Luis and I went to Seattle Nov. 5-9 to visit our friends Erika & Skylar. We got to know them in Bombay when David, Erika's husband, was working with Diego on the airport project. After we left Bombay, David, Erika & Skylar stayed for another year before moving to Seattle this summer. David was back in Bombay for a couple of weeks at the end of October/early November so Luis and I went up to help keep Erika & Skylar company in their new city.
The five days were a whole lot of fun, in spite of COLD, WET weather. We did quite a bit of stuff out of the house, all of our outings were punctuated by playing at the house. Luis loved loved loved all of Skylar's toys, her books, her playdoh, and her cat (Kitty Mac). Skylar was great about sharing her things with Luis but was diligent about reminding him that they actually belonged to her, which invariably set them off on a "it's mine" fight. Skylar was very concerned that Luis was going to actually take her toys home with her; Luis was confused about the temporary-ness versus the permanence of the phrase "mine".
Skylar had these wonderful window crayons that they used on the wall of sliding glass doors.
I loved loved loved having five whole days to hang out with such a dear friend, to catch up on all that is happening in life. Although we are now at least on the same continent, being two time zones away still makes chatting complicated. We definitely made up for that during our visit (as well as consumed an amazing amount of coffee!!)
On Friday, we went up to the Seattle Zoo. I had not anticipated how the rain would make the cold feel colder, so Luis spent the entire morning feeling chilly. The highlights of the trip was watching an elephant get a bath ("and do a little elephant-bath dance" as the kids observed), watching a cunning squirrel snatch up the little pieces of the trail mix snack that the kids dropped, and seeing moss.
Luis & Skylar enjoy a snack (while Erika shoos off the squirrel)
Luis & Skylar in front of a Tapir (the only "animal" shot we got from the whole trip!)
On Saturday, we attempted to have a "park crawl" to sample some of Skylar's favorite parks across Redmond, but it was entirely too cold and too wet. Poor Luis wouldn't even get out of the car. Skylar, who is clearly fitting into her new environment insisted on a few pushes on the swing before leaving the first park - with HEAVY rain at about 45-degrees. Since outdoor play was out and we couldn't quite face an entire day in the house, we took the kids to Kohl's and Target (because they were across the street from each other. The kids had a great time perusing the toy shelves at Kohl's and then enjoyed warm chocolate (as opposed to hot chocolate) and cookies at the Starbucks kiosk at Target before picking up a few essentials (including cold allergy meds for Luis).
On Sunday, we met up with my old HITT colleague, Tim Ericson, his wife Marie and their daughter Karina at the Seattle kids museum. I haven't seen Tim in about four years and it's been almost seven since I've seen Marie. It was my first chance to meet Karina, who just turned two. Luis had a tough start to the museum with much whining and crying, but eventually joined Karina & Skylar for some fun. I heard from Erika that the museum was great. But I seriously spent the first 45 minutes (and about 1/2 the museum) trying to manage Luis's meltdown. We missed the main exhibit, which was Sesame Street Presents: The Body. All three of the kids really seemed to enjoy the art room, which we found at the end. There you could paint at easels, color with markers, use scissors (always a big thrill for Luis). There were more organized craft projects for older kids and I think even some modelling clay stuff. It was excellent.
After saying goodbye to the Ericsons, we enjoyed a few of the rides that were just outside the exhibit hall. Think State Fair rides. Erika took the kids on a little roller coaster - which they all loved. Then, I took them on the carousel; also a hit. Unfortunately, Erika and I lost track of time and it was 2p by the time we got the kids home for naps. And we were supposed to be at my cousin's house for dinner by about 4:30. And both Luis and Skylar were desperate for sleep.
If you look closely, you can see the GLEE on both Luis's & Skylar's faces
After too-short naps, we piled everyone back in the car to head over to Randy & Michelle's house (from my Whitfield/Schweickart branch of the family tree) for an early dinner. My other cousin Vicki and her family were also able to join. Luis hadn't seen his teenage second cousins since the summer, but quickly realized how enamored he was with them. And Annalise and Camile were great sports to play with Luis (and Skylar). Dinner was delish, and the conversation was a lot of fun. After dinner, All of the under 20 crowd enjoyed some Guitar Hero - with some of my generation eventually joining in. Both Luis and Skylar particularly enjoyed the music, "playing" guitar and playing the drums. They did much, much dancing, too. Though we stayed an hour later than we'd planned, the visit seemed MUCH too short!
Monday was a quiet day of packing up to head home. After breakfast, Skylar wasn't feeling well and quickly developed a fever. What was originally thought to be the flu (or H1N1), turned out to be Hand Foot and Mouth disease (which me might have brought with us - thought Luis had impetigo the day before we left; in hind sight it could well have been H, F & M).
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