Here come a lottt of pictures from our time spent in Washington over Christmas! Jack is down to one sad little nap and it's only about an hour long (ughhh), so I'll write as much as I can until, well, until I'm out of time.
Our journey from Casper to Seattle went about as well as could be expected with a very wiggly not-quite two-year-old. It was exhausting trying to keep him contained and entertained on the flights, especially since he won't nap while traveling, but we survived. Jack loved watching the planes come and go--that was pretty cute. I probably would've felt all sorts of relieved and excited upon landing safely in Seattle, but right as we made it to the baggage claim I realized that my phone was missing, and my heart sank. I knew immediately in my gut that I wasn't going to get it back. I ran around for probably close to an hour, talking to everyone I could and even having someone check the seat on the plane I was on, but no dice. It was on airplane mode, so there was no way to track it. I've reported it to the airport's lost and found and Delta's lost and found, but at a month later it's safe to say she's a gonner. I think it must've either slid between the cracks in the seats on the airplane, or else I put it in the "wipes" pocket of my diaper bag, which just so happens to have a large slit in it where my phone could've fallen out anywhere. It ended up being ok not having a phone for a couple weeks, and I have a replacement now, but still a bummer.
A quick drive to Woodinville later and we were home at Jared's parents' beautiful house, elegantly decked out for Christmas! Every detail was perfect, down to the spruce hand soaps and Christmasy boxes of disposable hand towels in the bathrooms. Jack was immediately smitten with his only older cousin, Mae Llewellyn. She's in kindergarten, so several years older than Jack, but he adored her and followed her everywhere the whole time we were there. Jack tends to take charge when he's with other kids his own age, so we loved watching him be an enamored little sheep as he followed Mae around. I think she liked having a little minion who she could tell what to do, too.
The Seattle area is a great place to be in December. Cool enough that it feels like winter, but warm enough that you can very easily slip on a coat and go for a pleasant walk most any time. On one of our first days there, a few of us hopped into Grandma's car and went for a morning adventure beginning at a pretty nature preserve. Jack kept spontaneously falling to the ground and rolling around, sometimes even up hills haha.
Next we visited one of my all-time favorite Washington sites: Snoqualmie Falls. Probably the biggest waterfall I've ever been to besides Niagara. It was misty and beautiful. We all enjoyed sipping steamy hot cocoas.
^^We were trying to get Jared to do a "real" smile for the camera. Wish I'd gotten a better picture of the falls! Go google Snoqualmie Falls real quick for a better idea.
^^Jack during our professional family photoshoot. I'll post the beautiful professional pictures next week!
^^Jack's other Lambert BFF, Elsie dog. He never called her Elsie though--only "Dog," with a very heavy "g". He was slightly nicer to her than he is to his own Savvy dog (he calls Savvy "Ya ya"). He loved finding Elsie immediately upon waking up every morning, and Elsie actually sat in his carseat with him when we drove from the airport to the Lambert home that first night. Jack was PUMPED.
^^Decorating the living room tree on Christmas Eve
^^Also on Christmas Eve. We had our Christmas Eve dinner at a delicious restaurant called Ixtapas. This is mine and Jared's second favorite restaurant to hit when we visit Washington. The tortilla soup always hits the spot. Jack was a record amount of wiggly and escape-artisty, but it was still the perfect Christmas Eve.
When we got home from Ixtapas, we all put on our Christmas jammies and opened a present from Jingle the elf. Then we put Jack to bed and enjoyed an evening playing fun games with great gift card prizes.
^^Christmas morning! Jack was so excited about the contents of his stocking that he wasn't really interested in opening the other presents because he was too preoccupied with this light-up Christmas tree thing that had m&ms inside. Eventually he caught interest in the beautiful wood train set he got from Grandma and Grandpa Lambert, and he's been playing with it ever since.
It was a wonderful, magical Christmas morning! I think Christmases will continue to get more and more magical over the next decade, as Jack understands a bit more each year and we add more kiddos to the mix.
^^A rare hug sighting between Jack and Mae. Mae's not much of a hugger, and neither is Jack (heck, I'm not either for that matter), but Jack loved Mae so much that he was down for a good Mae hug anytime we suggested it.
^^A happy Jack going to sleep on Christmas Day, and me wearing a 70s-style velvet jumpsuit that I got for Christmas and now live in. For Christmas dinner we had a delectable ham feast, but my favorite meal we had during our time in the Lambert home was a beautiful, amazing, delicious, enormous fish that Jared's mom made. She had a bunch of fancy foodie ladies over for dinner one night and fed them this fish and they went gaga. I got the recipe but am skeptical to make it because the fish I'll be able to find in the middle of Wyoming is definitely inferior to fresh Washington fish. Oh, then we had the most beautiful rosemary lemon cake for dessert. Mama Lambert knocked everything out of the park!
^^Sweet widdle napping baby. Jack slept in a pack n' play in the same room as us. I was so worried that Jack would be a nightmare in the sleep department, but he did really great the whole time we were there. I'll always treasure this shot. Such a perfect capture of how Jack always sleeps: preferring to be pantsless, pulling off his socks before he can fall asleep, with a couple toys in there for good measure, and hugging his stuffed bunny tightly (actually a dog but looks kind of like a bunny and he calls it "buh-buh"). If you zoom in his eyes are actually just starting to open. I'm pretty sure getting this shot woke him up, but it was worth it!
^^Annie, Mama Lambert, and I think Marie made a batch of french macarons while we were there. How fancy and amazing are my in-laws?! I've never really felt bad that I grew up with all brothers and no sisters, but spending time with my in-laws and watching Jared's sisters do cool stuff like this and having that classic sisterly bond for sure makes me feels like that would've been amazing to have growing up. I have so many amazing sisters-in-law now (5 so far), and hopefully I'll be able to live closer to some of them some day and develop some deeper sister bonds. But no worries, I'll always treasure the bonds I have with my brothers and laughing at the neverending potty humor when I get together with the brosefs.
^^This was a walk through the watershed preserve near my in-laws' house. So beautiful.
Our last full day in Washington was spent exploring downtown Seattle. We ate at everyone's #1 favorite restaurant to hit up when we're in Seattle: Din Tai Fung (Emmy, if you're reading this, you MUST eat at Din Tai Fung while you're living in Seattle). It's got some fancy restaurant accolade that indicates it's one of the top restaurants in the world (Michelin star[s] maybe?). We always get their signature steamed meat dumplings, the shrimp won tons, and their green beans. We also got the mini bok choys this time, and some taro dumplings for dessert. Even with Jack being Jack, breaking ceramic spoons and laying on the floor between our chairs, me and Jared still managed to stuff ourselves completely full.
^^We also walked down to Pike's Place. Jack loved seeing all the Christmas lights around the trees.
And that's a wrap! We did so many other amazing things with family--too many to write about now, but it was a great Christmas. The last picture is in our tiny Casper airport when we made it home, exhausted but happy. It was a lifesaver to have our ergo carrier to lug Jack around the airports, but man, my back was Jacked up for a few days after this. Absolutely worth it!
