David booked a trip to California for his mamas birthday which happened to fall on Easter Sunday and the week before the awards show.Then I had a trip to Seattle booked for a few days after that with my family. We each would have loved to go on both trips but unfortunately with David's crazy work schedule, and my family trip previously planned, it was one or the other.
Sway and I flew to Washington the day before the rest of my family arrived. They all decided to drive and offered to take Kayden with them. I was very grateful because I couldn't imagine flying with both babes. Kaydens energy level and attention span would have been challenging alone. Luckily he did really well riding in the car with his cousins!
Alicia picked us up from the airport and we immediately we decided to do some shopping, and get Thai food. Can I just say I had never really fully experienced Thai food before. It was AMAZING. Like, I dream about it at night and drewl. We ended up going twice on our trip, it was THAT good. Then that night we went out to a fun place down the street for dinner. The rest of the evening was spent relaxing and enjoyed some sister bonding time. It was fun to have quality time with just Alicia before the rest of the bunch arrived the following day. I knew my mom would have us jam packed with activities once they arrived.
Now for some photos. My sisters fabulous view. It's even better in person! I anticipated the weather being rainy the entire time we were there, but we had a little sunshine here and there! 
I thought it was SOOO cool seeing the giant ships cruising in with loads of stuff on them. Apparently it was a ship bringing stuff from Asia. It was HUGE!!!
She basically lives in the best location for tourists. She lives in a fabulous very safe condo building right downtown in an area called belltown. You can walk to basically everything. Pike place and the space needle are a few blocks away. We spent Thursday, the first day my family arrived getting everyone settled in. They rented vacation condos in my sisters building so we were all relatively close together. Just a elevator ride away.
Out to dinner with Alicia the night before everyone arrived
Her first pony! I die! Haha.
Swayze enjoying the view.
Kayden was very excited when he arrived. We had a wonderful reunion and he ran around outside to let some energy out, being cooped up in the car for 12 hours will do that to ya.
That night we went out to dinner and came back to the condo for dessert. Alicia lives above the most delicious bakery... I know, could it get any better?? So we got a bunch of desserts to try!
The next day was jam packed with touristy attractions.
I was LOVING all the fresh flowers and fruits. So colorful!
The bouquets of flowers were so beautiful, so I of course I had to bring some home to my lovely sister! She let me stay with her, it was the least I could do. :)
This is where they throw the fish. Huge tourist attraction.
The whole crew before our ride. Daniella came to join our party and brought some buddies!
The babes enjoying the beautiful weather by the water!
Next we all went to the aquarium! It's huge and has lots of fun exibits. Kayden got to run around, checking out all the fish! He had a great time.
Kayden is saying shhhhhh because sissy is sleeping. These 2 had a lot of fun and were so good on such a long busy day!
My nephew Braxton and I at the aquarium. I anticipated it raining so I kept my hair casual... It ended up being the nicest day of the trip! Typical!
The next day was jam packed with fun! We took a stroll over to the pacific science center. It's fun and interactive for kids. We then headed to the space needle where we had reservations for a fun sisters and mom brunch on top of the space needle at the fabulous restaurant!
The views from the space needle were unreal. For anyone who isn't familiar with the space needle. You ride an elevator up, one level is the observation deck and gift shop, another level is the restaurant. The restaurant slowly rotates as you are eating so you get all the best possible views! I sat by the window, and was loving seeing all the beautiful views.
Kayden was exhausted after the elevator ride up. He parties hard and sleeps even harder. He hung out with my dad and Uncle Chris while the girls had our brunch.
If you look close on the top of that roof, you will see giant 3d spiders. They look so real but are actually just painted on! The artists signature is right below the drawing on the roof! Cool and creepy!!!
Zoomed in version.
More of the view. It was a GORGEOUS day!!!!
Next on the agenda of all agendas.....Riding the duck! This is basically a tour bus/boat that goes from land to the water! Our guide was hilarious, it was a beautiful and fun tour of the city, that ended with a relaxing rainy ride on lake union! Luckily it didn't start to rain hard until we were heading back from the lake.
She was loving the water! I had to hold on to her so she wouldn't jump out, she really wanted to touch it! Silly girl.
We did a LOT this day, but of course the whole time I was worried about what was going on in California. This was the day the awards show was being recorded. So of course I was enjoying our trip, but I was also wishing I was in California watching Aaliyah perform. I was cheering her on and thinking about her the entire day!!! I loved getting lots of text and photo updates from David and was looking forward to them! He definitely kept me in the loop which I appreciated. :) plus she did phenomenal so you can't ask for anything better! SOOO proud of her!
Finally it was our last day. We got breakfast at the bakery of course, and hung out in one of the rentals. Alicia had an appointment to get to so my friend Daniella graciously offered to give Swayze and I a ride to the airport. She's the best!
Daniella and I have known each other quite a while. In high school I moved to Washington to live with my sister for a semester. I kind of was just itching to get out of Utah and have an adventure. Alicia called me her foreign exchange student, haha. Daniella was in my ward and we went to the same high school of course. We had lots of fun memories while I lived there! Love seeing her when I get to, she's always down for anything!!
Ready for our flight home after a fun eventful week! Thanks to my amazing sister for being the best hostess possible! LOVE YOU! Can't wait to visit again!
