New Year's weekend in Seattle

Hi folks, quick recap of the terrific weekend we spent with Uncle David, Auntie Anne and Grandma Jean:

--Rachel was quite a trouper after we told her that she had to sleep in a room upstairs and away from Mommy and Daddy, who were in the living room on a futon. "But I'll be so lonely if you guys aren't in my room!" Rachel whined, but we stood firm. Result: She slept for two nights on a cot, in a strange room, without all her stuffed animals and dolls (she had only Elizabeth, she of the yarn hair and reflective clothing, and the stuffed kitty that, when pressed, sounds eerily like a real one) and woke up at her usual time -- 8 or so -- figured out the layout of the house enough to walk downstairs and find us on the futon in the living room. We are SO PROUD AND IMPRESSED with her travel ability -- can't wait to take her on more adventures away from home!

--We were well-fed during our time there: candy cane cookies, Uncle David's homemade lamb and pizzas, great snack food. Rachel was her usual picky self but she did eat a lot of lamb after I told her she had to if she wanted dessert. I warmed it back up and she dove right in!

--Rachel, Anne and I soaked in their hot tub on Saturday evening for what seemed like hours but was probably only 30 minutes. "This is so nice and relaxing," Rachel kept saying in that grown-up way of hers. She even got close enough to the water to blow bubbles, and the few times she accidentally swallowed some water, she didn't cry or freak out; just coughed a lot and eventually tried it again. One of these days I'm going to surprise her with a trip to the soaking pool when Drew's in Seattle and then a late dinner at the so-so restaurant attached to it.

--There's a very cool and challenging play structure at a park near Anne and David's house, and on Sunday David, Drew, Rachel and I explored it. The most forbidding part involved climbing up a rope structure to the top of a slide, then sliding down. Rachel insisted Drew climb with her the first time. The second time, Drew watched from the ground with Uncle David. The third, fourth, fifth times she insisted on doing it herself, with Mommy cheering below and watching her emerge from the steep covered slide with a big grin on her face! So proud of her spirit. Drew said it best to David: "Rachel is fearless but not reckless." So true.

--We spent yesterday (Monday) in Washington, browsing a Blockbuster video sale in Redmond and then stopping at Pike Place Public Market to pick up dinner since I am tired of cooking (I've been making dinner/dessert combinations for a solid month now). Rachel was enchanted with the bronze statue of a pig just outside the market; it's named Rachel, for some reason, and she insisted on climbing on top of it and, after posing for pictures, hopped off and kissed its snout and then its side. When I asked her what her favorite part of the weekend was, she replied, "the pig!" We got home just in time for a quick dinner, a bath and bed. I suggested that she had so much to tell about the weekend that she could talk to her stuffed animals about it. Sure enough, her last words to Drew before he left her bedroom were, "I'm going to have a big conversation with all my stuffed animals."