10 days with a sister

So, I have or will have separate posts for my birthday and my trip to Whistler with Kaitlyn, but this post captures everything in between. We packed a whole lot of fun and activity into 10 short days. At some point, I am going to fly myself down to Tally and kidnap Kaitlyn and make her move up to Seattle. While I'm at it, I'll nab Lindsey. Neither of them will be able to escape my evil plot for sister togetherness. It is taunting to be able to spend 10 days with Kaitlyn and then have her fly back to FL. We all definitely need to at least live in the same state.

Anyway, here are a million pictures from our fun adventures as jobless and free sisters...the jobless really only applies to me full time but Kaitlyn was jobless for 10 days or so she pretended.

On her first full day in the sunny northwest, we didn't have too much time (we had a show downtown in the evening) but we managed to fit in a trip out to the Mt. Baker National Forest for a 2 mile "hike"/walk. Lucy, true to her baby form, lead Kaitlyn all over the place by the hand...nearly breaking Kaitlyn's back for sure from all the leading over.

mid swing with mom
heading up to the ice caves
Lucy walking Kaitlyn all over the place
On Wednesday, we headed to Greenlake for a chill day in the NW sun. Again, Lucia pulled Kaitlyn around by her arm as she showed her every weed in the park. This was the same evening that Lucia started walking!
Thursday we headed out for a full day hike up to Lake 22 in the North Cascades. This hike is not messing around. It is only 5.4 miles but it is steep and rocky and sort of challenging while carrying a toddler on your back! It was beautiful though. The hike goes through old growth forest, then out to a bit of a bowl and back into forest before you pop out at a stunning lake. The weather was perfect and the views were amazing. As usual, Lucia was a total trooper and loved it. She fell asleep on the way back down.

view from the top

that is Kaitlyn up there
Lucia dragging Kaitlyn around as usual
Playing with sticks and weeds. I could have stayed in this field all day long.
This way mom!

Old growth forest
near the beginning of the hike at a waterfall. Lucy points out every trickle of water by hollering "wawa, wawa, wawa"
Friday through Sunday, Kaitlyn and I took off and went camping and up to Whistler. I'll post about that trip later or this post will never end.

On Monday, the big event was the zoo which Lucia loved. We'll be back there many times this summer, I am sure. This picture does not show her enthusiasm very well. Perhaps she was more interested in walking than the bears.
Checking out the bunnies
On Tuesday, we visited with Great Grandma Shirley. She made the trip across the water to our place and we sat outside in the sun.
Wednesday was Kaitlyn's last day in town, so we headed up to Capitol Hill, went to Volunteer Park, played in the grass, and had lunch at Joe Bar then came back to the house and played with Lucia in the backyard. I think that the highlight for Lucia was playing with a cup of ice. That evening Kaitlyn and I went out for Ethiopian food for dinner...our favorite!

highlighting Kaitlyn's tatoo and Lucia's baby neck
messing around at Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill
picking "flowers"