The Neilsen's and The Seattle (a.k.a. I Had a Hot Date)

I have pondered off and on (on this blog even) the status of my adulthood. I am raising children. I pay taxes. (Through my husband.) I clean up puke. I do laundry EVERY. DAY. I have white hair. (Lots.) I think most of these things qualify me as an adult.

I like most of the things about being an adult. (Not so much the laundry. You would think cleaning up puke would come higher on that list, but usually the two are related. I'm not sure I have ever had a child full-out puke without hitting something that needed to go in the washing machine moments later.) I can tell you one thing I don't like: being responsible. (Well, I like that most of the time.) You know...you have kids, then you have to feed and clothe them. This usually means keeping a steady income and guys tend to move where they can get a good job. Sometimes this means that people you love move away--hundreds of miles away. That stinks.

Not that this didn't happen when I was a kid. I had friends move away. But I wasn't as close to them, and it wasn't their choice. (Their evil responsible parents made them move.) Now when people move, it hurts a bit more. Added to that is the knowledge that we won't be as close. Not just physically, that is obvious...but there is something about living nearby that connects you. You see the same people, you shop at similar stores. You hear the same things on the news. (Assuming you ever watch the news.) You see them at church. (I miss that.)

About a year and a half ago, the Neilsen's moved. Here is Camille in the middle with me.

They moved far away. Sad. But they moved to Washington where my family lives. Happy. If you can't see someone anymore, the next best thing is when they move somewhere you are bound to visit.

So, you'd better believe we went to see the Neilsen's while we were in Washington. Eric now works for a little company called Amazon.com. He lives right in the heart of Seattle. They were so nice to invite the whole family up to swim and have dinner. The girls had a blast.

We played 'chicken' once or twice. Camille snapped a photo while Robyn was still sitting on Tyler. (Many of these pictures were stolen from Camille.)

Check out this cute Neilsen family. I miss them all.

We chatted away, but eventually kids had to be in bed. So Tyler and I made plans to come back the next day, just the adults (oooh, there is an adult perk) and hang out again.

Thanks to my parents (and Miranda) for taking the kids for the afternoon/evening and letting two tired parents have a night out on the town. We went and bummed around Pike's Place.

The bustle of the crowds is unfamiliar now, but I still love the fresh flowers. That is always my favorite part. I wish they had something like that here in Utah.

Pretty incredible view as well.

After perusing the market, we went down to the pier. It was really a lovely day. (Seriously, sunny skies the whole week.) I stopped to chat with a squid.

If we had had more time we might have taken a voyage around the harbor. Instead, we just took a picture by the water.

We walked and talked. It is nice to still be in love with the man I married. Sometimes it doesn't matter where I am. It just matters that I am with him.

We eventually met up with the Neilsen's to have dinner. They took us to this great Indian restaurant. Delish!

Then the plan was to go sailing. I'm amazed with how easily Camille and Eric can navigate the city now. They seemed right at home. We jumped on a train and rode it to Lake Union.

Sadly, we got there right after they closed the boat rentals. They stop rentals at a certain time and then request boats to be back at the docks an hour later. We just missed it. And we could have gone on one of these.

That picture is not in Washington, to be clear. That is just what a paddle board looks like. Guaranteed I could fall off one of those easily. Eric was really going to take us true sailing. He has been taking classes. I stole this picture from Camille too.

Doesn't it look fun? We'll have to go next time we're in town. I'm already making my bucket list for my next WA trip.

So, with sailing out, we opted for dessert instead. It was Eric's birthday, but somehow we ordered the most chocolatey thing on the menu to share. (Eric doesn't like chocolate.) The company was sweet enough. I know it looks like we are in a bar, but it is a restaurant and we just happened to take the picture by the liquor wall.

Then it was time to say goodbye. It was hard, but made sweeter by the fact that I know next time we get together, it will be just like old times. (It is always easy to jump right back into a conversation with the Neilsen's.) Plus, they are coming our way in August...so I really don't have to wait that long.

We didn't get to stay as late as we liked, because we were leaving the next morning to head back to lovely Utah. (That meant another 4am departure time.)

Wow. Almost back to real life and the normal schedule. (As if anything is very normal around here.)