Potty Training and a Mommy-Dessy Weekend

My Christmas gift this year from Scott was a Von Ruden girls’ weekend out in Seattle.  Odessa and I planned our special trip for the first weekend I was free from work.  Scott helped us find a great hotel room and made us promise to get room service at least once.  The trip served a dual purpose as the boys were going to spend the time alone working on potty training.

We left Leo practicing on the potty Saturday morning and drove up to Seattle.  Our hotel, The Silver Cloud, happened to be located right between Safeco Field (where the Mariners play) and Century Link Field (where the Seahawks and Sounders play).  We were on the top floor right down the hall from the doors to the outside pool and hot tub.  While a hotel in Wisconsin with an outdoors swimming area would undoubtedly be closed in January, we were surprised and excited to see  this one open.  Odessa and I swam four times over the course of our weekend.  I dipped my toes in the swimming pool but spent most of my time in the hot tub.  She had fun running back and forth.  On Sunday morning, it started snowing on our heads while we swam.  This was the first snow we’ve seen since Wisconsin.

When we weren’t swimming, we were shopping, eating, or watching movies.  We took a shuttle bus down to Pike’s Market, got some ice cream, and walked around.  We found a cute toy store on our walk back to the hotel where Odessa was excited to spend some of her Christmas money.  It was a bit of a challenge for her to figure out how much she could buy with the money she had.  She kept trying to pick out the really expensive items.

We ordered a pizza for supper and watched a movie in the room.  Odessa ate three pieces of pizza while I could only manage two.  The next morning we ordered room service for breakfast before swimming once more and driving back to Tacoma.  We had a great time together.  Unfortunately, my camera was almost out of batteries so I didn’t take very many pictures.

Christmas 2011

This was our first Christmas in Washington at our new home.  My parents, Emily, and Bonnie were able to join us for some time the week before Christmas.  We stayed at a resort on the Kitsap Peninsula in the little town of Union along Hood Canal.  During their time here we went for several hikes including one in a salt marsh and one to Murhut Falls in Olympic National Forest.  On Wednesday we spent the day in Seattle; Odessa and my parents stayed to attend a children’s play while the rest of us took the ferry back to Bremerton.  We celebrated Christmas with my family on the 23rd before they left the following morning.  It was very nice to see them, be able to spend time together, and show them around our new state.

We had our family Christmas on the 24th.  Scott made the same Christmas duck recipe he’s made several times in the past, which we enjoy very much.  In Madison, we could buy duck at our usual grocery store but in Tacoma we visited five grocery stores before finally venturing to an Asian specialty grocer to find a duck.  Odessa and Leo had a great time opening presents and being the center of attention.  We were very fortunate to receive such generous and thoughtful gifts and cards from friends and family.

We wish health and happiness to all our loved ones for 2012!