Conference in Seattle with Dittbrenners

On October 1 we headed to Seattle for Conference weekend. We arrived Friday around 5 to find all the Dittbrenner kids out front of the house to welcome us. Michael got the grand tour of their new house... well I guess it was more of each of the kids pulling him because they wanted to show him THEIR room. About an hour later we headed out, leaving Houston happily behind to play with his cousins. We headed into the city for a little anniversary celebration.

Michael and I both enjoy a good baseball game. And even when it is a blowout, we always enjoy the majesty of a good ballpark and Safeco field did not disappoint. We walked in in center field (bottom left). It was a spectacular approach welcoming us to the park. They had seats in centerfield that went all the way down to the field which I thought was pretty cool (instead of feeling like you are looking down on the players, it feels like you are one of them).

Since the Mariners are pretty terrible (they got shut out 9-0), the park was about 1/2 empty so we took the opportunity to find a new seat every few innings. We shared some chowder in a bread bowl while we snuggled and enjoyed the game. It was nice to check Ichiro off the list of future Hall of Famers to see play live (top left). Thanks Darc and Dix for watching Houston so we could have a date night.
Saturday we got to sleep in since there were so many cousins awake to play with Houst when he woke up. We woke up to waffles and conference. In between sessions we headed to Snoqualamie Falls for a beautiful view.
On the way home, Wayne showed us a good fishing spot. Wayne jumped off the bridge onto the cables and it automatically became a challenge for all the kids to try to do. Including Houst (bottom left) and my biggest kid just couldn't stay out of the fun (top left and right).
After afternoon session, we headed to a nearby pumpkin patch to walk around a bit and enjoy a hayride. Halloween is Amy's holiday so we all tried to get in the mood. Dill was about the cutest Jack Sparrow ever! Wayne kept teasing her because Amy thinks Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow is so sexy. He just doesn't get it. So he kept trying to do his best sexy Jack Sparrow impersonation (top right). It's not looking like it is working :) When that didn't work, he would try the sexy scraggly hat (bottom right). That didn't seem to work either :)
I donned one of Amy's fabulous Halloween sweaters (talk about SEXY!). It was fun to spend some time out and about with the whole fam.
We also enjoyed hang around the house just playing the kids.
On Saturday night, after all the kids were asleep, Michael and I decided to take advantage of our surroundings. It was pitch dark out and we went for a canoe ride, just us two. We paddled out for a bit but I'm not gonna lie, I was a little chicken! I was at the FRONT of the canoe, so I couldn't see anything besides a sea of black and lights in houses far in the distance. We went back to the dock so I could get in the middle... MUCH better! (I know... I'm a weenie!) Michael did the paddling the second time and I just faced him so we could talk. It was very serene and enjoyable. Until we came back inside, still in the pitch dark, and Michael challenged me to a light saber duel... I definitely proved that I was NO weenie! It was pretty cool to do in the dark! We took advantage of the theater room both nights and enjoyed snuggling to a movie each night (since we knew we had babysitters for the mornings to let us sleep in).

I'm grateful I married my best friend who I love to play with and adventure with. I'm glad we were able to visit the Dittbrenners, even if it was for only 48 hours! Thanks guys. We had a fun weekend. Just sad we didn't get to see Amy more.