— my little corner of randomness —
Seattle
My friend invited me to a nearby park the other day. It was a gorgeous day, so we packed lunches and headed there after school. The park is right on a river and has original historical buildings near the park. There's a bridge that crosses the river onto the Burke Gillman Trail. We wandered, played and I can't wait to go back again!
My mom came to visit us during her spring break from work. One of the fun things we did (that I had been wanting to do) was go to Chateau Ste. Michelle. It is only about 15 minutes from my house and since we had a nice morning, we went to visit and take a tour.
The grounds were beautiful. They have a small area with grape vines near the entrance (which I didn't take a picture of), but their vineyards are in another part of Washington.
The tour was quick (took about 30 minutes), informative and fun. This location bottles Riesling. The machines weren't running the day we were there, but it was still really neat to see.
There were lots of boards/displays to read (which I didn't spend much time doing because the kids were with…and because I usually just look at the pictures).
There were many barrels of wine being stored. It's amazing to think of the amount of wine they can store inside them.
They also do a concert series at the winery in the summer. There was a big sign of the artists that played in 2014.
After the tour, they lead you into a big room for the wine tasting. We got to try three different wines: Chardonnay, a summer blend and Merlot. Yum!
Then you can go into another room for a paid sampling or browse the gift shop and wine shop. I was going to buy some wine, but decided I would wait for now. I'd love to go back and do a more thorough wine tasting when I don't have three kids with me and then I will buy some!
The kids were all really good and I think they even had fun. Maddie was even listening because she was able to tell Chuck about it later. They offered crackers to the kids and grape juice. So if you take kids with you, that might be fun for them. The winery also has a couple of peacocks on the grounds. We did see them from a distance as we left, but weren't close enough to get a picture of them.
Overall, it was a lot of fun and a fun morning outing to do. I don't think I would go alone with the kids because well, wine sampling with your kids was a little awkward. But if you bring a friend with, it wasn't nearly as weird. 
I will definitely be back, though. And I think I'll make plans to check out the other winery across the street, too!
There were hundreds like this that I deleted. And both Maddie and Dannie are the budding photographers. From the eyes of a child, right?
We've been here a week now and I can't complain about the weather at all! There have been a couple drizzly mornings, but overall, it's been great. Coming from Minnesota where it's so cold in the winter, I am loving these 40+ degree days. We wear sweatshirts, take walks outside…it's wonderful. There's also green grass and huge green trees. The leaves have fallen off trees, but with all the evergreens, it's still so lush and gorgeous here! And this coming week will be a little cooler, but sunny and no rain. Not needing to bundle the kids up to leave or go outside is so wonderful! I'm in heaven!
This year Christmas was a little different. We celebrated with our families a bit early since we moved before Christmas. And since we were moving, I didn't want to move presents, so I had Amazon ship some gifts to our place in Washington. This worked out great! We needed to make a trip to Target to get basic stuff and Maddie asked for a little tree. So for $8, we made a little girl very happy! Maddie was worried Santa wouldn't find us when we moved, so having a tree made her confident we could be found. Chuck got some lights and Maddie decorated it with toys. It's definitely a Charlie Brown Christmas tree, but we love it!
Maddie also asked for a gingerbread house. (She's kind of demanding this year!) So Chuck sweetly went on a hunt for one. Not only did he procure a gingerbread house (and lots of yummy toppings), but he also got Maddie a big bear. My dad had bought Maddie a huge bear one year and she plays with it all the time and loves sleeping on it. The other day she told us how much she missed her bear. (No worries, it's just packed with all our furniture; she will have it before too long.) So we wrapped it with a note from Santa saying he knew she missed her bear, so he sent bear's little sister to keep her company. She loved it and now bear is well loved here.
We even baked some cookies for Santa. Gotta have cookies!
Last weekend, we packed everything we would want for the next couple months, packed up the kids, and headed to the airport to start our journey. We took Chuck's step-mom, Jean, with us to help with the kids and all our luggage. I'm not sure we could have done it without her!
We arrived at the airport and made our way through security and then had some lunch. The kids were really good and had fun looking at everything at the airport.
The girls did really well on the flight and played on the iPads through most of the trip. Maddie said it was fun and liked the bumps (turbulence). Dannie was really good until the last 10 minutes or so. She didn't want to be in her seat, didn't want to be held, and screamed through most of landing. But she's two, hadn't had a nap, was really tired and overall did great!
Alex was great! I fed him on takeoff and landing. He cried for a minute when I changed him, but slept through most of the flight. He's been to both sides of the country since I was pregnant when I went to New York! What a well-traveled 5-week old!
After a long day, we made it to Seattle. We were all tired and hungry, so we grabbed some food and made our way to our temporary housing. Then we put the girls to bed and fell asleep shortly after them. Alex even let me get a bunch of sleep that night. I was so thankful!
It's actually happening. We are moving to Seattle! We have our flights booked and we couldn't be more excited.
Back in September, Chuck was laid off from Microsoft. They were closing all their remote locations and it was such a bummer for everyone there to lose their jobs!
After taking a little time off, Chuck got searching for a new job. Being the go-getter and amazing person that he is, he started looking at the big companies (Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft again). The catch is that all the jobs would be in Seattle. We briefly considered San Francisco, but knew we didn't want to live there. So the daunting, grueling, stressful task of interviewing began.
At the end of one of his trips, I made a short trip to Seattle to look around at neighborhoods and just loved it there! The pacific NW is so gorgeous…it's hard not to love it there. After finding a Target, it felt more like home and I knew I could live there!
So Chuck continued his interviews and we hoped for the best. He got a couple offers, but ultimately took a job with Google. And I couldn't be more proud of him! Not everyone gets to say they worked for Microsoft and Google! I'm in awe of him and all he can do.
At this point, we talked more and really had to decide if moving was something that was right for us and our family. It was an incredibly hard decision, but we knew if we didn't take this opportunity, he might not get one like this again. We have wondered what it would be like to live somewhere else and we would have wondered “what if” and had regrets if we didn't try this. So we held our breath, pressed the “send” button, and accepted the offer!
After accepting the position, it was time to start the moving ball rolling. Life has been a complete whirlwind. Really, since September, we have been taking one day at a time. We got our house on the market (are you in need of a new house, we'd love for you to buy ours!?) and started the process of getting ready to move across the country with children. On top of it all, we threw in having another baby. I mean, why not!?
Now just a few days away from our move, it's finally starting to feel more real. We are so excited to get out there, get settled and get back into a routine. We've been looking at houses online, but the serious looking will begin when we get there. I'm 90% sure I found a preschool for Maddie. That will be good for her. And I'm hoping to find a couple groups for me when I get there. Next up will be a pediatrician. There are so many things to think about with a move across the country!
I'm really looking forward to sightseeing and finding some new things for the kids and I to scope out. And milder winters. That makes me so happy!
