This weekend, October 21st, Erin and Jeff came to visit! How do I know them? Well Jeff was in the first grade class next to mine. (His twin brother was in my class.) And Erin, I met a few weeks after college started when she started dating Jeff. Erin and I became roommates until Kevin kind of replaced her as my roommate.

I picked them up Friday at noon, and we headed over to Pike’s Market. The kids did pretty well as we perused, and Ella even did well for not having a nap. I took them to get grilled cheese from the best place around. We sat and people watched as the kids ate their lunch and we had mac n cheese and grilled cheese sandwiches. After the market, we headed back home to meet Kevin.

We decided to take them to XXX Burger. The food is good, maybe not worth the hype, but the rootbeer is delicious. Everyone loves their floats, including Ella.

Ella took a dive off the couch earlier while trying to wrestle with Dad and Jameson. This explains the big rug burn on her forehead.

Erin and Jeff loved all the decor, along with their food. I think they froze, though.

Jameson was happy to hang out with Uncle Jeremy who was visiting, also.

Ella devoured Kevin’s rootbeer float.

Saturday morning, I took Jeff to Kerry Park to get a picture of the Seattle sky line. Unfortunately, it was a true Seattle day with rain and clouds, and you couldn’t see the Space needle. After trying to take some pictures, we went to check out the Troll. I hadn’t ever gone to see him, but he wasn’t too hard to find. I guess 4 artist carved this. See the VW Bug he’s holding? And the hubcap for an eye? Kind of creepy.

The street is even named after him. I would hate to be the houses living across from this, though.

After the troll, I took them to see the Ballard Locks. The leaves were gorgeous, and the train tracks were raised. Not sure why. I never saw a boat that big where they would need to be raised to pass under it.

After watching a few boats go through the locks, we found these stairs. I’m not sure why they lead into the water, but it made it easy to test the water. I didn’t head on down, but Jeff and Erin went to see how cold it was.

Ella just hung out in the stroller. She loves to ride, but not be strapped in.

On the way home, we found the glass pumpkin patch. I was a little concerned taking the kids in, but it turned out ok. All the pumpkins are glass blown by local artist. I think even the small ones were still at least $30.

After a busy day, we headed home for some dinner. We picked up a baby-sitter got the kids settled, and headed out to Maple Valley. They do a spooky forest that Erin wanted to go to. You walk a trail through the woods, and walk in and out of themed huts. It was lots of fun, and I did jump. It was even funnier with Erin screaming and jerking my jacket every time. The forest was creepy anyway, because it was slightly raining. This left a fog over the forest. We had lots of fun, didn’t get too wet, and made it home to get warm all in one piece.

Sunday morning while we went to church, Erin and Jeff borrowed the Golden Dragon (Kevin’s car) and checked out downtown Kirkland. I was surprised they found their way back. Learning roads here is a nightmare. Once we got home, they packed up and we headed to the airport.

It was a fun visit, and I’m glad we were able to fit so much in to just a few days.