Meeting the (my) Parents

This trip home was the first time J met my parents, and we both did a good job pretending that we weren't nervous but I think it's safe to say that we were both holding our breath a little. (Spoiler alert: It went great!)

Here is my only tip for bringing someone home for the first time, over an extended period of time.  STAY BUSY!

It's a stressful thing, and having activities planned keeps everyone from sitting around making awkward conversations.  So this past week we lived it up! Sometimes it's fun to be a tourist in a city you've more-or-less lived in your whole life in.

First we had to stop off at Tampico for some delicious Mexican food in a casual environment with family and friends.  I've been going to this restaurant since I was a little kid, so it's like an extended part of my family, and it was the perfect venue to have a few drinks, relax, and for J to dust off some of his jokes.  That's another tip, no formal dinners upon first meetings!

I swear we didn't stop moving his whole visit, but we had a great time, and (I think) he didn't feel quite as thrown to the wolves as he would have it we just hung around my parent's house. 

Our first tourist day was spent at the Space Needle (we paid the extra $12) to skip the (2hr) line, and head to the top.  I felt a little guilty as we walked right past all of the bored tourists in line, but it was $12 well spent.  We tried for a selfie atop the needle, but it was so sunny we were both squinting like mad.  Also, J isn't a huge selfie guy so I have to pick my moments.  Then we hopped on the monorail and headed to the Pike Place Market, looked for the gum wall (didn't find it), followed some hoof prints, then settled in for a very fancy lunch at The Pink Door.

Tuesday we tried to beat jet-lag with a gorgeous hike at Wallace Falls.  J pretended not to be impressed by the nature, but how can you not be impressed.  Then we had dinner with two of my favorite West-Coast-I-wish-they-were-East-Coast people, Kaitlin & Grant.

Any trip to the Seattle area isn't complete without a nice and grey day.  We lucked out on Wednesday and spent the morning lazing around trying to decide if we were going to brave the elements or give in to the Sandman. 

No rest for the weary...rain proof jackets in hand we head in to town for lunch at Din Tai Fung (perfect day for juicy dumplings), and then went to the waterfront.  Really we couldn't have picked a better day, the rain thinned the crowds, we found street parking, and had no wait for The GreatWheel. Even though it was rainy it's still such a cool view of the city (behind you) and the water (in front).  Plus with the rain there was absolutely no line and we got to go around 4 times...I've heard horror stories of long lines and barely 2 spins around.  I definitely recommend a rainy wheel ride...it's more Seattle that way anyway. After the wheel we used up our last 20 parking meter minutes wandering long the waterfront and stopping at "Ye Ole Curiosity Shop."  Stop in there if you want to see some weird stuff and a really enthusiastic employee. 

Camping at Deception Pass was next on the agenda.  I spent a couple weeks a year of my childhood sleeping in a tent at Deception Pass so it was fun to go again.  Highly recommend an air mattress, somehow the ground is much less comfy as an adult.  Highlights include fawns, fires, and s'mores with every meal.

My parents came up and hung out at the beach with us on Friday morning.  We were going to head to Fort Casey afterwards but we were so tired.  The narcolepsy that had been threatening all week was barely held at bay until we got home and took gigantic naps.

Saturday and Sunday were a blur of distilleries, breweries, and friends galore.  The best kind of weekend!

 

We hit up the Woodinville Whiskey Co tasting and tour before a big family barbeque on Saturday....Wow! It was so fun! I honestly didn't love the products, but I always love a good informational tour.  J, and plenty of the other patrons liked the Whiskey so I'm not sure it's bad, just not really my taste.  I did love the Bourbon Barrel aged Maple Syrup and Honey. 

Sunday we started the afternoon with a tour of Red Hook Brewery with my parents.  It was another super informative tour, with a bunch of beer drinking...I may have made J drink half of almost all of my samples since I was driving.  Then we headed over to the aforementioned favorite West-Coast-I-wish-they-were-East-Coast people's house.  Kaitlin & Grant treated us to delicious pizza cooked on the grill while sweet Lila melted my heart so hard I started missing her while I was still there.  I got her all of these books and one is a cardboard cutout New York City book which she read to me a bunch of times, "Dis is New York City where Tanya wivs because she mooved vewy fahr away," and then as I was leaving she hugged me and asked, "why you haf to weave" and I almost moved in to their house right then.  Kaitlin & Grant were great company too, but Lila has me wrapped around her crazy little finger.

All-in-all it was a fantastic week! This week is a lot quieter.  J went back to NY on Monday morning, and I am working all week.  I'm ready to go back on vacation!