Family, Fun, Flea Market, Food & Freaks

Wow, that's a lot of F words. My Mom, Sis and I headed over to the west side for a girl's weekend to see Meagan and go to the Junk Salvation Flea market, and we had a blast! November was the best month ever because I got to see Aaron and Meagan 3 weekends in a row! Adam wound up tagging along as our stinky stow away, he is hilarious entertainment so it was a good development. Aaron and Meagan had to move on super short notice because their house got sick with evil mold. So Adam came up to help Aaron move. They moved, we shopped. Sounds terrible all written out like that. I feel kinda guilty about it, wait, I'm over it now;) So after we rolled into town and got Adam all situated with Aaron, Mom, Steph and I went to Sorci's for a yummy Italian dinner. We'd eaten there when we were over for Aaron and Meagan's wedding and really loved it. My Mom got hit on by the cute waiter so that made for a memorable meal. I was so full from my pasta and Coke, and bread, so I decided to get the chocolate torte for dessert. After that it was time to scoot to Puyallup to meet up with Meagan, her friend Talicia, and her Mom, at Anthem! Divine, life changing coffee and chai {and flat bread too I would later find out}. Next stop was antiques and girl time, had so much fun with these girls! Steph got a beautiful dresser for her craft room, and the rest of us found merry little treasures. The next morning we went to Buttered Biscuit for breakfast and looked at ALL the little shops on the tiny main street in Sumner. We made a last minute decision to go to Seattle for dinner at Dahlia, but the only problem was they couldn't seat us till 9:30 pm. No problem for 3 chicks without kids ~ spontaneous and adventurous late nights work when toddlers aren't involved! So we headed down town and parked, and I was immediately reminded why I am absolutely, 100% not a city girl. Some weird dude smoking bath salts, or meth, or seaweed, or all the above, tried to "help" us park Steph's huge rig, and then proceeded to stumble all through the parking lot, fall on a few cars, then decided to try and assault the middle-aged man in business clothes right next to our car. We had to call 911, you know you're doing something right when you need police involvement while on vacation. So at this point we still have 6 hours to kill {and unlike the dude in the parking lot, I mean that figuratively} and it was harder than I thought to find stuff to do for that long! We did get to see the ocean as the sun was setting, I love the ocean. And sunsets. Sigh. We made it down to Pike's just as they were closing, perfect timing. But we still strolled through the market as vendors were packing up to give us a break from the freezing wind, and the psycho people.  A frizzy haired homeless man asked if I'd sit on his lap while he made me an animal balloon. I said "no thanks" and he fired up his electric scooter and backed his crazy self into a corner in the dark alley. We were cold and stumbled upon a Starbucks, which was a huge shocker because they're really hard to find in Seattle;) We ordered a hot drink and people watched for a bit and then, I'm embarassed to say, we wound up at Target. Pathetic. I mean seriously, we're shopping, in Seattle, NO kids, and we went to Target. Finally, our dinner time at Dahlia rolled around and we had an amazing meal, and I of course ordered the hot donuts. The real reason I suggested Dahlia in the first place. Heaven will have these donuts. We unbuttoned our pants and rolled back to the hotel for another late night of giggling and Pinterest-ing. The next morning we went to see Aaron and Meagan's new house {adorable} and to pick up Adam, then we all went to one of their favorite bakeries for some yummy treats and a quick visit before heading home. I loved seeing their little town, their home, and Aaron's school. I can see why they love it there! Spokane is a much better place to live, but still, it was nice;) We had to make one more stop at Anthem for delicious drinks and flat bread {well, I did. No one else was hungry after the bakery. Light weights}, and then we were headed home to face reality. Oh how I didn't miss dishes and laundry! Was a fun and much needed get away!

My boys were so thrilled that I was going away. Dawson said "so you're telling me you're not sleeping in your bed tonight?! Who will I snuggle with when I wake up?!"

I had asked Todd to just do math and grammar with Ella, and reading with Dawson since I left on a Friday and didn't want to come home to make-up work in school. About an hour down the road I received this text. I laughed so hard. His first hour of homeschooling, only 2 of 10 things we usually do, and he was about to poke his eye out for fun.

My Mom was suspicious that perhaps the maid didn't really replace the glasses, but instead sprayed Windex in them, wiped them with a dirty rag, and stuffed them back into the little plastic sleeve;)

Oh Anthem, if you would only come to Spokane! Pretty please?!

I'll have a Cuban espresso with caramel sauce and whole milk please. Thank you very much.

  Talicia, Meagan and Meg's Mom, Jana.

Waddling out of Buttered Biscuit. Any restaurant with "butter" in the name has to be good.

Funky Junk Sisters and their Mama.

The sea makes me swoon.

Cold cuties.

Attempting a 3-way selfie. Only teenagers are good at this.

The market is amazing.

My sister presenting the Dahlia Lounge, our ticket to a great meal and one of the best inside jokes we've ever had. Service clowns. It's a long story. Gimball and Gadget, it's Gizmo here at your service;)

Those donuts. I am the kind of person that would drive 5 hours to get flat bread, Anthem coffee, and these donuts. It's actually painful to look at this and be so far away.

The snowy pass, this definitely got me in the Christmasy spirit and it wasn't even Thanksgiving!

Adam doing what teenagers do best.

Coudn't help myself, barns and clouds and sunset, all in one picture.

Stephenie stretching for the next leg of the trip;)