Another great family visit

Ok, a little catch-up post here and with any luck I'll get some pics in!

Had an AWESOME visit with my family over the past week!  My sister Amy, her hubby, her 3 kids, and my sister Brandi all arrived Saturday after a very early morning flight.  As luck would have it, there was a concert right outside their hotel that night, but they did manage to get a little sleep.  Sunday we had a photo shoot with Kristin Harris and it was way more fun that I ever thought possible!  The day was a little dreary, so we grabbed lunch, hit the farmer's market, then took to the seas for an afternoon sail.  It was cold, but everyone got to see a whale and get acquainted with the boat.

Monday was another kind of dreary day, so I took the whole crew to the ABE for a tour and lunch.  After all that walking, we headed up the road to Deception Pass.  We had some fun on the beach there, then drove down Whidbey to take a ferry trip back to the east side of the sound.  Busy day!  We kept that pace up Tuesday, heading down to Seattle to check out the eclectic scene of Pike Place Market before hitting Seattle Center and the Space Needle.  I had a blast!  The skies cleared enough for us to get a good view of Mt. Rainier, too.

Wednesday we slowed things down a bit and got the whole gang underway for a cruise to Poulsbo.  That was awesome!  My nephew Jason and my niece Jenny took a turn driving the boat, we saw seals, we saw sea lions, we had great weather...fun day!  We hit Poulsbo in time to burn off some energy in the waterfront park, get some yummy ice cream, and do a little shopping.  To keep it simple we grilled on the boat, then played in town a little more.  Of course we hit Sluys' Bakery before heading out Thursday!  Another nice day on the water and we returned to Everett for a family night out at Alfy's pizza and some dancing to the free concert at the marina. 

After those calm days on the water, we stepped it up again Friday!  Just the out-of-towners and I headed out for a great, Class III white-water rafting trip on the Skykomish!  Everyone seemed to have a great time--I know I sure did!  We stopped by the cabin while we were out there, just long enough to see that it had been broken into again.  Ugh.  Frank was out racing a sailboat that night, so the rest of us headed onto base to eat at the galley there.  I think we were pretty tired after that!

Today was their last day here and it was a nice, laid back day.  We hit Kate's for a hearty lunch (because everyone visiting Everett should check out Kate's!), then just hung out at the boat.  We dropped the kayaks and all took turns paddling around the marina.  The highlight was when Sarah and I were in the tandem and Frank and Katreina were in the other one and we had a seal totally playing with us!  It grabbed our rudder a few times, kept coming to the surface right be Sarah's paddle, and would rub up against the bottom of our boat!  It followed us all the way around the marina! 

Sadly that was the end of the fun. We headed to the SeaTac area for dinner and to drop everyone off at a hotel for the night.  It was great to see everyone and see the kids playing together.  It was one of the best vacations I've had in a very long time and I'm going to miss all of this fun!