In-Laws Visit

There are many U-cut Christmas tree farms here in WA and it was our intention to buy one from a tree farm. Sadly, that wasn't the case ... at least not this year.
We did go to one but once we got there and began looking they really didn't have a good selection of noble fir trees {our favorite}. The few we saw were either too tall or very awkwardly skinny and weird looking. It was a bit of a disappointment. Hopefully next year. We'll just have to do better research and find out where the reputable Christmas tree farms are at.

So, we went to our go to store for a Christmas tree ... Home Depot. There they had a good selection of noble fir trees. We got one and it was a well rounded Christmas tree and quite tall.
Riley stressed me out a little. He was so excited and was running around all over the place. I had to speed walk to grab him by the arm a few times to avoid someone hitting him with their shopping cart.
Oh, by the way, he is {obviously} back to his old self ... happy and very active. Thankfully no signs of a cold.

I'm glad my father-in-law was around to help Jacob carry the Christmas tree from the truck into the house.

Once they stood up the tree we noticed that it touched the ceiling. We totally Griswold this tree. Of course things are never not funny when Jacob's involved. We were cracking up like dorks. So, Jacob had to cut off the top branch. This was our very first time of not having a Christmas tree topper. There just wasn't any room for it ... and I secretly loved it because I didn't feel like using our angel topper this year. So it really worked out to my liking.

This was also our very fist time buying such a tall tree. The best part was that we got it at a reasonable price. We were surprised. Jacob had to get the stepping stool and the ladder to help with hanging the Christmas lights on the tree. I stopped trimming the tree several years ago. I just didn't have the patience for that. Thankfully Jacob doesn't mind taking over that part.

It was nice having loved ones help out. It made this part a lot more enjoyable plus we were blasting Christmas music on Pandora.

This little guy happily helped out too.

and I even found some felt balls he thought would look good on the tree, lol.

As I was putting away the empty ornament boxes I turned to look at Riley {because I always have to keep an eye on this little guy} I saw this:

Unreal!
He was wearing mine and Sydna's stockings as socks. Smart kid.

Jacob made pizza for dinner. Always a favorite.


*****


Jacob had been wanting to visit Bangor Base in Bremerton since we moved here and given that his dad {retired Navy} was visiting he decided it would be a nice outing ... reminiscing where he lived during his middle school years.
We had not driven on this bridge before. I knew there was a bridge from researching places in Tacoma but I didn't know it looked like this. This bridge is called Tacoma Narrows Bridge and takes you from Tacoma into Gig Harbor and Port Orchard. I thought it was an awesome looking bridge. I just hope we're never on a bridge during an earthquake.

Once past security and inside the base Jacob wanted to stop by his old home first.

We went on a short walk behind the townhouse he used to live in. It was pretty cool hearing him tell stories of when he was a young teen.
I saw a slug. A big fat oblong looking slug and it grossed me out. After that I was watching where I was stepping.

He then took us to the rec center where he used to hang out and make rap videos, lol. My gosh! Now, this place is a daycare. According to him and my mother-in-law the base has changed a bit but to Jacob it still felt pretty much the same. He enjoyed coming back here and I liked hearing his stories.

We then drove to the Exchange. For those of you that don't know, the Exchange is a retail store that sells just about anything and some of them have several restaurants inside as well. It was so warm in there that I quickly began to feel uncomfortable. I cannot go from feeling the cold then into a warm building. I quickly get a dull pain on my head. There has been one time where I almost fainted because I got too warm when we were at a mall in Dallas. True story. No joke!
Relieved we walked out of the Exchange we then stopped by the bowling alley. Jacob said that it was very different from what he remembered it to be. It looks nice. It's not big but all the bowling lanes have cosmic lighting. There's a Pizza Hut and a Taco Bell {which I don't care for} inside. A nice place for kids to hang out or to bring the family to.


We realized we were all very hungry so we left the base. We had dinner at the Spaghetti Factory. This little guy ate almost all of his fettuccine alfredo again. He only left about four noodles. So happy he ate so good.

We went to Kohl's after we ate. Wanted to walk off our meals. As soon as we walked inside Riley immediately noticed a Charlie Brown stuffed doll. They also had Snoopy and Woodstock. He grabbed Charlie Brown and wouldn't put him down. Jacob had to buy it for him. So cute too because he really loves Charlie Brown.

I do love coming home after a fun long day of spending it out and about. Having all of my loved ones at home, getting into my sweats, cozy socks and a sweater is the best cozy feeling in the world.

I read that a nursery in Seattle had live reindeer and this past weekend was the last weekend one could take a picture next to one. I told Jacob that we had to go and have Riley take a picture with Jingle, the reindeer. But first we visited with the other two that were also there.

LOL!

And there was also a camel named Curley. Riley tried to feed it hay but it wasn't interested.

Riley taking a picture with Jingle. Isn't it cool?!
He was a bit nervous sitting on the sleigh all by himself next to a reindeer though. That's why he had that funny look on his face.

They also had a nice train display.

After the nursery we drove to lower Queen Anne. Wanted to take the in-laws to see the Space Needle and also wanted to go to the Science Center.

I know I've said this before ... about how cool it is to see the Space Needle in person but seriously, it is awesome! Just knowing it is such a famous landmark is beyond cool. And we are so blessed to have been afforded the opportunity to live here. I love big cities as much as I love the country.

Riley loves dinosaurs.

And when he saw this T-Rex he was beyond himself.

He played a little while the older kids walked around and explored.

The Science Center is pretty cool.  We all had fun time.

I wanted to take my mother-in-law to Pike Place Market because I knew she wanted to visit but finding parking in this area can really be a chore. But after circling the area for several minutes we found parking along the stores. Thankfully there is no charge on Sundays and parking at private parking lots is way too much.

The market was packed as you can imagine. But it's still fun to see and sometimes buy their overpriced produce or seafood.

We didn't spend too much time at Pike Place. It was a very cold day and being close to the Puget feels a lot colder.

We headed back to the house. My mother-in-law was cold even at home. I did tell them to dress in layers but I think they must have forgotten.

Jacob baked his yummy pumpkin bars. So good!
I hope my in-laws enjoyed themselves as much as we enjoyed having them here. Even though their visit wasn't long it was nice to have them visit for Thanksgiving. They flew back to Tucson yesterday.

Now back to our regular routine ... for at least two weeks then it's back to hosting. My sister Claudia will be spending Christmastime with us. She will be here for two weeks. I'm sure it'll be fun having her here but I know Riley is gonna end up getting more spoiled. I have a feeling he'll be getting in trouble quite a bit. I really hope not because I would hate to put him in time out during Christmas.