Whoever thought of having the grandparents come to visit right after school gets out was a genius. First, Grandpa Jere came back to town, and then Grammy and Grandpa Joe came to visit. Instead of crashing from the lack of routine, stimulation, friends, and exercise, my kids get the luxury of their grandparents. I always plan a ton of activities for their visit, and all we really need to do is play games and eat the yummy food John makes.

We did, however, go strawberry picking, which was a great success. The strawberries right off the bush, warm from the sun, were exquisite. I kept telling Rose, "This is the best berry I've ever seen!" We also listened to Encyclopedia Brown in the car together and had fun trying to solve the puzzles. Those who know me know I have no sense of direction, no ability to read a map, and struggle to even keep the names of streets in my head, but somehow Grandpa Joe and Rose helped me navigate to and fro the strawberries with only minor wrong turns.

Tuesday was all about games. We played Fluxx, Imaginiff, and Dix It. It was really fun to hear David's reasoning on his Imaginiff picks--Grandpa Joe is like a cruise ship because he's funny and as fun as the Disney Cruise. And then the kids spent the night with the grandparents while John and I watched The Wire and packed for the next trip.

Wednesday we went to lunch at Pete's, our favorite diner, where everyone knows our name, and then on to the Duck Tour. Terribly hokey, with terribly hokey jokes and lots of random facts about Seattle, but we all had fun.