Who Wouldn't Want To Come Visit??

We've had a steady stream of visitors this past month! First, my sister and her family drove in for a night. They were up near Spokane for her husbands' family reunion and decided to swing by and surprise me. And boy was I surprised when she rang my doorbell! They only stayed for a night but it was really fun to have them stay with us. Last time they were in the area, Austin had the chicken pox so they didn't stay overnight before going to see her brother-in-law in Seattle. 

Then, my brother and his family came up for the weekend. Kevin and Lisa broke in their new car by driving up to see us. We spent Thursday and Friday playing and relaxing in Tri-Cities and Friday night and Saturday in Seattle. 

We spent our time at several of Tri-Cities main attractions. 

The Columbia River Temple

Ethan, Halle, and Hayden

Kevin's Family + Ethan

Austin and his mischievous face

The illustrious Badger Mountain.

Okay, so it's more like a large hill with no trees and paved roads to the very top, but us Tri-Cities folk are proud of it!

And Howard Amon Park in Richland with its awesome playground. The kids loved it!

All the cousins riding some kind of large fish...

Captain Ethan, Austin, and Addy enjoying the rocking boat.

Happy little boy!

We also walked out onto the small pier over the river. Ethan and Hayden loved sitting near the edge and watching the river go past.  

On Friday, we drove up to Moses Lake, which is about an hour and a half north of Pasco. It was really overcast and rainy so we didn't end up swimming but the kids played in the water at the boat ramp. 

We ate a picnic lunch under one of the nearby pavilions and let the kiddos play on the playground. 

On the way home, we stopped at the Country Mercantile to eat samples of all the delicious freshly made goods, fresh fruits, and candies.  After stocking up on caramels, truffles, caramel apples, and other scrumptious goodies that contain caramel, we headed home and packed the cars for a trip to Seattle. 

As soon as Dan got home from work, we drove up to Seattle. We stayed the night in a hotel near the airport so we could get up early to spend all day in Seattle.  We stopped first at the Pike Place Public Market. It was crazy busy and it felt (and smelled) like sardines but now we can saw we've been there. 

 We visited the infamous wall of gum. No, we did not add to it. 

  Austin got to ride in style wherever we went.

 My cute family while we were waiting in line for the ferris wheel. 

 Ethan was so excited to ride the ferris wheel and had a perma-grin the whole time.

 Austin was fascinated by the glass walls...

 and spent the whole ride either staring out the windows or sitting with his Daddy.

I love how Kevin's kids are making faces at us.  

 After the ferris wheel, we walked down the pier to eat lunch. Kevin's family tried out fish and chips while we went to the Red Robin for some Heather's-allergy-friendly food. We met up afterward and the kids tried to spot the jellyfish swimming near the piers.  

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Seattle Center. We watched the huge water fountain show a few times. It was pretty hot so the mist from the fountains was really nice.  

 We decided against going in the children's museum or the Space Needle since the kids were getting tired so we took some pictures and played in the water features instead. 

Another awesome Pelfrey family picture

It was pretty cute watching Austin and Addy stomping through the water.

 

The kids zonked out about two minutes into the drive back to Pasco. It was a long day of walking around and sightseeing but it was well worth the three hour drive. We're glad Kevin's family was able to come with us!