My brother Kip and his wife Denise bought a good sized piece of property and an old farmhouse just outside the little town of Snohomish last year. He's spent a year working on the property and fixing up the house. This was the first time that Mark and I had a chance to go visit. Lowell, Evey, and Eric also flew in for the occasion.
We have been having an awesome visit and eating a ton of food. I can only imagine how horrified I'm going to be when I meet the scale back in Poinciana again next week. LOL! At my request, Evey, aka The Curly Baker, brought a chocolate chip banana bread, Peanut Butter Blossom cookies, and caramel filled Snickerdoodles. Everybody has been scarfing them down because they are SO delicious.
Mark and I toured old downtown Snohomish the first full day here and then picked Lowell up at the airport. The next day was Thanksgiving. We picked Evey and Eric up at the airport and then settled in for a tour of the entire Wyatt property and a huge Thanksgiving meal. Denise had invited another family of 3 to join us because they are new to the area and have no family here. That was so nice. We were 10 all together for the meal.
Friday it was cold and pouring rain, but we didn't let it stop us from going to downtown Seattle. Denise and Kip, both fighting bad colds, stayed home, but the other five of us braved the weather to go to Pike's Market, ride the Great Wheel, visit the original Starbucks, go to Pioneer Square and then hit a suburban mall on Black Friday just to hit up the ATT store for two new iPhone6 cell phones. Mark and I both desperately needed new ones, and this way we had Evey and Eric to help us set them up. That worked great, and we are very happy with them. We finished off Friday night with a Junior League Ice Hockey game between the Everett Silvertips (the home team) and the Seattle Thunderbirds (the arch rivals.) Sadly, the home team lost 3-2.
It also snowed like CRAZY Friday night, making our drive back to the hotel from Kip's kind of treacherous. It has stayed below freezing all day, so the snow isn't melting, but it's making every thing look beautiful.
Saturday morning we took Lowell back to the airport and then spent an easy, restful afternoon at Kip's house. Meanwhile Kip, Denise, Eric, Evey, and dog Wallaby were out at herding dog trials. Wallaby is an Australian Cattle Dog and is having his herding instincts tested. We had hoped to see it, too, but the timing didn't work out with Lowell's flight schedule. When they get back tonight, we are eating Thanksgiving Dinner, part two. LOL!
Tomorrow we have to take Evey and Eric back to the airport. Then Kip, Denise, Mark, and I will have dinner at a lovely restaurant before saying goodbye and flying home late on Monday. I doubt if I will write another blog until we are home on Tuesday.
I hope everyone has had a great holiday. Here are a few pictures from our adventures.
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| View from the second floor at the Snohomish Inn, where Mark and I are staying. |
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| Wednesday morning we took a walking tour of old downtown Snohomish. This giant tree was over 600 hundred years old. |
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| We picked up a map and touring info and away we went. |
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| Charming old building. The town was established in 1859 for logging and farming. |
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| Mark in front of Marks building! |
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| Many of the original entrance ways, with their unique tiled floors, are still here even though the buildings have become something else. |
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| Mark chatting with two gentlemen in the Visitor Center. |
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| The Snohomish River is up high and running fast. |
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| Time for lunch at Fred's. |
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| Some nice rye whiskey to warm up the innards. |
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| Having fun! |
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| Wednesday afternoon we picked Lowell up at the airport. |
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| Back to the house. Denise and Kip are busily making dinner for everyone while Wallaby hopes something will drop. |
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| Grabbing a bowl of vegetarian chili. |
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| Yes, there's a story as to why Kip is wearing an aluminum foil hat. Not telling now. |
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| Lowell is amused by the hat. |
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| Thursday we picked Evey and Eric up and then we all got a full tour of the property. This was the first time we were here in the daylight hours! |
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| Lowell will be sleeping in the vintage 1962 Scotty trailer. |
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| Only Evey is short enough to stand up in it. |
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| Digesting Thanksgiving dinner |
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| Sydney sleeping on her cushion |
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| Wallaby looking cute |
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| Evey's chocolate banana bread |
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| Breakfast on Black Friday |
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| Kip and Denise are going to stay home and rest up. They are both under the weather with bad colds. |
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| Evey and Lowell |
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| Pouring rain, cold temps in downtown Seattle. |
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| Lowell's restaurant in Pike's Market |
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| Everyone rode the Great Wheel except me. |
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| Mark took pictures on my camera from the Wheel. |
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| Photo op at the original Starbucks |
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| Evey and Eric ran into some SF friends. What a coincidence. |
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| At the Everett arena to watch the hockey game |
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| Lowell and Mark really enjoyed the game. |
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| Denise loves the game and the nachos! |
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| Saturday morning, before we had to take Lowell back to the airport. |
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| Kip's house looks pretty in the snow. |
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| One more big family photo op before Lowell leaves. |
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| When we came back from the airport, Sydney and Roux greeted us. |
