grandma jan arrives, james taylor concert, memorial weekend getaway

 my mom came into town last wednesday afternoon. the kids and i picked her up from the airport, then drove back to our house to have dinner. after thatcher got home and we ate, we walked over to the baseball fields because ashford wanted to practice batting, but both fields were in use so he and thatcher just played catch in front of the school while we watched.  

thursday the kids went to school and my mom and i ran some errands in preparation for our evening at the james taylor concert. it was held at chateau st. michelle winery in woodinville (about a 40 min drive from us). due to rush hour and concert traffic it took us over an hour to get there. but we snagged a free parking spot about a quarter mile from the venue, so that was good. we carried our blanket, chairs, and cooler bag and got in a huuuuuuge line of people to enter the amphitheater. that line also took over an hour. finally we set up our spot on the lawn, bought a bottle of wine to share, and enjoyed our picnic dinner before the show started. the weather was so beautiful for an outdoor concert.

 

it was my third time seeing him and my mom's fourth. the last time for both of us was in 2005. it's hard for me to put into words how much i love that man and his music. my parents played his music all the time when i was growing up, so it reminds me of my dad and instantly transports me back to carefree days at home when i was a kid. i'm not joking that i cried four different times during the show. james is 75 now and you can tell his voice isn't as powerful as it once was, but it was still a fantastic show. he is such a genuine performer and still seems humbled by his fans after all these years of fame. it was such a special night i will never forget.

 

 

 

 

 on friday the kids headed to school and my mom and i drove down to south seattle to check out 'kubota garden'. my mom found it online and neither of us had been there before. it was really beautiful, especially with the rhododendrons blooming. i love that she and i get to do lots of things just the two of us when she comes.

 

 

we found a place nearby to have lunch. we stumbled upon an awesome restaurant right on lake washington called 'stone house cafe'. the food was great too! 

 

we picked up ashford at the end of the school day, then headed to kay's house for grapefruit margaritas on the patio and to look at her garden. after that, ashford ended up going to 'mod pizza' with kay and her boys and my mom and i came home to eat dinner with thatcher. azalea was gone all evening for sisi's 12th birthday slumber party. 

saturday morning my mom and thatcher headed up to our property. it was her first time seeing it. i stayed home with the kids. azalea spent a lot of the day at sisi's. ashford had a haircut in the morning then we stopped at starbucks and secret garden books to get a book he's been wanting. he's very picky about books, so when there's something he wants to read, i make it happen. especially if it's not easy to get from the library. in the afternoon arlo came over to hang out with ashford. my mom and thatcher got home at dinner time and we made greek chicken pita sandwiches. 

sunday morning thatcher made us lemon waffles, eggs, and bacon for breakfast. then he and i hit the road for 2 nights on whidbey island...sans kids! it was so nice to have my mom offer to stay with them so we could have a little getaway. we don't get a lot of opportunities to do that living away from family. it took us a long time to get to our VRBO in langley because we took the bridge route rather than the ferry. but it was worth the drive. the view from the guesthouse was spectacular. and the rest of the accommodations were great too. 

 

we did a 1 mile loop around the neighborhood which included a steep walk down to a secluded beach. 

 

 

we sat out on the deck all evening. we grilled brats, hotdogs, and peppers for dinner. the perfect summer meal.

monday was memorial day. we got up and made breakfast and drank our coffee out on the deck. it was overcast and a little chilly, but nothing a blanket couldn't fix. 

 

then we drove into the town of langely and got more coffee and walked around and went into some of the shops. it's a cute town that we hadn't spent time in yet. 

 

we went back to the VRBO and had lunch on the deck that we picked up the day before. in the afternoon we drove to ebey's landing to do the bluff hike. it was 6 miles long and the most gorgeous views the entire way. it's been years since i've done a hike like that. we were both tired at the end, but has such a nice time. 

we planned to go out for dinner that night, but realized we should have gone out the first night instead because the two restaurants we narrowed it down to were both closed on monday :( oh well. we had lots of food leftover from grilling the night before so we just had that again. we also asked the hosts (who were next door) if we could use the fire pit to have a fire. they got everything set up for us, which was so nice. it was a very windy night so we only lasted out by the fire for about an hour, but we managed to make some yummy smores. 

tuesday morning we had breakfast, cleaned, packed up our stuff and headed to the ferry. we were back in seattle by lunch time. the kids were excited to see us after school, but they had a great time with my mom. she played games with them, dropped off ashford at a playdate, took them out for lunch one day and for dinner the next. i'm glad they could have that time with her.

my mom is still here until saturday, so we're going to enjoy our last stretch with her. i can't believe it's about to be june!