If you’re around my age, you watched Mr. Rogers…A LOT…but I must say that Mr. Rogers did not adequately prepare me for the people in my neighborhood and by that, I mean, extended family.
Just kidding.
To keep pace with Doug’s sister, KC, and her family, I had to start this post with a joke. KC used to do stand-up comedy so humor is pervasive at the Brants household and thus, we always have the best time when we’re with them!
From Puget Sound (Steilacoom to be exact) we made our way to I-5 North and bypassed Seattle for Woodinville, WA to visit Doug’s sister and her family with the goal of relaxing and we did just that!
KC (Doug’s sister), Keith (her husband) and their adult children (Zack and Zoe) graciously allowed us to camp in their driveway for 5 days that seemed to fly by as we enjoyed life’s simple pleasures – access to endless hot water showers, laundry facilities, laughing at each other and at the world in general.
We spent each day eating too much, drinking too much, and enjoying the conversation and the sunshine in their backyard. We spent the evenings playing games; watching the cult classic, Galaxy Quest; and reviewing travel photos and stories from Keith and KC’s African safari, their trip to Machu Picchu and Zoe’s travels to the Netherlands.
Bailey got a bath and a haircut…thanks KC!
Doug and I learned a new board game, called “Azul”, from Zack and Zoe; Uncle Doug introduced them to “UpWords” and “Cosmic Wimpout”; and we played a Heigel card game tradition, “Wizard”.
Side note – during the last game of Wizard, for the first time ever, I had guessed the number of “tricks” I would win correctly on every hand! I was so excited that I announced this and took a picture of the scorecard (below left) only to learn later (after guessing wrong on the very last hand and losing 10 points, below right) that this was no big deal to Keith who reported that he’d guessed perfectly throughout a game on several different occasions. Yup, there’s nothing like family to keep you grounded!
Zoe, Zack, KC, Keith and Doug playing Wizard
Keith kept us primed with plenty of creative alcoholic concoctions, and all of the Brants, including their dog, Tiki, kept us laughing.
Zoe with Tiki, Bailey’s half sister
We were also able to clean up the inside of the RV, reorganize some things, restock groceries, take Bailey to the vet, work on the blog, cut Doug’s hair in the driveway, and catch up with other friends and family. Before we knew it, we were 5 days in.
There’s nothing more wonderful than family members who are also good friends.
If you haven’t reached this point with your family, take some advice from Galaxy Quest’s Commander Jason Nesmeth (played by Tim Allen) to “never give up and never surrender”.
