She arrived late on the evening of July 31st and we then spent the next five days hosting her. I planned an outing every day while she was here so that Lacey could get a little "taste" of the Pacific Northwest and have some fun being outside in the beautiful weather that was forecasted while she was here. The kids and I really had a great time being with Lacey and showing her around town as she is just such a warm, pleasant, and easy going teenager. She really felt like a 7th member of our family and we were all so sad to see her go. We are so grateful that Lacey was able to come out and spend these few days with us and we hope to get the girls together in future!
She made it! Lia and Lacey posing together right after Lacey walked off the plane on the evening of July 31st.
The girls posing with the welcome sign and balloons we had waiting for Lacey when we pulled up to our house on Saturday night.
After church and a quiet afternoon on Sunday, we enjoyed BBQ hamburgers out on the deck for dinner.
All five kids and I then drove into Tacoma after dinner for a sunset walk along Ruston Way.
After our walk, I drove the kids up the hill to walk around the coolest high school around that looks like a miniature Hogwarts!
On Monday, August 2nd, the six of us drove back into Tacoma to spend a few hours at our favorite, little waterpark called Kandle Park.
The kids had a great time playing in the wave pool most of the time.
The darling picture I got of these two buddies.
Logan was a good sport and spent some time with Emmett and me playing with the water toys in the toddler pool.
The girls eating lunch with us during a break at the pool.
On Tuesday, August 3rd, we drove up to Issaquah to spend the day at Lake Sammamish and the evening at my parent's house for dinner. As we were driving through Bellevue, I realized that we could easily make the quick detour to show Lacey the Seattle temple. Here are the girls posing in front of my beloved temple that Ron and I got married in 16 years ago.
Since we have had such a hot summer this year, Lake Sammamish is so warm and wonderful to swim in. The kids and I spent a lovely late morning and early afternoon playing in the water and on the water toys.
Lacey and Lia balancing on the paddle board.
The kids pose for a group picture on the dock before heading to my parent's house for Emmett's late nap and dinner.
We got up early on Wednesday morning, August 4th, and headed into Seattle for our 10 o'clock reservations to go up to the top of the Space Needle. Luckily, Ron wanted to join us and was able to take the morning and early afternoon off from work. This turned out to be a huge blessing for me as finding parking, navigating traffic, keeping track of five children, and getting lunch in Pike Place Market was a challenge for both of us working together! So, it would have been impossible for me to do all of this alone.
Since I haven't been to the top of the Space Needle since I was 16 years old, it was so fun to go back up there all these years later with my entire family. So, I am so grateful to Lacey for giving us an excuse to splurge on this kind of outing! Thanks to the beautiful weather, we had stunning, 360 degree views of Seattle.
Logan and Ella leaning against the glass wall.
Lacey and Lia on top of the world! I marveled at the fact that these two girls have been to the top of two major buildings (OWTC in NYC) in two major cities on two different sides of the country four months apart at their young ages! Not too shabby for a 13-year old and 14-year old girls!
The gang walking down to the second, observatory level that rotates.
The family picture that Lacey took for us.
The four older kids standing on one of the many glass floors on the second floor.
After we finished up with the Space Needle, we drove down to the waterfront to spend a few hours wandering Pike Place Market. Here are the kids standing in front of the infamous fish market where the employees throw fish.
The group posing with the classic, Pike Place Market pig statue.
The kids and the pig.
Lacey, Lia, and Ella posing in front of the market entrance.
Eating lunch under a very red awning!
We wandered down to the gum wall during our walk around the market. Lacey had actually read about this wall in 4th grade and really wanted to see it.
Soaking in the stunning view before packing it up and heading home at 3 p.m.
After a much needed slow morning, the kids and I headed to our local movie theater to see the new Disney movie, The Jungle Cruise, on August 5th. Although I never took any of our older three children to their first movie until they were 3.5 years old, I decided to risk it and take Emmett at 2.5 years old with the hopes that he would be able to sit quietly for over two hours and watch the movie. This turned out to be a HUGE mistake and I ended up having to leave half way through the movie to take him home for his nap. Luckily, my neighbor's daughter was able to run over and stay in our house while I drove back to the theater to pick up the four older kids who had stayed behind to finish watching the movie.
After the movie and a quiet afternoon, Lacey packed up all of her belongings and ate a final meal with us we left for the airport around 7 p.m. Par the girls' request, we stopped by Starbucks on our way out of town to introduce Lacey to Lia's favorite, strawberry Frappuccino drink that the girls enjoyed on the ride to the airport. Here is Lacey posing for one last picture with the younger children before saying goodbye to everyone.
We parked our car and walked Lacey to her gate to wait with her until her plane began boarding. Here is one last picture I was able to take of these two peas in a pod before giving Lacey one last hug and sending her on her way! Thank you so much, Lacey, for coming out to visit us! May it not be too long before we see you again!
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