Thanksgiving in Washington

It's about time I blogged about our trip to Seattle for Thanksgiving. It's already been a couple weeks and now my brother guys are here visiting for Christmas break. I wanted to document everything we did and so this is a really, really long post.

The friday before Thanksgiving we packed up our Sequoia and started the drive to visit my brother and his family in Kenmore, Washington. We had decided to make the drive in one night since the kids could sleep for most of the trip. The weather wasn't the best driving conditions but our plan was just to take it slow. From our house to about the Utah/Idaho border we had a ton of snow/slush. Once we reached Idaho it was nice and clear. Dane started driving first and we switched drivers in Twin Falls. We talked to my brother around 1:15 am and told him we were making good time and would see them in the morning. In Oregon the weather dropped to the teens and the roads were a little wet. My dad was driving at the time and a little before 2 am we hit some black ice. I think I was either playing a game or had just closed my eyes when I heard my dad yell, "oh no" and I looked up to see our car sliding perpendicular down the highway. All the kids were asleep prior to this and were now wide awake as my dad was yelling, "oh no" again and again. I remember bracing myself because I thought the car was going to flip and flip and just not stop. It was really scary. The car shifted off the road, down the embankment and into the ditch of cat tails which slowed us down. We barely missed two poles as we slid off the road and by some miracle came out of the ditch and back up the embankment back onto the road. My dad said he didn't even touch the wheel as our car was sliding. He figured it wouldn't help but once we were back on the road, he was concerned about the cars coming up behind us pretty quickly. Our tires kept slipping as he tried to accelerate but the car started to go forward slowly and the other cars went around us. We pulled over at the next town which was La Grande, OR. In Oregon you are not allowed to fill your own gas and the gas attendant noticed we had fuzz all over the car. He thought we hit a deer but it was actually the top of all the cat tails we plowed through. I don't think any of us really slept the rest of the trip. it was SO nerve-racking. When we hit the blues pass (I think) we were going about 25 miles. It was snowing so hard and it seemed like Pendleton (the next town) would never come. We left Utah friday night around 5:45 pm and arrived at my bro's place at 9:45 am Saturday morning. A whole 16 hours later and we were so happy to make it there safely. The kids kept saying it was because of daddy's great prayer before the start of our drive that nothing bad happened to us. We definitely said a prayer of thanks when we arrived.


some of the yucky weather we were driving through on our way to Washington


our wonderful car that kept us safe. the cracked windshield was the only thing to happen and maybe a few scratches. thank goodness.

When we arrived ashley had pancakes for us with magleby's syrup, bacon, fruit, and POG. She had all kinds of pancakes too. chocolate chip, banana, and pumpkin. It was so yummy. Jordan and Amanda watched all the well-rested children while the adults took a nap. When we woke up they had mac-and-cheese for lunch and we made plans to go to Westfield mall. It was our first experience on how very long it would take us each time to actually get out the door and into the cars. One of my favorite things about the mall was this Japanese crepe place. HOLY MOLY! It was really good. I chose the strawberries with custard and whip cream. It is probably a good thing we don't have one around here. It was SO good.




If I had known how much I would have to share with the kids, I would have bought my own!

For dinner we went to Saimin Says and we thought it was great. We ordered saimin and kalbi for the kids and ended up having to buy another saimin. It was delicious. Before heading back home we went to Uwajimaya to pick up some things. Bray broke our spam musibi maker and we needed a few other items we can't find in Utah.


love saimin!

The next day was sunny and we decided to make the most of it. We headed into Seattle for the duck tours. Everyone we ran into or met that heard we were visiting told us to do the duck tours and we could say we already did it. It is definitely not cheap with kids but totally worth it. I would recommend maybe doing it when when it is a little warmer. Even though the sun was partially out, it was still very cold. they take you over land and into the water. the kids really loved it. the guy had us singing and yelling things. it was a lot of fun.

my duck tour ride partner


sleepless in seattle house




















pikes market. this was the only time we saw it. we never made it down there because it rained a lot the rest of the days. next time.


after the tour we went to a food court to eat some subway and drink some hot chocolate. it took me awhile to thaw. in the basement of this food court they had a children's museum. we didn't take the kids but let them watch other kids enviously. it's not that we are mean parents, we were taking them to the pacific science center at the next building over. we heard that if you go after 5 pm, you only pay 5 bucks. It was perfect amount of time for the kids.







watching the science demonstration




inside the science center they have a beautiful butterfly exhibit where it was nice a warm. we had to take off our jackets.








the kids had fun playing with all the different things in there. we had seven adults and seven children. it was easier to keep track of the kids with those odds.


flexible ash


We walked by the space needle but didn't go in...


We went back to Jo's and my parents made us sukiyaki. yum!

Monday morning we just cruised around the house. Bray fell more and more in love with my brother's xbox kinect. It is now on his christmas list. his favorite game was the Dance Central. We actually all had fun playing that game. For lunch we went to eat at Teddy's burger. It was our second time eating at a Teddy's. The first time was in Hawaii in August. Jo had class that afternoon but we decided to watch Breaking Dawn once he was out of class. My dad took the four oldest to see Happy Feet 2. My mom kept Kiele and Eli at home for naps and the rest of us including Keilani went to see Edward. I'm actually not a fan of the movies but have read the books. I think the movies are getting better. The first one was just ridiculous to me. They might be growing on me.
That night we had A LOT of chinese food. Ha ha. My brother got this sweet coupon deal. We had to order 200$ worth of food. It might have made it easier to reach that goal if they weren't out of the peking duck. That is usually more but in the end, we took home snapple and soda drinks and a lot of almond cookies. We felt like we were grocery shopping!

By Tuesday morning, Ani wasn't feeling so good. She had a fever for most of Monday and by Tuesday she was still feeling pretty crappy. I'm pretty sure she had croup which she blamed her friend Cohen for giving her. Ha... We were going to take a ferry somewhere but since the weather looked junky we went to a mall in Bellevue instead.


Once a child was ready we sent them down to wait

Jo had classes all day so we were down to 5 adults and 7 kids. We got some strange looks. I don't think it's normal for people to have so many kids. We had two double strollers, two babies in carriers, and a single stroller. Most of the time when we went into a store, we gave each child an iPhone/itouch/ipad to keep them entertained. i think someone actually came up to my dad to tell him he was in way over his head. Ha ha.



The kids were starving when we left the mall and we checked out yelp to find a place to eat. We found the Kona Kitchen. It is owned by the bad guy in the first Karate Kid. The food definitely hit the spot. Especially the dessert.

I ordered the sweet bread french toast. Delicious!


Dane had the fried rice loco moco. Oh My Goodness... We had saimin too. I think Saimin says has better Saimin. Looking back at these pictures, I can now see why I gained 6 lbs. that week.





That night I went with Ashley to Booty Barre. You do a lot of repetition with exercise either free standing or using a ballet bar. Squats, you name it, she does it. It was hard. It was the only exercise (besides dance central) I got that week. She tells you to pulse your leg a lot and my leg was shaking more than pulsing. Ouch!

Wednesday we did more cruising at home in the morning. I think Ani still had her croupy cough, Bray was starting in with the fevers, and Mika was starting to cough. For lunch we went to Whole Foods to eat lunch. It was packed. All those healthy seattle people. We did some thanksgiving food shopping and for dinner we met up with my cousin Kumu, his wife, Amy, and their son, Duke. We ate at a nice restaurant called Anthony's. It is right by the lake with a perfect view and we had our own room. It was perfect for all the kids. Seafood in Utah is not the best, so we definitely wanted some while we were there. I ordered the lobster and for dessert, Dane and I shared some chocolate deliciousness.

Our faces say it all...


Duke was a little sick too




baby loving her puffs


Mika did not want to be a part of the picture


even baby enjoyed Anthony's


Thanksgiving morning we took it easy and made our three dishes to bring to the Akana's. Ashley's family drove up the day before and her grandma invited us all over to their house for dinner. It was seriously so nice of them because we had a lot of people. Amanda made a yummy pumpkin cheesecake, my mom made the vegetable tray, and I made some potatoes to bring. They had a feast waiting for us.





Ashley made the turkey. It was beautiful. I was very impressed.


Keilani's first Thanksgiving




Kiele's too


I love this baby girl so much


E I... This boy can eat.


Aunty paree made these delicious rolls that I had about six, maybe seven. I really ate way too much. My idea was to stuff my face as quick as possible so my stomach couldn't tell me I was full. I think it worked because I ate an impressive amount. Bob Harper would be very disappointed. We did do some exercise after dinner. We had everyone play dance central, even the adults.



baby was tired and dane rocked her to sleep


our night ended early because Mika started to wheeze and cough so bad we had to take her home. Bummer. It was such a fun night. We've been having Thanksgiving with the Akana family for as long as I can remember. It was so nice to spend one with them in Seattle too.

Friday morning (our last full day) we cruised at home in the morning. Too many sick kids by then... I think that morning Kiele started to cough too.


After lunch we drove out to see Alki beach. Washington is such beautiful state. I can see why my brother them will never move back. Everywhere we drove, Dane and I kept saying how everything was so pretty. Especially with the leaves changing. It was gorgeous.



only bray came out of the car. the rest of the kids were sleeping.


they had this sign where we stopped, "parenting is work" and it most definitely is!




omi lomi


For dinner we went to a Korean restaurant. The side-dishes were okay, but the rest was pretty good.






After dinner we drove to Crossroads mall to watch Uncle Rylen play. I love things like this. Just listening to good local music. The kids did some dancing too.







they had a used bookstore at this mall. it was a great find. i love used bookstores.

baby loved the attention from the girls playing with her.


mika kept picking on eli as always... meanie.




we said goodbye to the Akana's since we were leaving the next morning and they were heading back Sunday. That night we stayed up late talking. I spent some time with miss Keilani. She is so lovable. Look at that cute face!


She has the look of, "Aunty, enough already."


The next morning we packed up our stuff and said our goodbyes. It wasn't a tearful goodbye because they were coming to Utah in a week and half. Since it's been that long to blog, they are here already and we are loving it. I will hopefully stay on top of blogging. End this year strong.

After our scary off-roading experience on the way there, we decided to stop that night in Boise on the way back. The place my mom was reserved was nice. The kids loved it because they slept on the pull-out couch and had their own flat screen tv to watch. We didn't bring our swimsuits since we didn't think we would be staying in a hotel (we thought we would drive straight through on the way back too). We had a late dinner at Cracker Barrel and got the kids to bed early. They were all coughing by then. It sounded like we were sleeping with a bunch of seals. The next morning we left after getting lunch at Jack-in-the-box and arrived back home around 5 pm.

the weather was a lot nicer on the way home


It was our longest driving trip and the kids did really well for the most part. I think next time we make that drive, it will have to be in the summer or spring time. No more driving that when there are chances of snow. This was definitely a fun-filled trip and we're so glad we went. Thanks Jo and Amanda for putting up with all the craziness!