Our final Day in Seattle

We went to a beach that was only a few miles from our house. The weather was overcast and we did get a few sprinkles. While we were there we hunted for small crabs because it was low tide. All you had to do was move a stone and you could see them scatter.

Next it was time to head to the airport. This was the first real challenge for me since I had been driving all week in Seattle but all I had to do was follow someone. We were able to get to the airport but not without a little stress. The flight home did not go as smoothly as the trip there. We hit some serious turbulence over Montana and it really scared Megan. She turned as white as a ghost. We made to Minneapolis and stayed at Curt and Marti's house for the night before heading for Harwood the next morning.

Monday

Today is Mom's Birthday.

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Today we took a ferry to Friday Harbor.

We packed a lunch and rode the ferry for about an hour and landed at Friday Harbor. We were only on the island for a short time but were able to do some shopping for souvenirs. Part of the fun of the ferry ride is the scenery and the chance to catch a sight of a whale. Unfortunately, we did not see a whale but had fun anyway.

On the way back we decided to eat at a Teryaki restaurant. The food was delicious. Janelle's cousin Tera met us there and we had a nice visit. We also stopped at Trader Joe's and picked up a few items before calling it a day.

Sunday

Today we drove to Snoqualmie Falls. We viewed it from the top and decided to take the hike down to the bottom which I think is about two miles. Well, going down was easy enough but the walk up proved to be a little more challenging. We took some rest stops along the way but all of the kids (and adults) made it. Next stop was an outlet mall near by. The scenery was incredible with mountains on all sides.

That night we decided to treat ourselves (Curt, Marti, Janelle, and myself) to some fine dining. Grandma, Grandpa, and Sister were nice enough to babysit for us. We went to a seafood restaurant on the Sound called Anthony's. The food and the view were incredible. We had a wonderful time.

Wedding Day

(Brothers on the deck before breakfast)

Today started with the traditional brother breakfast with the groom. Curt, Jerry, and I headed to Denny's and had one last visit with our "single" brother.

Next we took the kids to the Seattle Zoo(Woodland Zoo). It was a very nice zoo and we ended up rushing through the end because we ran out of time. http://www.zoo.org/

(We thought this would make a good picture with Janelle's "love" for gorillas.)










(Cousins Jaden and Morgan walked holding hands all week, it was so cute!)

Next came the big event, the reason we were there: The Wedding of Jerry and Jenny. We started with pictures that went smoothly and a lot faster than past weddings I've been in. The actual ceremony was beautiful. When the choir sang it was like God opened heaven and his angels were singing. Everything went smoothly, a little hot, but very nice. Megan passed out programs and then carried up a candle with Mandy during the procession. Jaden and Morgan were the ring bearer and flower girl and took the show. Curt and I were the best men (Jerry was never really good at making decisions. I think I was the bestest man and Curt was the best man.) Next the wedding party headed to the reception in a limo. We did take a couple of stops on the way including burgers and fries at Dick's Drive-In Burgers. Next came the reception/dance at Arch Bishop Murph HS were Jerry teaches. The DJ played music into the night and the Zander clan showed Seattle how to party by being the last ones on the dance floor into the early morning hours.

Day 3

Last night we spent our first night in the house we rented for the week. It had a view of the Sound that was unbelievable (of course I forgot to take a picture). The view was nice but it also had lots of space for everyone. The top floor was the master bedroom and bathroom which my parents and niece Mandy occupied. The middle floor had the kitchen, dining room, living room, 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. We took one of the bedroom/bathrooms and my aunt took the other. The bottom floor had a bar (with a big screen TV), 2 bedrooms, an empty room, and a bathroom. Curt, Marti, and kids had that floor to themselves. It was a nice place to park ourselves for the week.






Today we headed down to the Pike Place Market and the Pier. If you have never been in Seattle there are a ton of little shops that sell everything from fresh fruit and fish to hats and sunglasses. Here is a good video that shows a little of it along with the famous "flying fish."

Pike Place Market .

Since we had talked so much about the Space Needle to the kids we thought we had to go up and look at the view. Little did we realize it would take a second mortgage on our house to go up to the top. It cost Megan, Jaden, and myself $32 to ride an elevator to the top and look out the sides. The kids were interested for a few minutes and wanted to head down, but with that kind of money I thought we should be able to stay the night. Well, maybe not the night, but I was determined to at least get some of our money out of it. We walked around and looked at the view and did many of the interactive displays.






We also road the monorail. http://www.monorails.org/tMspages/Seattlepix1.html

Seattle, Day 2

We woke up and drove to Seattle (45 minutes). Jaden and I had to try on our tuxes to see if any alterations had to be done. Jadens fit but my pants were too short. They would have to get a new pair sent in, but another wedding had been canceled and there was a pair of pants that happened to be my size in that party's tuxes. Luck for me, not so luck for them.

We then went out for pizza and shopped a little before heading to Jerry's pad to change for the rehearsal and the Groom's Dinner. The wedding is at St. James Cathedral in downtown Seattle, a beautiful church. After rehearsal we headed to the Spaghetti Factory for the Groom's Dinner which in North Dakota would not be a big deal since they were only a few blocks apart. But you see this was at 5:30 pm in downtown Seattle. We left the church and about 45 minutes later I dropped everyone off at the restaurant's door. I then spent another 20 minutes driving around trying to find a parking spot. By the time I went into the room were our party was, there was only one seat left on the opposite side of the room from my family. I sat down and met some new people, Bill from CA and Doug from Idaho. They drilled me about questions of North Dakota but we had a wonderful conversation.

After a nice dinner we headed out to the house we rented to spend the night. More on that later.

Got to be a long day for Megan, Mandi, and Jaden

Seattle Here We Come

Today we drove to the Twin Cities to catch our plane to Seattle. My brother Jerry is getting married so we decided to make a mini-vacation with a mini-family (we left Jordan and Austen home with some dear friends of ours :( We flew with Sun Country airline and were very pleased. They were friendly, helpful, and actually seemed like they enjoyed their jobs, not bad for an airline. Megan and Jaden were very excited for the plane ride and thought the take off and landing were awesome. My parents and my niece Mandy were also on the same flight. Jerry and his wife to be, Jenny, met us at the airport and we all went out to Red Robin for supper. It was the first time we had met Jenny and enjoyed the visiting time with her. She is a very nice and we think she will fit into the family just fine (She might not want to with our nutty family). We then journeyed down to Lacy, WA to stay with my Aunt who is a Nun. We stayed at the Sister's Retreat House which is located next to the Convent. The accommodations were very nice.

What goes on when Dad is not around?

To find out what went on at the lake over the 4th of July I thought I would use the pictures on the camera for some detective work:

• It looks like Megan went fishing off the dock and had some luck.

• It looks like a band of Gypsies dressed my youngest son.

• God Father teaches God Son how to be "cool" for the ladies!

• Jordan longs to be outside
  

• Not all fun, some work had to get done.
  

• Some more relaxing

Bachelor Biker

Janelle and the kids left for the lake this afternoon leaving me a bachelor for the next couple of days. I have to work on Thur. and Fri. (the joy of the 4th of July on a Wednesday). So, I did what most men would do when their wife and four children leave them, I went for a bike ride.

Yes, I jumped on my road bike and peddled my way to Casselton. Three hours and 50 miles later I was back in my driveway. Why Casselton? The wind was out of the NW and every cyclist knows you always start out against the wind so you have it at your back on the way home(Casselton is west, close enough).

I did something I never have done before, I stopped for a beer at the Governors' Inn in Casselton. I have never been in a bar all by myself so I was little unsure how I would be welcomed walking in with by biking gear on. The bar was pretty empty with just two local men sitting at the bar engaged in a conversation and another man on the other end of the bar. I decided to "belly up" to the bar and sat in the middle. The two men questioned me on what I was doing and then questioned my sanity after I told them. They were friendly locals who I believe were farmers. I finished my beer and headed back out for my journey back. As I was mounting my bike a bartender came out and talked about her dad who was a serious cyclist. We talked for a few minutes and I was off. On the way home, I was to pass through Mapleton and thought since I had fun having "one" in Casselton why not try "one" in Mapleton. I pulled up to the only bar I found in town and it was closed (on the Fourth of July??). I guess I wasn't meant to have two beers today since that would double my beer intake for the last month. It was a good workout.

"Whats your vector Victor at Vector Control"

(Can you tell that I saw part of the movie Airplane today.)

As you have read below, last weekend we spent the evenings outside enjoying the nice weather in both South Fargo and Colfax. I never mentioned the "world famous" North Dakota mosquitoes because they were not a problem. How come we come home to Harwood and the mosquitoes are so bad we can not stand to be outside? It hit a final straw when Janelle sprayed Jordan down with mosquitoes spray and put a citronella patch on his back and within 7 minutes he came back begging to come in because he had 25 mosquitoe bites, yes, 25. Janelle had had enough and got on the phone with Vector Control and explained the situation. They were very helpful and said they were going to send someone out to "check things out." I don't know if they sent someone out but I did see them spraying tonight so hopeful things will improve.

Thank you for listening, I just needed to get that off my chest.