My parents and sisters came up Memorial Day weekend to help us move in, which was a HUGE help. Monday, however, we decided to abandon our work, and enjoy the holiday in downtown Seattle.
One of the best choices we made was to take the bus in. It allowed my Dad especially to enjoy the city without the stress of driving. And allowed us more time to explore without worrying about feeding parking meters, or just finding parking, period. My sisters, especially Adalee, haven’t spent much time in the city. So even things like riding the city bus were novel.
I’d forgotten how incredible the Pike’s Market flowers are. The bouquets you see behind my Mom and sisters go for $10.00! We all enjoyed trying all the samples, especially the choclate covered cherries and basalmic vinegars! Tom and I kept marveling at how easily we could empty our wallets in Seattle.
Riding the Golden Piggy Bank- which helps support the market and projects to help those in need.
Ivar’s Fish and Chips- yum!
Riding the Monorail with his Aunts!
Space Needle- After enjoying the morning at Pike’s Market we headed to The Seattle Center for the Folklife Festival. It was fun to see kabuki for the first time, as well as Eastern European traditional dance. Mostly we enjoyed people watching the eclectic gathering of Seattlites at the Festival. What I loved was how supportive the crowds were. Start up bands and young solo instrumentalists lined the walkways playing for donations. 27 stages were full all day with a varied array of talent and genre. Maybe I should get involved next year- featuring Classic American Popular Song? I’d jump at the opportunity to sing a recital full of Gershwin, Porter, Kern, and Rodger.
My Mom was immensely helpful in figuring out how to meld my things with those of the owner. Because we’re subletting, our “home” is completely furnished, the kitchen is equipped, and our landlord’s stuff is still in place.
I absolutely adore the last picture. It demonstrates the love and affection that developed between my Mom and Scotland while we were gone. I was nervous to leave Scotland, naturally. But I was hopeful that this would be the opportunity he needed to bond with my parents. Because we’ve lived so far away, and because we usually see my parents in the mix of their other 14 grandchildren, and eight children and five in-laws, he’s never really been close to them. It’s always bothered me that he wouldn’t give my parents hugs, or willingly go to them. My hopes certainly materialized. Now, Scotland runs to give “Poppa” hugs when he gets home from work. He runs up and tickles my Mom inciting her to chase him. He keeps asking about Adalee and Dantzi and talks lovingly of them. Tonight, he asked about each individually, clearly missing them. My heart swelled. I so dearly want my children to love and cherish my parents and siblings. Knowing they wouldn’t was the hardest part of living far away. Now that we’re close I’m exstatic about the prospect of monthly visits. I’m hopeful that Dantzi and Adalee will both (together or individually) come up and spend a week with us this summer. It’s been so long since I lived at home, and I don’t have the relationship with them that I would like. While I felt bad that Tom and I weren’t really on our A game last weekend, due to fatigue and burnout from a month of travel. Having my family here creating a long list of all the things we wanted to do together in Seattle excited me. It’s so wonderful to live close to family!