This was a very big week for us and Oliver. On Monday night, it snowed while we were at work and the temperature dropped well below freezing. We left early - around 4:30 - to try to beat the mad rush home. It didn't work. We headed downtown to 99 which is our usual route home, but it was closed due to a big accident. So we went to 4th with the plan to go south to 509 and avoid the west seattle bridge. While this may have been a smart move, it wasn't a great option either. We were stuck in a slow crawl down 4th...after about 2 hours, Mike got out and walked over to get us fast food for dinner. We had only moved a few car lengths when he got back. Oliver was with us and he was starting to get pretty tired of sitting in his car seat. He kept yelling "go go!", which was what we wanted to be yelling too. We finally made it to the onramp to 509 and the traffic completely stopped. It took another 30 minutes to go a single block. Then we saw the problem - 3 semi trucks stuck on the onramp. We finally squeased around them and made it up onto the freeway - which was actually pretty much wide open. The only other dicey part was the big hill up to Roxbury - but our little 4 wheel drive CR-V made it up past about 15 stuck cars without a hitch. We stopped for gas, since we were close to running out after the 4 hour commute home (normally takes 20-30 minutes). It was an hour past Oliver's bedtime, but he didn't fall asleep until we were pulling into our garage! It was a very long night for us, but many other people had it worse than us and I was very thankful that we were all together. It stayed really cold the next few days and Oliver's daycare closed, so I stayed home with him. We were getting pretty stircrazy, so we went out in the snow a few times. That snowsuit has really come in handy!
On Thanksgiving, we headed over the pass to Quincy to see Mike's family. Oliver's other grandma also got him a guitar! I guess grandma's just know what they will love. Oliver also had fun with the dogs and cat for the first time, only a little but afraid, but he knew all their names and he was giving them commands all day. We had a great dinner together - Oliver only ate corn - and then drove up to Leavenworth to stay for two nights to avoid Mike's allergies.
Leavenworth was amazing! There was a fresh coat of snow and the town was all decorated for the holidays. We stayed at the Enzian and it was perfect - even had live piano music in the lobby - which Oliver really enjoyed. It was just a block from the town and we headed out eary to go sledding. Oliver loved it! Everytime he had a huge grin on his face. He also loved seeing all the lights and christmas trees - he kept yelling "christmas!" and pointing whenever he saw something. We got him a guitar ornament to commemorate his current pashion.
Grandma, Grandpa, Laura and Andrew all came up in the afternoon and we had a great time together checking out the shops and watching the musicians play in the gazebo. At 5 there was a parade with music and sant clause that we had been waiting all day for, but Oliver refused to nap that day and ended up passing out on Mike's shoulders a few minutes before it started! He woke up for dinner afterwards though.
We stayed the next morning and had lunch before driving back to Seattle through the snow covered mountains. It was a beautiful day and perfect driving conditions. Oliver fell asleep just as we left and woke up when we were a few blocks from our house. When he realized that we were back home he had a major tantrum and rolled around on the ground screaming for 15 minutes! He kept saying "grandma Jo Jo coming?" So sad and sweet. He had a really amazing time with many new experiences. We set up our tree after we got home and Oliver helped put on a few ornaments. He was so excited to have christmas in the house, he kept squealing with glee! I am really looking forward to sharing this time of year with him - he is so excited about everything, it makes it so much more fun for us too. And his 2nd birthday is coming up too. So much will be happening in the next month - we can't wait!
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