July and August was so busy! It felt almost like a normal summer. Cindy flew in before my birthday so Joe and I could take a trip. It just so happened that Tim, Jean, and the girls also flew in to Seattle that day, to visit Jean’s family. They drove out to our house to see us and meet Freya. We grilled and had a great dinner and had a good time visiting. The next day was Friday. Joe and I were supposed to fly out for my birthday trip that night at 6 pm, but Alaska changed the schedule and we found out we were leaving at 2 instead. Luckily we were ready early and saw the change notification in time! We got a ride to the airport and made it through security, I still didn’t know where we were going! I’d packed a ton of clothes and was so excited! Joe told me when we were at our terminal and I finally found out where we were going, San Francisco!
It was an easy two hour flight. We got out to baggage claim and a guy pulled up in a cute little convertible that Joe had rented for us. The guy dropped off the car and pulled out a folded up scooter, which he proceeded to jump on and ride away. It was pretty funny. Joe drove us north up through San Francisco, it was such a cool looking city! We had the top down, it was sunny and so nice out! Joe was taking us to our hotel, which was across the Golden Gate bridge. It was so fun going across the bridge with the top down! It was windy, and scary, but so pretty. There were so many people walking and biking across the bridge. We could see Alcatraz out in the water.
We got to our hotel and it was in an old military base. It was a resort with a few buildings down in the front, and our room was up in a building sort of on a hill. We could see the bridge from our balcony! The room was very nice. We had dinner at the resort restaurant since it was getting late. On Saturday we went into the city for breakfast at the cutest place, I had amazing french toast! Then we drove back across the bridge and drove towards the redwoods and then explored Sausalito. We went back into the city for lunch at a Mexican place someone had told Joe about. We went back to relax at our hotel for a while before dinner. We ate a great steakhouse in the city, everything was so good!
Sunday we went into the city for breakfast at a popular place. We got there 10 min before opening and were 3rd in line! The guy that took our order was super nice, when I ordered a bellini he asked for my ID. He said the bellini was on the house for my birthday. After breakfast we drove around the city, we went by Chinatown and Fisherman’s Wharf, drove down the Zig Zag street. We drove back to Sausalito to meet up with my friend Brittany from Germany, we had lunch at a great little place that was known for it’s rotisserie chicken. We sat and talked for like an hour and a half, it was really nice!
We hung out at the hotel until it was time for dinner. We went back into the city, Joe found us a restaurant that had great reviews and had bananas foster on the dessert menu. It was a great dinner! We had room service breakfast on Monday morning before heading to the airport. We had an easy flight home, and were back in time for dinner! It was nice to get back to the kids, we hadn’t been away from them in a year and a half! It was so amazing to get away with Joe, and to just do what we wanted! It was so fun to explore a new city and do normal things.
We were pretty lazy the next few weeks. We just hung around the house and took it easy. It was pretty nice! We flew to Nashville the day before Virginia’s birthday. It was an easy trip over. The airport was busy, but everyone was masked and kept to their selves. We had Virginia’s party at Jeri’s on her real birthday. She wanted a pool party, and I was so worried all week that it would storm during her party. It looked iffy that morning, but we went ahead as planned. It ended up being perfect out, the kids had so much fun swimming. Gracie and Matt came and brought the girls, we finally got to meet Cordelia! She let me hold her for about five minutes before she wanted to go back to Gracie.
Virginia had a great time at her party, and I think everyone else had a good time too. We spent the week at the farm being pretty chill. Lillian was in school, and Callie was working. I was afraid to take the kids out much, cause of the covid. Seattle feels relatively safe, but the rate of vaccination in TN is so low, and no one wears a mask in public. We went to a few of our favorite restaurants when they weren’t busy, and we took the kids go carting and mini putt putting. The fair was going on like it was no big deal, drawing huge crowds. I really wanted to go, but it felt like an unnecessary risk to take, so we didn’t go.
Rick and Cindy dropped off Rick’s truck for us Friday, and we took off bright and early on Saturday to head to SC. The kids were great in the car, and we made great time. Cindy and Rick arrived first with Nana, and then Gracie, Matt and the girls. We got to the house around 5:30 and started getting settled. The house was so great! We were all so happy that we’d made it and beach week was happening. We took the kids down to the beach after dinner to walk by the water.
We had the best weather all week long. It was hot, but not unbearable. We would spend an hour or two down by the beach and then go swim in the pool until lunch time. Most days, Virginia wanted to go back to the beach and pool after lunch. Luke was usually too worn out and would want to relax at the house. There were great hammocks on the porches, Luke really liked hanging out in them. The kids loved playing with Ella. I tried holding Cordelia a few times, but I think she was afraid of me! She loved Joe though! Ella let me play with her, so that’s a good start! Joe was busy in the afternoons, they announced to the public that he is the game director and he had to do interviews for different things.
We all had such a great time at the beach. It felt so good to be there! Joe and I got to go out for dinner one night, which we so appreciated. The kids didn’t leave the house all week, and they were totally fine with that. We drove back to TN the next Saturday, following Rick, Cindy, and Nana. We had to make quite a few stops along the way, and we stopped outside of Knoxville to drop off Nana to Jean and Tim and talked to them for a bit. It was pretty late when we got back, so Joe and I grabbed bbq from a place in Spring Hill for dinner. On Sunday we hung out in Tollgate before our flight back.
I’m so glad we went home, I was only slightly (okay more than slightly) worried about Covid. I wasn’t worried about Joe and I so much, but the kids are still not vaccinated. There is a Delta variant that has been causing a huge spike in hospitalizations, but it’s like 99% unvaccinated people getting really ill from it. Kids are starting to get covid at higher rates which is scary. We made it home with two days to just hang out before school started. We already had new backpacks and everything ready at the house, so we were just lazy the last bit of summer.
I don’t know who was more excited for the kids first day, me or them! We had their outfits picked out and everything ready the night before. I made blueberry muffins and sausage for the kids for breakfast, and then we just kind of hung out until it was time for school. We don’t have to leave the house until 8:40, which gives us so much time! We walked to school and dropped Virginia off first. Her teacher was standing by the door, so we got to meet her. She seemed really nice! Virginia dropped her backpack off and ran to the playground. I walked Luke to his door and we got to meet his teacher, who also seems great. We put Luke’s backpack down and hung out by his door until the bell rang. He went and picked up his bag and went inside without barely a second glance at me! He sat down on the rug and waved to the kid next to him and said “Hi, I’m Luke!” It was so sweet, I could have cried.
I basically skipped on home, so excited for my freedom! I went to Michaels to look at fall decorations, and picked up some pictures at Walgreens. Joe and I attempted to go get lunch together, but I picked a new place in Totem Lake and it was super crowded. We had to take the food and come back home to eat, because Joe had a meeting to get to. We’ll try for more lunch dates in the future. The kids were both in good moods when I picked them up, it seems like they both had good first days. I’m so glad that they are back in person five days a week! I’m so thankful that we live in a state with educated people that understand that masks work. It’s infuriating how so many states in the south are just ignoring the facts and not enforcing mask mandates. Kids are going to school and spreading covid, and these freaking republican states are actually fining school districts that try to enforce mask mandates.
This was a very long update, but I’m glad I made it through! I’m very glad that we have all stayed healthy through this crazy time. I mean, the pandemic hit a year and a half ago. I don’t know when or if things will go back to “normal.” But I’m so glad that the kids are in school, that is a huge step forward. I’m going to volunteer in Luke’s classroom starting in October, so that will give me something to do. In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy my free time!
Rachel's Red Kitchen 