[ seattle-tacoma-olympia trip ]

We just got home from a (seems like) whirlwind trip to the WEST SIDE.

We pulled out of our driveway at 5:32am on Wednesday morning and made it to the UW Hospital in time for Mom's 9:30am CT Scan. She survived it and we headed to U Village to pick up a few things and meet my dear friend Andrea for lunch. Andrea and I were roommates for two years in college and hadn't seen each other for 3 years (we think). We met for lunch at Zao, a delicious Thai restaurant that Andrea and her Mom introduced Mom & I to years ago. I love any opportuity to dine there, but with Andrea is even better. I was so glad to catch up with her. We spent most of the time talking "educator" talk and swapping school stories. :)

We went back to UW to meet with Mom's surgeon, Dr. Mokadam, and get the results of her CT scan. We were in the waiting room longer than we met with him! He said the scan looks great and he'd like to see her again in six months! Great news!

I showed them a few of the places we worked at on our Mission Trip and took them to see the church we stayed at. We continued down 1-5 toward Tacoma, but detoured in Kent to see Kevin at his work. He works for the Seattle Thunderbirds hockey team, so he showed us around the hockey arena. It was good to see him...I'd been missing him!

We stopped at the Tacoma Mall to get Dad some birthday presents (clothes...his favorite!) and then met Tara, Janelle, Tyler, and Alex for dinner. Here's some pictures Mom took after dinner:

These guys are crazy!

Tyler is 10 (5th grade), Janelle is 14...almost 15 (9th grade), Alex is 9 (4th grade)

We then made our way to Olympia. I hadn't been there since I was 1o or 11. Dad had a meeting at the Capital this morning, so we drove around town a little bit.

My (not so) favorite...OSPI
This is where Dad spends a lot of time while he's in Olympia...

This morning, while Dad was at his meeting, Mom & I found a shopping area and played around there for a while. We picked him up and slowly (again) made our way home after stops at Cabela's in Lacey, lunch at Panera in Lacey, DQ in Cle Elum, and finally home!

Now, Mom & Dad are having a fashion show getting ready for their cruise to Alaska (they're leaving on Saturday) while I'm watching the first episode of BIG BROTHER 11. SO EXCITED!!!! I love love love Big Brother!