ourselves a lowkey birthday dinner, cake and fun with just our family.  Bryan managed to get his birthday Starbucks on a nice long walk to Madrona Park and spent the day working from home.  Reese had her second gymnastics class on the new team so once we got the girls, we headed down to Columbia City to drop off Reese and get the tail end of the happy hour at Jackalope.  We each got a margarita (Bryan two) and I decided to try some of their grilled cheese tacos off of the happy hour menu, which were big and delicious.  We inhaled the delicious chips and salsa, Brooke got a quesadilla she much enjoyed, and Bryan got the seafood enchiladas which he loved.  We somehow were massively stuffed and finished early and intended to go watch Reese in the second half of her class but it was so hot in the gym and we were so uncomfortably full that we decided to just go for a drive to at least have some AC.  Once Reese’s class was over, we headed back home to have a refreshing mint chocolate ice cream cake which we shared off of the plate, the girls doing some serious boxing out for their share.

The remainder of this week were the usual events, more gymnastics classes, the Volunteer Park summer concert with Georgie’s family this time, play at the wading pool and playground beforehand.  Bryan and I each went for our first run and our first leg lifting in ages and neither of us have been sorer.  Saturday was a nice relaxed day mostly at home and we loved it.  We did all walk as a family to the Arboretum playground for Brooke’s buddy, Lucille’s birthday party.  The girls enjoyed riding their bikes there and back and enjoyed the playground and friends for a few hours.  That night we enjoyed dinner outside and used our solo stove for a nice campfire before getting the girls set up with a movie in their bed.

Sunday was Bryan’s birthday party and we had reserved a section for a group of about 40 and a bunch of food at Outsider’s BBQ in Fremont.  The party was from 2-4 pm and we got there just a bit early to set up a few of the things we had brought for the party and coordinate with the venue about the food and drink.  For this Western themed party, we brought a pin the tail on the horse that Reese led the kids through, some face paint, cowboy themed tattoos, and coloring books.  We brought 40 bandanas for people to take and we all came dressed for the party in our cowboy boots, chaps and overalls for Reese, overalls and hat for Brooke, and a pearl snap shirt and belt for Bryan.  We had a slew of pork and brisket sandwiches, potato salad, coleslaw, kale salad and mac and cheese for all of our guests.  I brought a black forest sheet cake with fresh cherries that we did a cheer to (not sung for) and sliced that up for all of the guests.  The venue worked out really great with live music, a fire pit which was nice until it got very sunny and warm, plenty of beer, and the kids’ area where all of the kids vanished to and we didn’t see them until cake time.  Our family had a great time and were tuckered out at the end of it.  We had a few sandwiches and sides that we took home and made great use of them for about two meals that following week.

Aside from the pearl snap shirts I got Bryan and a STP jersey, my main gift was a boat share for our family.  We signed up for the speed boat only level of boat share with Carefree Boat Share and we are very excited about it.  It took a bit longer than we thought to get us signed up with the contract, to each get our boater’s license taking an online boating course, and then getting over to Fisherman’s terminal for our orientation and boating course with one of the instructors who essentially just made sure we could maneuver the boat well enough and dock.  Being that we were already having to go over there in the middle of the workday, we decided to take it as an opportunity to bike there and back, just over seven miles each way, all on trail.  We got lunch after our instruction, in the marina, before biking back home to finish up the day.  We’ve taken out one boat so far, on a gloriously sunny and warm Sunday afternoon.  We took this as an introduction, sticking mainly to Lake Union, taking a dip to cool off, experiencing the wild waters of the Lake Washington cut, and then getting dinner at Ivar’s on Lake Union before refueling the boat and heading back to the marina.

That same weekend was also the Torchlight Parade which we’ve never been to as a family but now that it is moved down to the brand new waterfront and newly opened playground we decided to take the bus to check it out. The girls had a surprising amount of enthusiasm for the parade and enjoyed the new playground. They lived giving those in the parade a high five and dancing along to the music. The night was beautiful and it was difficult to get them to leave the parade before it was over at 10:30. We managed to, shared a large sundae at Shug’s Soda Shoppe in the market and then got home real late!

The week after the party Reese had Kids Club camp with Georgie and Lily and that meant that she had her overnight camp with them over to Camp Burton on Vashon Island from Wednesday through Friday.  She went last year with Georgie and she got homesick, which was a surprise to all of us, I think.  This year that was not the case though.  She was excited to go, packed her bag all by herself the night before, and only called us from camp at night before bed to tell us how much fun they were having.  Of course, on Friday, once their bus got back to Seattle, she called us to say, “I’m back and I’m tired of waiting so come pick me up.”  Which we did.  We wanted to catch up with her about her experience and Brooke was very excited to have her back home, so we all went for a very early dinner at Tutta Bella before Reese’s gymnastics practice.  

Brooke was very excited to have her back but I think she also enjoyed her time with just the two of us.  We had a very quiet night at home one night and on Thursday night we took Brooke to the wading pool and park at Volunteer Park like usual and then set out our blanket for the weekly concert, this week an ABBA cover band and 80s hits band which were both super fun, and actually got to sit on said blanket, eat our food and drink wine.  Brooke did not sit the full time but she proceeded to play and dance and sing with us while still allowing us to sit and enjoy the music.  Crazy!  This was actually a very pleasant night.

And the last week was an eventful one for us all.  I have had a surprising series of events at my work and was called to come into our Spokane office for the day on Tuesday so I woke at 5 am to go to the airport fly to Spokane, meet with people all day and then was supposed to get back home around 7:30 pm but my flight got delayed and I had dinner in Spokane before flying back and getting home just before 10 pm.  It was a long day but went well for me.  I took the girls to the Volunteer Park concert this week, for my favorite week which is Dance Church.  This is a very fun time doing an exercise like outdoor dancing session led by an instructor and just the best when all of the little kids are dancing along and enjoying it too.  Bryan was volunteering at FareStart but we had so many friends in attendance with us.

Friends Mark and Kim from Colorado, and their two kids Addie and Aiden, were in town for a family wedding and while Bryan went to pop in and visit with them on Wednesday afternoon, we got an impromptu and fun visit with them when they came to stay with us for the weekend.  They came over on Friday afternoon, right before I went to go get the girls from their school and the Blue Angels were about to fly.  They had dinner with us of burgers and hot dogs Friday night and Saturday we set out for Seward Park to partake in our usual SeaFair festivities.  We picked up a pizza from Amazon Fresh on the way, found parking fairly easy, and with all four kids riding their bikes and having the wagon to carry all of the other things, we got to the point without much trouble.  We inflated our relaxation station and paddle board and swam, hung out and watched the airshow from about 12:30 – 5:30 pm.  After the show we kept going around Seward Park, on foot (for Kim and I), bike (for the kids), and paddleboard (for Mark and Bryan).  We reconvened at the playground for the next bit and eventually packed up and headed back home for chicken fajitas and quesadillas at our house, another movie in the girl’s room, and sleep.  Sunday morning, I think we were all pooped and the two older girls didn’t wake up until 10 am.  Bryan let me stay home to catch up on laundry, the house, and some paperwork for Brooke’s school while he took the girls and Mark and Kim’s family to the Seattle Center by bus to play at the playground there, get lunch in the Armory, and then they spent a few hours at the Seattle Children’s Museum, which was a hit.  God bless Bryan on this day.  They bussed back and we said our goodbyes right before the Blue Angels performed their last show of the year which we watched from the backyard.

Summer continues to be a never-ending series of both planned and impromptu events and I love it, even when it wears you out.  We of course have more fun and eventful days in the month ahead but I cannot believe it is already August!

— 
Chelsea

With Bryan turning 40 this year, my mom bringing up riding the DALMAC in the future, and plainly just needing an adventure and goal to set for ourselves, at the beginning of the year Bryan and I committed to training and signing up for the Seattle to Portland (STP) Bicycle Classic.  We’ve heard about this ride throughout the years and have known (few) people personally that have completed it.  To me, when I first heard of it I thought “why?”.  I’ve never been a cyclist really.  I like to commute by bike and I like to use my bike to get places.  But to just go out for a ride for exercise, that was never really me.  But back in 2020, Bryan got us both new Canyon Cycle road bikes that are light-weight, fast, and my first ever bike with clip-in pedals.  It immediately got more fun riding longer distances and we’ve enjoyed the past several years taking the girls out on the trailer for rides and riding ourselves.  I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into when signing up for this ride though.  I compared it to a half marathon, and in terms of difficulty it is, but in terms of time commitment, it’s more.

And so, the training ensued.  Bryan was the first out the gate on his bike, starting in early February when I still believed it was too cold for me to get out there.  I was impressed.  And then of course he had his bike accident on one ride around Magnolia that set him back a few weeks while his wrists heeled.  This made us both wearier of cars while on our bike, for good or bad.  Miraculously, aside from his wrists, a gash in his ankle, and some soreness and tightness in one calf, he was okay from this accident.  I got started on my rides with my first ride coming at the beginning of March.  This was a commute ride with both girls behind me and to say it wasn’t a motivational ride is an understatement.  The girls combined in the trailer add so much weight, make your ride so much more difficult, and slow you down so much these days.  

I started at it slowly but slowly picked up steam, following the STP training schedule more or less as the months went on.  Bryan phrased that schedule better by it essentially increasing in volume by 10% each week.  For me I tried to get in most of my shorter rides (and even some longer rides) in midweek when my schedule would allow.  Bryan would get his in usually early afternoon and his longer rides on the weekend.  Of course, as the weeks tracked on and the mileage and long rides kept increasing, we both saved those longer rides for the weekend, essentially handing off the girls on weekend days.  

With my parents here for a month, this granted us some rare longer rides together and that was such a treat.  We got to ride a 65-miler towards North Bend on the Middle Fork route one weekend, a 40-miler along the Cedar River Trail from Renton, a 65-miler turned 50-miler around Camano Island another weekend.  Without them here these rides would have been pretty impossible and for me it was a good confidence boost to start riding these longer rides with Bryan.  Once I had done them with him though, well, I was seeking out new adventure rides for myself to places I had never cycled.  Solo I went north to Snohomoish and Monroe, I went way south along the Green River Trail to Auburn and back through Black Diamond, and I did another ride north to Everett and all the way back on the Interurban Trail.  We both started stopping at Jersey Mikes for mid-ride fuel stops and I found these to be almost a treat but also easy enough on my tummy to immediately keep cycling after eating.

We both could tell our body and our booty were getting in shape for this ride.  As we approached, we were both over the solo long rides and really ready to get the actual event going.  At this point I had biked over 1,500 miles since March.  We also had figured out the logistics with the girls.  We had our trusty and responsible sitter Sonja coming over early morning on Saturday to be there when the girls woke up and then Sarah and Lottie were coming over to our house to spend Saturday night before Sonja came back over Sunday afternoon to stay with them until whenever it was we made it back home.  We got our bags packed the Friday night before our ride, which required a fair amount of thought for what we needed.  We needed our water bottles and maybe a few snacks on our bike and had to secure our bibb number to our bike jersey, helmet and bike.  For our overnight bag we fit our sleeping bag and pillow, two changes of clothes, toothbrush and toothpaste, sunscreen and chargers for the night away.  We were there.  Now we needed to just get whatever sleep we could before our 4:30 am wake up call that Saturday morning.

And so Saturday morning started early and it all began.  Girls were asleep still, thankfully.  We changed into our bike gear, hydrated and had breakfast.  Sonja arrived and we caught her up to speed on the girls.  I was all packed, clothed, helmet and bike cleats on, and sunscreened up.  We forgot one thing in the kitchen and as I turned around in the dining room to go get it I suddenly felt myself flying and then THUD!  Down with a very hard bang I went straight on my bum.  I sat there for what felt like a few minutes.  Figuring out if I could get up, making sure I was breathing normally, assessing the damage, knowing full well Bryan was probably trying not to laugh behind me and Sonja was speechless in not knowing what to do or say in this moment.  After a few minutes, I was still in considerable pain but knew I could get up to standing and needed to do this bike ride.  What I realized happened was there was a layer of sunscreen spray film on the dining room floors that made it insanely slippery with my bike cleats and I had zero traction at all.  I really wasn’t sure at this point if I had a broken tailbone or what but it sure felt like it.  I had difficulty getting my leg up and over the bike (which would be a common issue getting on and off the bike over the next two days) but with how far forward I sit on the bike; biking wasn’t when I was in pain.  I was definitely shaken up at this point and not myself though.  

Off we were, riding the three miles to the start line at Husky Stadium with everything we needed for the next two days and night on our backs and the girls asleep at home.  We were on schedule, got to the staging area around 5:20 am, found the truck to throw our bags on so that we’d get them later that day, had to get a new bus ticket for Bryan for our return trip on Sunday because his packet came without one even though we had purchased one and then we got in the front of the next wave of bikers to set out on our 207-mile adventure south.  They said go and we clipped in and off we were.  The first 12 miles or so were very familiar terrain for us as we were biking through Montlake and then the Arboretum and then onto Lake Washington Boulevard with views of the sun just starting to come up and Mt Rainier crystal clear.  I’d heard of bike collisions in these first early miles when people start out eager and reckless and the guy in front of me on Lake Washington was trying to pull out his phone and all of his electronics came flying out on the road with a hundred cyclists behind him.  Bryan and I didn’t take any photos and tried to play as safe and well-paced as we could.  We got to Seward Park and headed up to Rainier Avenue, heading down to Renton and then hitting roads we’ve never cycled.  The first half of the day was a lot of passing other cyclists or being passed, slowly the crowds of bikes started to thin and the boisterousness of all the cyclists slowly mellowed.  

We had our first official stop at the IKEA in Renton and they had tons of easy to grab food, restrooms and Gatorade so we quickly recharged, refilled, and used the restroom there and then headed out again.  The weather was still pretty good at this point, granted it was only about 7:30 am.  From there we headed through Kent and Auburn then Puyallup where there was a mini stop that we stopped again briefly for more water, a banana, and to use the restrooms.  The biggest hill of the ride (which is not that big) is shortly after this stop and we headed out with that in the near future.  This hill was no problem for us and we were still feeling good and pretty fresh but the heat was definitely starting to build as we pulled into Spanaway High School for the next major stop.  I believe this stop was at about mile 52 and it was hot.  We got some delicious sandwiches, pickles and pickle juice, some fruit and cookies and took shelter in some shade.  They had a great DJ here and as Bryan said, this was a rejuvenating (and needed) rest stop.  We were back on the bike, around 10:30 am and continued west towards Joint Base Lewis-McChord.  From there we turned south and this next stretch was an interesting part because we were the only traffic on a stretch of road through the base for miles and we’d pass all of these fire arm training centers.  It was a little dystopian future like with acres of land and training centers and not a sole to be seen. 

 After several miles we were back on the highway and continuing south to McKenna and the next mini stop where we just took in some shade and cooled off for the first time with our new cooling cloths.  There was only food for purchase here but they did have a local hard boiled egg stand handing out free eggs and honestly this was delicious with some salt as it was nice and cold.  Back on the bikes for the next stretch of the ride, the infamous Yelm to Tenino Trail.  This was the only portion of the ride that was on a paved trail instead of a road and it’s known for being horribly bumpy and filled with potholes.  However, I had read that just this year they sanded down many of the bumps to smooth it out.  Not even 30 seconds after telling Bryan this while on the trail, Bryan hit a hard-to-see divot in the trail that sent his bike sideways and into a blackberry infested ditch.  There were several people behind him that avoided a wreck but were there to help him get his bike and himself out of the ditch.  It took about five minutes to locate his bike computer that had also become dislodged and Bryan was covered head to toe with scratches from the blackberries.  We both were a little shaken up and got ourselves composed before getting back on the bike.  We had about 15 miles on this trail and were very careful from there on out.  Fortunately, it was pretty decent the remainder of this segment and better shaded than the road so that was a nice respite from the blaring out sun. There was another mini stop that we stopped quickly for some more water but didn’t delay too much here.  

About 10 more miles of the trail after this stop and we arrived in little Tenino to the best mini stop of the ride yet.  They had tons of homemade baked goodies, cold watermelon that was so refreshing, pickle juice shots, sunscreen to reapply, a mister and restrooms.  We needed this stop to cool off, refuel and recompose.  I think this was at about the 84-mile marker and our last pit stop before the official midpoint in Centralia.  After this stop we were feeling better and the next hour plus to Centralia were okay.  We pulled into a big gathering of people, many who were spending the night here.  There were free French fries and ice cream which were great and we took shade under the trees in the grass to cool off with our cooling rags again.  Because so many people were ending their day there it felt like we should be ending there as well and almost felt like torture that we had another 20 miles (90 minutes approximately) to go to get to our finish line for the day.  At this point, it was about 2 pm and it was fully hot.  But, knowing we weren’t too far off we got back on our bike and headed out, slowly.  

These last 20 miles were not easy miles.  With it being so hot, our speed slowed drastically.  At this point I was ready to get there but there were two mini stops on the way, just south of Chehalis and another in Napavine after one more big, very hot, climb.  We stopped at both, for more snacks (although at this point, I had had so much fruit and cookies I was full up), more water, but more importantly the misting stations.  This was all through beautiful farmland which also meant zero shade on the road.  Finally, just before 4 pm we arrived in Winlock and pulled into the gravel parking lot we were instructed to stop at and waited for a truck from the Toledo-Lewis Fire Department to come pick us up.  We waited maybe 15 minutes before the truck and a very friendly firewoman arrived who told us we were the first of about 18 to arrive.  Wow!  Into the AC truck we went with our bikes in the back, taking the 8-mile detour to the fire station for the rest of the night.

The fire station was an experience, in the best way possible.  We arrived to very friendly and hospitable hosts, had the first pick of cots in the main room with a long table running down the middle.  We each got a shower in that made us feel like a million bucks and then took seats in the only two recliners in the station, where we didn’t move as more and more cyclists arrived, until dinner was served at 6 pm.  And dinner was delicious!  You would expect nothing less from a fire station.  We had some really great lasagna, Caesar salad, garlic bread and broccoli and then there was two types of cookies and brownies for dessert.  After going back for seconds and having some great conversation with some of the other riders, Bryan and I knew we needed to stretch our legs a bit and walked around the small town, first to the Nisqually River to soak our feet in the chilly water and then to the only market in town for Bryan to find cream for all of his scrapes and scratches.  We came back to the fire station for our dessert and to get cozy in bed where I fell asleep at 9 pm to my Kindle without any problem.

At 5 am were woken not by an alarm, but by the firemen saying that the baggage truck was already there to collect our bags and we needed to get them packed.  The truck wasn’t supposed to arrive until after we had all departed at 7 am but I guess this got everyone moving and getting ready early.  We threw our bag on the truck and then at 5:30 am we had a huge breakfast made for us of coffee, pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, lemon loaf and bananas.  I felt fueled, refreshed and ready to get as early of a start on these last 84 miles as possible, knowing that it was only going to be a hotter day.  We had to wait for all of the cyclist and then they took us by truck back to Winlock to reunite with our dear friend, the STP route.  Back on the road and heading straight south we were feeling good.  We were flying.  We were going at like 20 mph trying to tackle as many miles we could while it was still reasonably cool.  We bypassed the mini stop at Vader to keep chugging along.  At one point we got behind the only ebike I saw on the ride who we drafted from for several miles on some rolling hills.  We didn’t want to lose him so we also bypassed the Castle Rock mini stop, which neither of us needed anyways. 

We did stop at Lexington main stop, still feeling surprisingly good but needed a quick bathroom break and water refresh before rolling out again.  After Lexington we hit some wind through Kelso and Longview.  We then were riding up the Lewis and Clark Bridge to pass from Washington into Oregon over the Columbia River.  It was really beautiful but a fairly steep bridge.  After crossing into Oregon we entered what people call the “Dirty Thirty”.  For the next too-many miles we were on Highway 30 that fortunately had a wide shoulder and smooth surface but was blazing hot with no shade and cars go fast and loud beside you.  We kept trucking though, going as fast as we could and making good time.  This stretch seemed to go on and on and on.  We skipped the mini on this stretch and then entered St Helens where there was another very good and much needed main rest stop.  We got some frozen grapes that were about the best thing I’ve ever eaten.  More sandwiches, watermelon, pickle juice and pickles, and cookies.  A misting station and restrooms and we had about 30 miles left at this point (I think or maybe it was 40).  All I know is we had for sure several more miles on Highway 30 ahead of us.  We cranked out a bunch of still very hot miles and then stopped at the very last mini of the ride to use their cooling tents.  I know we had 20 at this point left, approximately 90 minutes again.  About 10 more miles on Highway 30 before finally turning off and going over the St Johns Bridge over the Willamette River into Portland.  We entered Portland from the northwest side and the route left us with about 8 miles east through Portland to finish at the finish line at Holladay Park.  I definitely had some strong emotions and feelings of accomplishment as I crossed that line.  Such a good feeling.

The finish line party was neat and we had our priorities set out for us; get rid of our bikes, get our bags, clean up somehow, get food and a drink, change and then head back to Seattle.  The wait for the bike bus was the longest and that’s what I had heard so we waited that out and got our bags at the same time.  With our bikes on the bus, we were free to walk around and we got our finisher t-shirt and patch and our free sunglasses and then headed to the fountain to take a fountain shower.  Cooling down and getting the sweat off was fully needed and made us both feel a million times better.  With our voucher we could get a meal at the gyro truck or Mexican truck and we both opted for a gyro with fries.  Man, those fries were the saltiest things I’ve ever had.  We made our way to the beer garden to sit and enjoy the live music and got a beer.  I then walked over for a cold brew coffee from Starbucks that I so wanted before boarding the bus back to Seattle. 

We each rinsed off and cooled off in the fountain once more before finding the changing tents to change into clean and more comfortable clothes for the bus ride back.  We got to the bus just as the first was pulling away so we were riders #4 and 5 and had to wait for like 50 more people to fill up the bus before we could leave.  This meant we were sitting on the bus for a full hour waiting but the seats were comfortable and we could chill out and the drive back to Seattle was only mildly traffic for just over a 3-hour drive.  It was interesting passing many places that we had cycled near or next to.  We got back to Husky Stadium just after 7 pm, found our bikes without hassle and took them to the nearest bus stop to catch the 48 bus up the hill because there was no way in the world either of us were cycling home.  We stopped at Safeway quickly for some chips and salsa and then got back home to the girls.

The girls weekend went alright.  They were fine upon waking up Saturday morning to Sonja and Sonja drove them up to Volunteer Park for Reese’s friend’s birthday party and the wading pool.  Once back home, Sarah and Lottie came over for the rest of Saturday and spent the night with them.  They both slept well for Sarah and enjoyed playing with the bounce house and water in the backyard to keep cool.  It was an equally hot weekend at home and the house was pretty warm when we got back.  Reese had another wave of nausea from we think the heat and dehydration at the tail end of Sarah’s time with them so she took a nap in her air-conditioned room for a bit but was feeling fine once we were back home.  It was great to see the girls and get our showers in and sleep in our bed once more.  Bryan’s cuts have now mostly fully healed and my tailbone is sore only when I sit directly on it or have unbalanced loading in one leg.  

We loved the ride and would do it again but not before doing other rides around Seattle or elsewhere.  It was quite the adventure and the experience but the training really is a lot to commit to, especially on top of work and two kids.  We are really great cycling companions though and I think have a similar cadence and speed to one another for long distances and I think we both were proud of ourselves for the speed we clocked the ride in at.  We passed many, many riders on the road and although we also got passed, it was not by many.  Now, I would never do the ride in one day, I think that is absurd.  I would 100% stay at the Toledo fire station again and Bryan was spot on about getting more than halfway the first day to have an easier ride the second day.  There are honestly few things I would have done differently now having ridden it once.  And I am very thankful that our mishaps were minor and not major like some other stories I’ve heard.  The craziest thing is that we both are thinking about going for a ride soon, sooner for sure than I thought I would.

— 
Chelsea

After our Chelan trip, which was fun for some and didn’t meet expectations for others (Reese), me getting sick coming back from my night in Spokane, and trying to will ourselves into our last final bike rides in the now-summer heat in Seattle, we were ready to rest, relax and cool off in Michigan over the 4^th of July.  Brooke was home from school on Wednesday before our trip so she helped me pack and ultimately decided that being home with Mom and Dad both working from home was far better than going to school.  Didn’t realize the trouble this would bring for the next few weeks.  But we managed to pack, I took Brooke for a bike ride along the Burke Gilman for 20 miles, and we had one last dinner at home.

Thursday, July 3^rd we set out slowly in the morning for the airport to catch our flight to Detroit.  Mom and Dad were there to pick us up from the airport, car packed, car seats installed, we set North straight to the cottage.  We stopped for the must-have Middleeastern food in Fenton, MI for a short break, which was noteworthy in and of itself, got cookies next door at Crumbl, and then continued on to the cottage.  We pulled in a little after 9 pm, it was not yet dark so we were able to be greeted by everyone at the cottage and check out the new bunkie that is being built at the cottage and where we would sleep for the first two nights.  My cousins and aunts and uncles were all there, my grandma, and Chad and Sarah.  We had a full cottage and of course always a fair amount going on.  We spent the night settling in, enjoying the campfire, and then saying goodnight to everyone.  Reese slept in Grammy and Grandad’s room the whole trip and Brooke slept with us, albeit she did try to sleep with them she’s just still a little too attached when we are there.

The 4th started with warm temps and sunshine and I was all about it to soak up as much lake fun as possible.  After breakfast, Bryan and I went for a walk around the lake while the temps were still cool and then came back to cool off with some swimming.  The water was so warm though, almost too warm at times, although I swear, I would never say that.  We did a round of water skiing and tubing.  Reese first tubed with Chad and Sarah, then myself and Grammy, and lastly with Bryan.  She had a great time and I think we found the right speed for her on the tube.  We got all of the floats and rafts out and Grandad even installed a slide for the shallow area for the girls.  He even went down it himself!  Because some were heading home this night, we did Mom’s epic shrimp boil midday and managed to get everyone around the picnic table on the deck, just barely.  The girls love ringing the dinner bell at mealtimes.  It was so hot though.  I think we were all melting eating lunch so we needed to cool off with swimming afterwards.  We spent the majority of the afternoon in the water, took the paddleboards out, and generally tried to keep cool.  We broke out the Cottage 2025 family playlist in the afternoon and Chad brought down his hefty speakers.  That night we gathered around the fire with the Tigers game on in the background and Reese maybe roasted one too many marshmallows.  The only one not around the campfire was Brooke who had gone without a nap and you would know.  Miss Crankypants was tired and opted for the inside, being fairly irritable for the remained of the night except to do some kids yoga and go out with Chad to see the fireworks.  We played a round of Tunk and More Grammy was the first out (sorry Grandma) and Reese was the winner.  She was okay with this!  She collected her earnings the next morning after she recovered from her overdose of sugar.  We all slept well, even with the 1 am fireworks show.

On Saturday we had another hot day so it was much the same, keeping cool in the water, taking the boat out for water skiing and tubing, swimming, floating, paddling, etc.  I did not walk around the lake and am in awe for those that ran around the lake.  Grammy and Grandad took the girls into Leroy to get a few cottage toys and candy.  More of the family were setting out to head back to their respective houses which left us, Grammy and Grandad and Chad and Sarah for the rest of the night.  After doing some more tubing and skiing behind the boat we took it out to the middle of the lake to cool off with a swim.  This is always so freeing and fun; was when I was a kid and still is.  That night, Mom got out her pizza oven and the girls helped Grandad roll out the crust and Reese really got into saucing, cheesing and adding on the toppings to the pizzas.  The pizzas were delicious and enjoyed on the deck and followed up with some ice cream.  

On Sunday we were actually brought a rainy and cooler day.  It wasn’t terrible as we had plenty of food to snack on, Wimbledon to enjoy, cards to play, and other ways to keep ourselves entertained.  Mom and I got a walk in around the lake before it really got raining while Grandad and Bryan made everyone waffles in the morning, and those were delicious.  Chad and Sarah were leaving this afternoon and I think both girls were sad to see them leave.  The rain broke long enough for me to get in one last ski on glassy water and to get Bryan up as well.  It started raining pretty good while we were out so we brought the boat back in.  We managed to get the fire going after the rain died down and cooked our hot dogs on the fire along with a variety of leftovers various people left up at the cottage.  We then settled into Wicked which the girls really enjoyed and have even both watched a second time since on the airplane back to Seattle.

We planned to head back to East Lansing on Monday so that the girls could enjoy some time there and to break up our return travel day back.  We enjoyed one more walk around the lake and a little paddling while also helping to put all of the toys away, pack up the food and our bags, and tidy the cottage.  We hit the road around 1 pm and the sun was just starting to break on our drive and fully out once we arrived in East Lansing around 3 pm.  The girls were immediately back in action with the toys at the house.  It felt nice to just sit outside at the table with a drink for a while.  We then walked Sophie, the girls taking turns walking her, over to Lou and Harry’s to pick up dinner, which we brought back and enjoyed at home.  

Tuesday was our only full day in East Lansing and it was gearing up to be a toasty one.  Bryan and I had wanted to get in a shorter ride just to loosen our legs and get them familiar with a bike again so we took out my parents’ bikes on the River Trail for what I think was somewhat of a figure eight loop of about 20 miles.  It was pleasant and mostly shaded and seemed to go by really pretty fast so I think we were both happy we did this.  My parents took the girls to Patriarch Park but both girls were wearing pants (their request) and found the park too hot for too long.  Bryan and I picked up subs from Jersey Giant on our bike ride home, which I carried somehow on my handlebars.  The rest of the day we spent playing in the splash pad at home, playing Clue and Yahtzee, the girls made garden stones with my mom, and my parents grilled up some steaks for an excellent last dinner.

We were heading back to Seattle on Tuesday and there were more showers threatening so we decided, after showering and packing up our bags, to take the girls to one of the indoor trampoline parks.  We went back to the one Bryan took them last, which is new and clean and has a variety of cool attractions.  The girls proceeded to jump for about two hours, working up a sweat and having a good time.  Grammy and Grandad came to meet us there to watch them some in action.  The boys went to go pick up Middleeastern and Chickfila for lunch for our drive to the airport which was smooth with minimal traffic.  We said our goodbyes at the airport and then got ready for the plane.  The plane sat at the airport an hour longer than anticipated to get more fuel so we got back to Seattle an hour late but the flight was smooth.  We took the bus/train back home and got home just about 9 pm.  Bryan grabbed us Thai food before they closed and we were all eager to get some good sleep before getting back into our normal routines. 

Bryan had a goodbye lunch at the Renton office on Thursday before heading to return back to the Everett office on Friday.  Reese had her last two days at Galileo Camp and Brooke was back at school and neither girl was happy about this by any means.  I was back to work at home and trying to get some things ready for the STP bike ride.  We did manage to pack a picnic on Thursday for the first Volunteer Park Summer Concert Series which we enjoyed with a bunch of friends in the most perfect of temperatures.  Being the first one they had the free ice cream back which is always a hit.  And Reese had her very first practice for her new Xcel gymnastics team on Friday.  She’s already in love with it!

Great times in Michigan for the 4^th like usual and never enough photos since I so rarely have my phone on me at the cottage. But the fun doesn’t stop there.  We had just two short days at home and then were heading out on a new adventure:  The STP.

— 
Chelsea