Shop Hop around King and Pierce County with Grandma and Janice

Mom caught wind that I had the day off on Wednesday because of Juneteenth.  The Western Washington Shop Hop was also going on until the end of June as well.  Mom always tries to plan out those two weeks with her quilting ladies and me.  In the past, I have driven her and Grandma around, but this year we were busier because of the wedding.  I told her I would stand in for her because she had to work that day.  I got to work making a route and putting the addresses into my GPS.

I called Grandma and told her that I figured out a route we could do.  She said Janice was interested in coming with us as well.  I told her to arrange specifics with Janice and meet up at my house at 9 a.m. and I will drive the route for the day.  She thought that sounded like a great plan.  I shared it with Mom and told her that she was responsible for getting Grandma her passport and the money for the finishing kits.

I had set my alarm for 8:45 because it doesn't take me very long to get ready in the morning, but Mom had called me at 8:30.  She wanted to let me know that she gave Grandma the passport and finishing kit money.  I told her okay and she said to have fun.  I really didn't want to go to quilt stores on my day off but at least I wasn't at work.  The quilt stores opened at 10 a.m. and closed at 5:00 p.m.  That was our shop hop window.

Grandma and Janice arrived just after Mom called.  They were super early.  I got up and got ready quickly.  I used the restroom, got my clothes on and they hung out and used the restroom until I was done.  I grabbed a banana and threw all of our stuff into the Escape. I ate the banana as I drove to our first location.

We got onto I-5 and our first stop was Pieced Together Quilts in Lakewood.  I wasn't sure how the traffic was going to be, so we gave ourselves plenty of time to get to Lakewood.  We got there super early, and we had to wait in the parking lot for a little bit until they unlocked the doors.  We did find out that the children's consignment shop next door was open, so we went in there for about 15 minutes.  I did find a few things for Brian and a couple things for Mom.  I paid for my stuff and met Grandma and Janice inside the quilt store.  I got my passport stamped, the free quilt pattern and wandered around the store for a few moments.

Erika texted our family thread to let us know that Zac's mom, Nancy, passed away that morning due to her cancer.  The last few months have not been kind to her, but she was happy she did get to meet Brian.  We told Erika we were sorry, and she said that Zac was happy she wasn't suffering anymore but deep down he was going to miss his mom.

We finished up at Pieced Together Quilts, hopped back into the Escape and I set my GPS for Shibori Dragon in University Place.  We made our way over.  Janice told us that she comes to UP often because her daughter Mary, her husband and kids, live not too far away from the quilt store.  I remember coming to this store the year before with Mom, Grandma and Janice on our way to do the Olympic Peninsula. 

We pulled into the small parking lot and there were tons of older women inside the quilt store while their husbands waited for them inside the car.  I thought this was hilarious because Dad would never take Mom shop hopping. We got our stamp on our passports, and I noticed Mom's was almost full from the previous trips she took over the weekend to other shops and walked back out to the Escape to drive to the next one.

We got onto I-5 and made our way up to the Des Moines exit.  I've been to Carriage Quilts many times in the past, so I knew how to get there.  It was down near the waterfront on the main drag of town.  The parking is the worst part about going there. I was hoping we timed it right to where we could just pull into one of the spots off the road in the front.  We arrived and I saw there were no available parking spots.  Luckily, we had Janice with us, and she knew where to park in the alley up the hill.  We maneuvered the Escape into a spot, got out and entered through the back door.  We got our passports stamped, turned Mom's in and started a new one, and I got Mom her finishing kit for this quilt store's block.  We wandered around the shop for a few minutes, Janice ended up purchasing some stuff and we left.

We got back onto Hwy 516, drove over I-5 and down the hill into the valley towards Kent.  Running Stitch Fabrics is in the middle of downtown Kent and parking was difficult since it was parallel parking on the street. I never get lucky enough to park in front of the store.  We usually have to park and walk.  Well, we were in luck today!  I got to parallel park right in front of the store this time and yes it was awesome! We went inside and walked to the back of the store to get our passports stamped.  We wandered around for a few minutes and then headed to the next one.  

I got us out of Kent and onto 167.  I was so happy the traffic was minimal because this area absolutely sucks during certain parts of the day.  From 167, we got onto Hwy 410 and up the hill into Bonney Lake.  I wanted to get the one in Buckley out of the way first.  We made our way to Front Porch Quilts.  This is another quilt store I've been to a bunch over the years and mostly with Mom.  We had to go around the block a few times to find a place to park.  The ladies are always nice at this quilt store and their bathroom sign makes me laugh every time. 

We got back onto Hwy 410 and back into Bonney Lake.  I had texted Trish earlier to see if she would meet us at the Ben Franklin Crafts, but she decided to go to work that day and wasn't home.  Bummer.  We got our passports stamped, wandered around the store and I actually found a few things to purchase.  I bought some scrapbooking stuff and a sign for our wedding since it was on clearance. It will go well with our theme. 

Our next stop was The Quilt Barn in Puyallup.  I found the correct address on the Nuvi and off we went!  Again, traffic was minimal, and we were able to get there pretty quickly since we had a time limit.  We made our way to E Main, the road that connects Sunner with that part of Puyallup, near the river.  I've been to this quilt store a few times and it's one of the newer ones throughout the years. We got our stamp, wandered around and thanked the ladies.  I rarely purchase anything while shop hopping. 

My shop hopping posse was getting hungry.  I asked Grandma and Janice what was sounding good to them, and they said just about anything.  I hated that answer.  I hate being in charge of choosing where to go. We got up to Meridan where most of the food was.  I asked everyone if Burger King was good, and they all said that it was fine. I ordered a chicken sandwich and ate some of Grandma's fries.  The weird kid working there needed to tell me he had one hour of sleep and then came to work for a full shift.  I would die if I did that, even if I was 18, 25 or 37.  I would die. 

After our food pitstop, we drove further up Meridan and stopped at The Quilting Fairy in Puyallup.  We got our passports stamped, got our block and this is another place Mom wanted the finishing kit from.  I handed over a couple bucks and received a little packet of fabric, buttons and other knickknacks. We hopped back into the Escape and got back onto 512 to Hwy 7.

We were making pretty good time.  We stopped briefly at All Things Sew in Tacoma (basically Parkland) and almost got hit by someone in a truck being impatient.  I hate people.  We were in, got our passport stamped, got our free block pattern, thanked the ladies and left.  I was bound and determined to get to the quilt stores in Lacey and Olympia before 5 p.m.  I followed Hwy 7 to Hwy 507; we drove through Yelm and onto Yelm Highway.  I've never been to the Shiplap off of the Yelm Highway before and have driven past it hundreds of times. 

We found a place to park, went inside and got our passports stamped.  It served as a feed store as well and the place smelled like chicken food to me. We thanked the ladies and jumped back into the Escape.  We had one more place to hit up before it hit 5.

Stitches Quilt and Craft was our last stop of the day.  We had about a half hour to spare when we pulled up in the parking lot.  This was the lady who owned the quilt store in Westport and moved it to Olympia because of the better market.  Her store front is an old bank just a couple blocks down from where Erika and Zac lived. We got our passports stamped, she handed us our free quilt blocks and we got out of that area of town before people got off work.

I took Grandma and Janice back to my house; they used the restroom and thanked me for driving them around all day.  I handed Grandma all of Mom's stuff since she was going to see her before I did.  They left and I started dinner.  Ben and I had a copycat Hello Fresh beef rice bowl.  We worked on some wedding stuff and relaxed before having to go to work the next day.

Another shop hop in the books!

Next Adventure:  The 3rd and the 4th of July

Father's Day

Earlier in June, I asked Dad what he would like to do for Father's Day.  I also asked Erika what Zac would like to do since he was a dad now and Erika said to do just whatever. Ben and I had started packing up the house so we would be prepared for when we moved to the trailer in Rainier.  I asked Erika if she could host Father's Day, and she said she would.  I told her I would bring over the tables and chairs and whatever I was assigned to bring. Dad said he would like BBQ ribs, potatoes, gravy, baked beans, sugar free Jell-O with whipped cream, potato chips, green beans, potato salad and a Mediterranean salad. I told Dad that was quite the menu.

I sent everyone an email about a week beforehand letting them know where it was, what time we were going to have it and what we were eating. Everyone said that was good and added it to their calendar.  Dad wanting ribs and having it at Erika and Zac's house posed a complication.  I would have to drop the ribs off with her the night or a couple days before with the rub, so she could get up and put them in the oven at a decent time because they will take about 3-4 hours to cook.    

The Friday before, I went shopping for her baby shower, Father's Day and helped Mom and Grandma get ready for the shower.  It was a busy weekend.  I can't wait for the weekends to slow down a bit, but it won't be for a while.  Probably not until after the honeymoon and fixing the rental house.

Erika got up around 8, sprinkled the ribs down with the spice rub, wrapped it in foil and let it cook for a couple hours. Ben and I got up after 9, did a few things, packed up the tables and chairs, made sure I had everything I was supposed to bring, and we headed over to Zach and Erika's house about an hour before the party so we could help her get the house ready before 2.

Zach and Ben brought the tables and chairs in while I helped Erika finish up the food.  We got everything put into bowls and arranged them on the island.  People started arriving while we finished up and the living room and kitchen got busy.  We all found places to sit, and food was served.  Everyone grabbed plates and piled them with food. 

The ribs were delicious!  I picked a great rib rub!  Everyone thought the food was tasty and ended up having seconds and thirds.  We talked about the wedding, we all held Brian, who was still pretty new at that point, and slept most of the time and enjoyed the food, fun and family.

We helped Erika clean up and Mom and I did the dishes for her.  We brought the gifts into the living room and handed Zac his gifts and Dad his.  Since earlier that June, Sonya celebrated a birthday but didn't make a big deal out of it, Erika and I decided to get her a card and a gift.  They weren't all that exciting, but it was the thought that counted.  Dad loved his weed eater motor and Zac loved his watermelon.

We finished cleaning up.  We put the table and chairs into the Escape, divvied up the food for those who wanted leftovers and thanked Erika and Zac for hosting Father's Day.  Ben and I spent the rest of the day talking loads of our stuff over to the storage unit in Rainier.  The goal was to get the stuff out that we don't use very much so it's already in Rainier when we do move, plus, there would be less stuff to pack when that day came.  We were trying to be proactive.

The rest of the day was spent washing clothes and getting ready for the upcoming work week.  Juneteenth was going to disrupt the week this year because it was on Wednesday, and it is a paid day off.  I hate having one day off in the middle of the week, plus, Comagine was probably going to work that day, and it will be a double Thursday.  Not looking forward to it.  At least it's summer and the wedding is less than two months away!

Next Adventure:  Shop Hop around King and Pierce County with Grandma and Janice

Erika's Baby Shower and Dick's NW Sausage and Deli

Mom had been asking me to come up with a weekend to have a baby shower for Erika.  I told her that just about every weekend was booked because we were extremely busy this year.  We had a wedding, a baby coming, holidays, birthdays and day to day stuff going on.  She understood but she wanted me to find a weekend to do it.  We could not find a good weekend to do it before Brian was born, so we had to do it in June, the day before Father's Day, and after Brian was born.

She ordered some of the decorations beforehand from Amazon so they would be here in time.  I ordered some dinosaur cookie cutters from Amazon, and I was lucky they arrived on time.

Friday, June 14th

We brainstormed who to invite and made a quick list.  This was literally last minute.  We created a Facebook group and invited people hoping they would see it.  Mom also called and texted some people too.  We were expecting maybe 20 people.  She made a list and gave Grandma and me jobs to do.  We asked Grandma if she could host, and she said yes. That made it easy since Grandma had more time than we did.

After work, I went to Fred Meyer, the Dollar Tree and Value Village to get a few things for Erika's party.  I was in charge of getting some of the decorations and some of the food. I went over to let Erika's dogs out because she and Zac went down to Vancouver for the day to visit Nancy with Brian because she was sadly losing her battle with cancer.  I also dropped off the ribs and the spice rub and let her know when to start it.  She said she would do her best.

I drove into Rainier to help Mom prepare some of the food beforehand and went over to Grandma's house to help decorate.  We got most of it done in a couple hours.  

We ran out of Miracle Whip so went to the Dollar General to get some more and then went back over to Mom and Dad's house to help her make dinosaur sugar cookies.  She made me a hamburger because I hadn't eaten dinner yet and it was getting late.

We cooked and iced a couple batches of cookies.  It was getting super late so I told Mom I would meet her tomorrow around 11ish.  I got home around midnight, did a few chores, showered and went to bed.

Saturday, June 15th

I got up around 9:30 and started getting ready.  I grabbed all of my boxes, the recycle, chairs and headed to Mom and Dad's house to pick her and her stuff up.  I left just after 10 a.m. and went directly to the recycle to dump that stuff off.  I picked up Mom and the things she was bringing roughly around 10:45. We drove the short distance over to Grandma's house.  We unloaded everything and started fixing up the sandwiches. We had a hard time figuring out where to put stuff in the fridge to keep cool until the shower time approached. 

We had several platters of sandwiches, filled the bowls with chips and fruit and set up the chairs in the living room.  We had to finish up some of the decorations as well.  I saw that people were starting to arrive and we had to manage the parking lot outside.  Grandma's front yard area could not accommodate all the cars, so we had to be creative.

Brian was passed around so everyone could hold him.  This was probably my first baby shower that I have attended where the baby was actually present at it.  About 20 people came, we ate food, held Brian, chatted, took pictures, played a couple of games and hung out.  Erika opened the presents people brought, and she thanked each and every person for their generosity.  

We helped Grandma clean up and left her house just after 3:30. I took Mom home and then Trish and Amy followed me to Dick's Brewing.  

Ben met us there. We had invited his family to make a decision on which beer to purchase for our wedding.  We were less than a month away now.  It was getting busier as each day flew by.  We all arrived around the same time to Dick's Northwest Sausage and Deli.  We went inside and immediately found a table.  Our server got us our drinks and we ordered food.  

I wanted to try the Cuban.  Ben wanted to try a flight of their beers so we could decide which two we wanted to serve at the wedding.

All of us ate our food (my Cuban was delicious), Trish, Ben and I tried the beer and decided which ones we liked.  We went with the red and the ale.  We talked to our server about ordering two smaller kegs for pick up on July 12th. We paid and left to head back home.  We were there until about 6:30. We thanked Trish and Amy for coming with us to make a wedding decision.  Trish said she was honored to be a part of it, lol.

We went home, went on a walk, I packed a few things up in boxes, we did some chores, made a Facebook group for the wedding, talked to Grandma about the dress and the table runner and went to bed late.  

At least we got another thing checked off the wedding list!

Next Adventure:  Father's Day