Seattle Trip

On September 22, Grandma Dottie, Mom, Bonnie, and I boarded a plane for Seattle. We took a similar trip in June 2007 and decided it was time to visit the relatives again!

Grandma Dottie grew up in Seattle and has many relatives in the area. Two of Grandpa Irvin's sisters moved out there after growing up in South Dakota, so there are many people to see on that side as well! Dad's parents also have relatives out there...quite the South Dakota/Pacific Northwest connection.

After a quick and easy flight, we arrived to warm and sunny weather in Seattle. We stayed with Jan, Grandma's sister's daughter, who lives in West Seattle.


Mom, Bonnie, and I went for a walk (and sit) along Jan's street, which faces Puget Sound.


After one night at Jan's, we packed up the mini-van and headed north to Stanwood. Grandma's sister Ardis lives there with her granddaughter's family. Ardis' daughter Lynne lives across the street and was kind enough to accommodate us. It is quite the family compound!

Two sisters enjoying a lovely day on Lynne's patio.


Another set of sisters doing the same! Lynne's beautiful flowers are visible in the background.


When we visited in 2007 I became great pals with Bree-Anne, who is Ardis' great-granddaughter. She remembered me when we came back this time! She's in second grade now and really kept me hopping!


Grandma Dottie made kumla for the group, who don't eat it on a regular basis the way we do. They all seemed to enjoy it and were happy to get some tips from Grandma so they can make it themselves.

After two nights at Lynne's, we headed south about four hours to Vancouver, Washington. Grandpa Irvin's sister, Ione, lives there with her daughter Judy. On our last visit, Ione was living in Seattle but has sinced moved to Vancouver. Her move offered us the opportunity to visit a new city and Judy was kind enough to host us for two nights.

Judy lives in Vancouver, but her home has quite a country atmosphere. She keeps a horse, chickens, and alpacas (shown below).


The weather was gorgeous almost our entire visit. We spent so much time outside! Here are Ione and Diane enjoying a chat on Judy's patio.


Judy has four grandchildren, two of whom are shown below. Georgia and Julia provided much entertainment during our visit!


Grandpa's other sister, Dorothy, lived in Seattle and passed away a couple of years ago. Her three daughters live in the Seattle area and ventured down to Vancouver for the day/evening on Saturday.

The Mydland cousins have this strange thing where any time a group of them get together they line up by age and take a picture. It was impossible to get a photo of everyone behaving nicely - too much talking and laughing!


On Sunday it was time to return to Seattle. Here's Grandma and her sister-in-law, Ione.


This is one of the only photos I have of the traveling gang.


On our way from Vancouver to Seattle we stopped by Nancy's house in Tacoma for snacks, coffee, and a little lunchtime wine. (Nancy is third from right in the cousin photo above).

Grandma didn't want Nancy's dog to go without a snack...


Nancy and her dog on the front porch of her lovely 1901 home that overlooks the south end of Puget Sound.


We made it back to Jan's house in time for more family visiting! People really go out of their way to get together when Grandma is in town.

This little guy, Mikko, was a bundle of energy and so cute!


Here's Mikko's sister, Ava, and their dad. She is a doll!


After all the family visiting, we took time to do some sightseeing! Here's Grandma at lunch in the rotating restaurant atop the Space Needle.


Mom and Bonnie remember going to the locks on every visit to Seattle as kids, so we couldn't miss that!


Grandma has the most amazing memory. She was able to recall the addresses of four homes she lived in as a child in Ballard. Her father was a carpenter and would build a home, the family would live in it, he would sell it, and they would move on to the next one! Of course we had to drive by some of the houses! Here's Grandma in front of one:


Since we were in Ballard we had to also stop by Grandma's alma mater, Ballard High School. For years she has made me do (sometimes embarrassing) things like stand in front of signs while she took my picture. Now I got to do the same to her!

I also have a terrific video of Grandma, Bonnie, and Mom singing the school song ("Go, you Ballard Beavers, go, you shingle weavers..." Um, what's a shingle weaver?) I'm having technical difficulties with video at the moment, but if I can solve that I will post it!

New to Seattle since our last visit...Sara! We met her at her apartment (right in the heart of Grandma's old stomping grounds) and went for dinner at a nice place on the Sound, followed by cupcakes and coffee back on Market Street. It was great to see Sara!


On Tuesday our trip came to an end. Over seven days we logged 600 miles on the rental van, visited with dozens of relatives, drank gallons of coffee, and ate bushels of tasty food. We can't wait to do it again!