Date Nights (way back in May)

It was 90 degrees on a Saturday in May so we knew we had to get out on the boat with our friends.  After spending all day at lax games on Bainbridge Island, I raced home to meet up with about 10 couples where we got on two boats and drove through Lake Washington and into Lake Union through the famous Montlake Cut.  The evening was beautiful and it was fun to show off Lake Washington and the famous mansions along the beach as we learned how to drive the boat.  This was the first of many boat nights into Seattle.  Now we've done it so much my boys hate it but it still feels magical to me.  I never thought I'd live in such a beautiful place or have a boat to tour it in.

The U Dub stadium next to the Montlake cut

Boating through the Montlake Cut and under the draw bridge where the finish line for the rowing teams cross through.  

Sunset dinner at Ivar's

Captain Randy touring around Lake Union where we stopped in front of the Space Needle so each couple could get a picture .  It was a good night!

Annual Date Night

Randy and I went on a date.  This rare event happened awhile back but must be documented because, as previously mentioned, it was rare and it was so much fun.
Our friends have a boat that they keep on Lake Union (the lake in the middle of Seattle that connects to the Ballard Locks so you can go out to the ocean, or go in the other direction and cruise around Lake Washington to see Husky Stadium and Bill Gates humble abode).

This date night was on a Friday which meant most of the men had to meet us in Seattle rather than us having to wait for them to fight traffic to come home from work, so the one guy who didn't work picked all of the ladies up and took pictures with each of us at the door.  It was hilarious.  Polygamy at it's finest!

See all the boats stacked up?  It's pretty cool.  Our friends just make a quick call to the boat storage place, tell them when we will be there, and when we show up the boat is docked and ready to go.

Chatting away with a toll bridge in the background

This gas station is for boats only.  How cool is that?!

We even gassed up there which I thought was worth documenting

Gas Works Park

Time for dinner!

 We boated over to a delicious seafood restaurant that I can't recall the name of and chatted away as the sun set over the water.  After our dinner, we got back in the boat and cruised around some more, passing by the Sleepless in Seattle house and the Space Needle.  It was the perfect recipe for good times with good food, good friends, and good conversation.  It's really too bad our kids make our lives so busy that this fun date night is a rare occurrence.  I can't blame our lame social lives entirely on kids though.  Old age is definitely setting in because by the time Friday night rolls around I am EXHAUSTED.  

Randy was still en route to the restaurant because naturally he had an emergency patient on a Friday night for the first time.   

Seattle is beautiful at night

Row, Row, Row Your Kayak

We had an epic date night.  It involved two other couples, six kayaks, and beautiful RI scenery.  I probably would've taken a million pictures as we paddled down a river and out to the ocean but I was busy paddling.  You'll just have to trust me that the scenery was breathtaking.  It was nice to get away from the chaos of our daily lives for a few hours.  And when I say chaos I'm talking about running from one thing to the next.  Just to coordinate our schedules so we could go kayaking took some major rearranging.  Marcus had to get to swim practice somewhere in all that and the only way we could figure out how to get him there was to have him ride his bike.  The pool is a couple miles away and half of it is on a narrow road without sidewalks so I was nervous, which is why I let him take my cell phone so he could call me if he got hit by a car.  After calling for an ambulance first, of course!  Anyway, Randy and I kayaked to the beach and upon our arrival I got a text from Marcus saying "I made it to the pool" followed by a row of smiley faces.  While I was glad he arrived safely I was somewhat disturbed that he was so good at texting and even knew how to do emoticons.  I just figured it out last week for crying out loud!  Anyway, RI is so beautiful right now it almost makes up for the long and miserable winter.  Almost.

Piano Guys

My guys play the piano.  Piano lessons and practicing are typically met with much resistance but attitudes have dramatically improved in the past week after Randy and I went to a Piano Guys concert.  The concert was amazing!  We drove all the way to the University of Connecticut to see it which meant our babysitter made some serious cash, but it was well worth it.  The next day was rainy and uneventful so I spent hours with the boys watching the Piano Guys music videos on YouTube.  Marcus has figured out how to play upside down and is more determined than ever that I allow him to play the cello and Ethan is passing off his songs faster than ever.  I only wish I could've taken my boys to the concert.  Next time for sure.  Steven Sharp Nelson, the cellist, said "You can't teach your children to be passionate about music but if they can see you being passionate about music eventually they will catch on."  So my new goal is to be passionate about music so my children can catch the bug too.  This means I'm going to have to sit down at the piano and brush up on my songs once in awhile.  They had no clue I could play some of the music I heard at the concert and were seriously impressed with my {rusty but still there} piano skills.
Our favorite videos were Frozen {check out the frozen piano in the background}, Paradise {watch the piano being lifted in the air by helicopter}, and of course What Makes You Beautiful.

Randy and I are laughing at our hand holding in this picture - super nerds!

And now I'm off to the grocery store to buy lots of food to see us through General Conference weekend.  We don't have a set tradition or meal at General Conference but I try to do a few things to make it special.  We had a great family night to prepare for conference where each person learned about one of the Apostles and did a little report on them so we can look forward to hearing from that Apostle this weekend.  For those of you who need ideas for getting little children to listen to conference, I have small buckets of candy with words labeled on them so when the kids hear that word they can take a treat.  This works great when your kids have a sweet tooth like my boys.  I'm also going to take out the center page in the Ensign that has pictures of all the church leadership and hang it by the TV.  As we listen to each speaker the boys can search for the person on the page and place a sticker on their photo.