Uncle Chad

What a weekend we had with Uncle Chad paying us a visit.  The long weekend, celebrating the end *sniff* of summer, was a truly a much-needed reprieve from the regular around here.  And it was anything but regular for us.  We saw friends, we went out to eat (outside only) with Reese, we stayed up until 2 am one night, and it was a crazy rush of a weekend. Chad left just in the nick of time because as he was leaving the wild fires kicked in with horrendous smoke that is now keeping us indoors and Reese has officially begun the terrible twos as of…last night.

But reminiscing about the good times, the weekend started off nice and slow before it really geared up. I picked up Chad from the airport Friday just before noon and we caught up with each other back at the house for a few hours before the three of us took a walk to stretch our legs and get Reese from daycare. We had a drink in the backyard before heading to Ivar’s for dinner with his friend Jordan on their lakeside deck. We returned home to catch some ZZZ’s before our long anticipated hike the next day.

After falling asleep at 9 pm (all of us), we woke up around 6 am to pack the car and set north for the North Cascades. I made breakfast burritos to fuel us in the car and Reese kept herself pretty well entertained for the 2.5 hour drive to the trailhead. Our tentative plan was to drop our car off at Welcome Pass and return to Jordan’s car at the Excelsior Pass trailhead to do our own loop hike with the advantage of having two cars. However, the road up to Welcome Pass was potholey and so we made the decision to keep to Excelsior Pass with its trailhead right off of Mt. Baker Highway. We met up with Jordan and Vick and set out on the trail right around 11 am.

It was nice and cloudy as we began our summit in the trees which made for cooler temps for the hard work going up the mountain. We progressed at a good pace with Bryan leading the way with Reese on his back, Reese taking a nap for a portion of it and walking herself for a small portion of it, and exited above the trees to breathtaking views about 3.5 miles up. We continued a little more than a half mile with views of Mt. Baker and the beauty of the North Cascades that were now in the sun with fog down in the valley. At Excelsior Pass we continued up a short way further to reach Excelsior Peak which we had more or less to ourselves for lunch of PB&Js and a few pictures (of which I have yet to get). We started our descent, this time me carrying Reese down the mountain. It took us about the same time going down as going up, 2.5 hours each way, and on the way down Reese did quite a bit more walking herself. We got back to the car around 5 pm and started our way back to Seattle. Chad went home with the guys, knowing that we would have to get back and get Reese to bed considering the time. The three of us got back to Seattle shortly after 7 pm, picking up Thai to fill us back up and Reese passed out from the day’s activity.

Thankfully Reese slept until 9 am on Sunday and after a restful sleep we were ready for another day of activity. We also had the morning to chill at home. After Reese protested a nap, lo and behold she fell asleep in the car on the way to our group floating excursion on Lake Washington. We semi planned leaving early expecting this to happen and with everyone running a bit behind schedule it worked out that Reese got about an hour nap in before waking up as everyone started arriving. We had our relaxation station raft blown up in no time and two tubes and two inflatable kayaks and hit the water. Reese was chill baby for about the first hour and then was ready to jump in and swim before we left Chad and crew on the raft and went ashore to catch up with friends we hadn’t seen in forever, at a respectable distance. We met baby Jack with David and Tina and Reese fed the two dogs a few snacks. As the group was wrapping up festivities, Reese found a bunch of interest in throwing the frisbee and wanting to play football with the guys.

Chad and his friends came back to our house post float for dinner and spicy margaritas. We had the basketball game on the big screen outside until it was over and then transitioned to watching music videos on it. We played one sorry round of Euchre and I still don’t know why we didn’t make it best two out of three. I was called in to assist with an awaken Reese around 1 am and the rest of the gang kept going strong until 2:30 am.

Everyone was a bit slow going come Monday morning. We didn’t have concrete plans and enjoyed laying low for a while. Lottie came over to play with Reese around 10:30 and after their lunch we set out for a walk to grab our own lunch and stretch our legs through the Arboretum. The girls took their naps in the stroller and once home were ready to go. The boys went to play pitch n putt at Green Lake and the girls and I chilled outside on the deck. Once everyone was back we hit Eastlake Bar and Grill for the first time in forever and had a solid dinner before heading home to put a very temperamental Reese to bed and then take Chad to the airport.

It was such a great weekend but one that certainly left me spent. I’m happy for the short week and happy to take a still very tantrumy Reese to school today. Hopefully the week goes quick, that Reese shakes the ‘tude, and that the wild fires get some help.

Chelsea