Washington {Part One}

By Heathernichole
My mom’s birthday was this past Saturday – January 17th. My parents and I planned a trip to Washington to surprise my brother and sister-in-law. They moved there on January 1stand, of course, we wanted to see their new home. It was the perfect time for the three of us to go because my mom took a few days off for her birthday, my dad makes his own schedule and I’m currently not working. The last time I traveled with both of my parents was when we went to Hawaii when I was in sixth grade so this was very exciting for me. I have so many photos to share so I’m going to break it up into three parts, one for each of the days we were there.
Our original flight was sheduled to leave Friday night at 8pm. We were supposed to have a layover in San Francisco and arrive in Seattle at 12:30am. When we stopped to eat dinner on our way to the airport I received an email that said our flight had been delayed by thirty minutes. We ate dinner and my mom opened her presents from me and my dad.

When we were done we headed over to the airport. We got all checked in and as we were walking away the attendant said something about our flight leaving at 9 and arriving in San Francisco at 10:30. I said, “Wait a minute. Our flight from San Francisco to Seattle leaves at 10:35.” He said, “Yeah, you probably won’t make that flight.”
We didn’t want to risk being stuck in the San Francisco airport overnight and possibly all day Saturday so we opted to come back Saturday morning. Our new flight left at 11:10 and arrived in Seattle at 1:55. We were all a little sad but we knew it would be best. We went back to my parents’ house, slept and then turned around and came back the next morning.
We wanted to surprise my brother and sister-in-law but when our flight changed we decided to tell them. We took the photos below and sent them to my brother. Right as I was about to send the photos my brother called my mom to wish her a Happy Birthday. My mom made up this whole story about how we were going to the farmers market and then out to lunch. As they were talking the gate attendant went over the loud speaker and said, “Now boarding flight 3445 to Seattle.” I thought for sure my brother would have heard that. Turns out he didn’t. When they hung up I sent the photos and my brother called back right away. Him and my sister-in-law were so excited.


 
I’m pretty sure we were more excited to see them.
 
Alaska Airlines was amazing. They gave us complimentary wine on the flight. There was no wifi, which kind of made me sad, but wine is better than wifi anyways. I worked on my guest list during the flight. We want a very intimate wedding and it’s extremely difficult to narrow it down because I have a huge family. I think I finally finished my list though.
 
When we arrived in Seattle it was raining. No big surprise there. I was prepared with my umbrella though. Supposedly the locals don’t use umbrellas so they can always spot tourists. I was proud to be a tourist.
 
We picked up our rental car and drove to Issaquah to see my brother’s new home. When we got there my brother let Nash outside and he ran straight to us. I was so happy to see my baby again.
 
My brother had to go to work right away. We were pretty hungry so we drove over to Safeway and picked up some food. Nashy came with us. Isn’t he so precious in his little jacket? He looks like a local.
 
After we ate and relaxed for a little while we decided to go to Saturday night service at my brother’s church. We stopped at Caffe Ladro, where my sister-in-law works, on the way to pick up coffee for all of us. I ordered a sugar-free caramel almond milk latte and it was amazing! It was also the first latte art I’ve ever seen in person. I was very impressed.

 
My dad, my mom and I at Timberlake Church in Redmond, Washington.
 
The whole Saldaña clan.This may be our last photo together just the five of us and while I’m still a Saldaña. The next time I see my brother and sister-in-law will probably be for my wedding in October.
 
After church we picked up pizza for dinner and cupcakes for dessert. I pretty much decided right then and there that I wasn’t going to count my macros and I was just going to enjoy my mini vacation. 
 
There were many choices of cupcakes but I ordered a vanilla one. I always do. I shared with Nashy.
 
We ended the night by watching Sleepless in Seattle, my all time favorite movie.