unkie brandon visits seattle

yes, we call my brother "unkie." it started as a joke when azalea was a baby and just sort of...stuck :) he flew in on thursday afternoon and the kids and i made the 40 min trek (each way) to the airport to pick him up. we hung out at home most of the afternoon, so the kids could nap. well, only azalea napped. ashford ruined his with a car nap. thanks dude! 

after nap time, we walked to the locks (of course!) and the community center play ground. at dinner time, we met up with thatcher at "the boars nest", which is an awesome bbq place in our neighborhood. i thought it would be right up unkie's alley and i was correct. so good! we walked around the business district, then back home and settled in for the night. 

friday morning thatcher worked and my brother, ashford, and i dropped azalea off at preschool then set out to do some exploring. it wasn't the nicest weather and ashford promptly fell asleep in the car, so we ended up just driving around for over an hour. it was still fun. we laid low for most of the afternoon, then i made pasta for dinner with smoked salmon, brie cheese, red peppers and green onions - one of our favs! 

saturday morning we decided to drive out of the city to check out a waterfall about 30 minutes away that we haven't been to yet. but first we decided to drive through "the pass" between the mountains - which is super pretty. then we got off at the exit where gold creek pond is (we went there about a month ago) and it's pretty hard to pass up. don't you agree? 

when all was said and done, we decided to skip the falls and go get lunch at chipotle instead. ha. 

that afternoon i got some work done at a coffee shop near our house. then we all headed downtown to attend a mariner's game. my brother went to one when he was here in 2008 and thatcher has been to one with work. it was mine and the kids' first - and it was ashford's first baseball game ever. we bought the cheapest tickets knowing we probably wouldn't be there the whole game. and we were right - we stayed for about an hour and 45 mins. ashford was hard to keep contained in our seats, so we grabbed dinner and ate at some picnic tables inside the stadium. 

on the way back, we stopped at cary park in queen anne to see the breath-taking view of the skyline. 

sunday my brother was feeling under the weather (sick, not hungover. haha). so he stayed home and rested while we walked to a park nearby for our new friend liam's 3rd birthday play date. i was introduced to his mom via facebook by a mutual friend we know in california (where they are from). i've really enjoyed getting to know heather, her husband brian, and their son liam over the last month or so. the party was lots of fun! top pot donuts - and coffee for the parents, yes please! 

we grilled in the evening, then my brother, the kids, and i ventured to carkeek park. (we took him to a lot of the same places as my mom, we couldn't help ourselves!). we watched a gorgeous sunset, played on the beach, and the play ground. 

monday morning azalea was back at preschool and thatcher was back at work. my brother, ashford, and i went to golden gardens beach for a while, then drove unkie to the airport. i'm so glad he could come visit for a few days. we have missed him so much - and i know he misses the kids, especially!