Waaaaay back at pre-Thanksgiving/Christmas Erin and Maeve said they were planning to go to a concert in Indy and needed babysitters...well of course I jumped at the chance to visit and babysit in exchange for airfare!
At first it was just gonna be me and Lu but once I realized Paulina was homeschooling and could come with us, I booked her a flight as well. Mom & Dad were super generous and chipped in for two flights so we all three got to go in style with Delta on a non-stop on the way there and just a quick flight change on the way back (since the only available non-stop is an overnight which I did not want to deal with!)
We arrived Thursday night and hung out for a bit with Mike & Erin getting all the instructions for the care and keeping of Houghten girls and dogs.
Friday while they headed off to the airport, the Houghten girls played hooky and we all piled in the truck and headed up to the Seattle area to visit my friend I've known for 20 years online but finally got to meet in person! Monica's husband is a Navy Submarine Commander and they've lived in various areas of the country but have been in Seattle-area for awhile and I've long been jealous of her view of Mount Rainer from her kitchen window! She and her daughters, Cora Rose and Mina, were lovely hostessess and introduced us to all the chickens and Cora (mostly) kept the little girls more than entertained while Monica and I got to chat. After a few hours visiting, we headed to the Bremerton Ferry to go across the sound (and save some gas...$100+ at my fill up near Castle Rock on the way north!) and once we hit land (about 30-40 minutes later) we headed straight for the Freemont Troll. Paulina had read about the troll under the bridge in one of her "cool and amazing" type books she likes and I have to say, a good time was had by all! We played in, around and with the troll for not quite an hour and then headed back into the truck for the ride home. Since Aunt Leigh insisted on being screen free on the way there (thanks road trip snack bag, Dollar Tree markers and a few unicorn drawing books from Big Lots!), everyone got on their devices for the ride back home and while Lucy napped, everyone else just chilled until we got home. Promised a "hot tub party" upon our return, we ate some snacks and alarmed the neighbor with our 10pmish soak! Everyone went to bed tired and happy!
Saturday we totally vegged after our big road trip and never even left the house to go play in the backyard (though we should have and I would have insisted upon it had I any idea how yucky the weather would be Sunday and Monday!) We left only for Palm Sunday Mass in nearby Lake Oswego and though we wanted to eat at Burgerville, the dining room was closed. After driving around to see if anything else looked as good, I ultimately decided on pizza which we had delivered after our much earlier hot tub party around 7pm.
Sunday we headed out to Lee Farms for a pre-arranged Easter Egg hunt. This was another fun outing and I'm so glad Erin arranged it for us before she left! The weather pretty much held off for our two hours on the farm and once back home we did some more vegging out and got some sushi for dinner and had some surprise cupcakes delivered! Then our regular hot tub party and back into bed for another day tomorrow.
All night I could hear the hail hitting the roof and sure enough the ground was covered in snow/hail when we woke up Monday. I had thought about taking the girls to school but thank goodness I didn't pull the trigger on that b/c come to find out Monday was a snow day! Erin & Mike got home sooner than I thought they would so we hung out and I got to have some grown up conversation and sister time before another evening of hot tub party (the snow/hail melted and the sun even came out later in the afternoon/early evening) and we had spaghetti and meat balls for dinner.
Tuesday we walked the girls to school in the morning and then Aunt Erin took us to see the Oregon City Elevator...the only vertical street in North America! After a quick visit there we headed back home and then were whisked off to the airport for our flight home via Minneapolis. To my surprise, Lucy didn't nap at all on either travel day!
