grandma cheryl and grandpa durant's visit, bailey farm, bellingham overnight

 ok, this post is mostly about their visit, but i'm sneaking in a few things from early last week. 

like these delicious chicken enchiladas i made (and will definitely be making again)...

 

 

and the pretty flowers (ornamental peppers) i got...

 

 cheryl and durant arrived last wednesday. it was fun to show them our "new" place even though we've been here for 16 months already. we picked up the kids from school and relaxed at our house for the night.

thursday after the kids went to school, i took cheryl to goodwill (her fave), and durant walked around ballard/phinney ridge while we shopped. azalea had soccer practice after school, so ashford got undivided grandparent attention :)  

we walked to mod pizza in our neighborhood for dinner that night. 

 

friday the kids had off school for a teacher in-service day. we went to the library and the grocery store in the morning. in the afternoon durant and cheryl went with thatcher to northgate for a tour of the new light rail station and i took the kids to bailey farm in snohomish. it was a beautiful day to pick some pumpkins and apples. 

the kids played outside with the neighbors, then we made dinner at our house that night.

saturday morning azalea had a soccer game bright and early in magnolia. we can't all fit in the car, so ashford and i stayed home, which was fine by me because it was chilly. they tied their game after a big comeback in the second half. their record is now 2-2-1.

in the afternoon, thatcher took his parents to bellevue/redmond and i stayed home with the kids. they played with the neighbors outside for hours even though it was cold, windy and wet. we got thai takeout for dinner that night and thatcher made a boston cream pie. 

sunday thatcher and i left on a 24 hour getaway to bellingham and mount baker. the weather and fall colors were gorgeous and it was so nice to have some dedicated time together. on our drive up, we stopped at an overlook and came upon these paragliders. i could have watched them all day. 

  

we checked into our hotel in bellingham, walked around the boulevard waterfront park and went to some shops. we had dinner at a neapolitan pizza place. 

 

monday morning after coffee and breakfast, we set out for mount baker national forest. thatcher has gone hiking there before, but i had not. it was spectacular. we first stopped to see a waterfall. 

 

 

 

  

 

it was so cool to see the fall colors mixed with a little snow (at 4,000 ft elevation). 

 

 

 

 

 

the kids had a great time with grandma and grandpa while we were gone. they had scooters for dinner and watched a movie and slept in our bed :) cheryl and durant are heading home tomorrow. the week went fast, but it was so nice to spend time with them.