Chihuly Garden and Glass

After the Aquarium, we met the grandmas at the Chihuly Exhibit.  I was really looking forward to seeing this so luckily by the time we got there, Steph and the gang were finishing up and we swapped!  She took the little ones so that (I think Sophia would have loved it, but there's no way she would have kept her hands to herself!  It was hard to resist!)  Mom and I could stroll through and it was impressive to the say the least!

This room was inspired by Native American baskets.  It was beautiful.

a little hard to see but the yellow ones are fish

Here we are in the "garden" part of the exhibit.  Also beautiful.  It was fun to notice all the glass intertwined with the plants, trees, and shrubs.

When we met up with the others, they were being entertained by the balloon man!

He loved Stephanie so much, he gave her a corsage.

I even got a bear

Can you tell we're related...holly cow, everyone looks alike in this picture!

Seattle Aquarium

I love the Seattle Aquarium and so since we needed something to keep ourselves busy on Monday...we stopped there first!  Sophia was very excited and Rachel was very interested in all the animals she had never seen up close.  

She was brave enough to touch some sea life!

a plethora of sea stars

Jellyfish

jellyfish

jelly fish

the octopus was asleep so it was really hard to take a picture of it, but we tried.  Here is is smooshed up against the glass.  It is cool to see all the suckers at least.

Rachel giving her best caught fish impression

sharks!

monkeys!

I couldn't resist snapping pics of this adorable little guy.  He is an otter that was just so fast asleep no one could bother him.  Oh my goodness, the face is absolutely squeezable.

Party Time!

 We went directly from the airport to party central!  I was beside myself with excitement since I knew Jonathan was roasting a lamb and had really outdone himself with all the other accoutrement to go with it.  Lots of friends and family came to celebrate!

I love this picture...it really captures the true spirit of too many Greeks in one kitchen! ;)

Zoe and her friend showing off their new class rings!

Dolmades cake...yummy!!!

Salad anyone?

Sophia, Rachel, George and Zoe

Bama, Georgia (Jonathan's Mom), and Bess

Zoe and her friend, Emma

after a long night of socializing and playing, it was time for Sophia to hit the hay!
Rachel read her a story as she finally got into bed, way past her bedtime!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

 Our little Zoe graduated from high school last week!  I can't believe it!  Mom, Sophia, Rachel (my cousin Dean's daughter) and I all loaded up and headed to Seattle for a very whirlwind trip!  This was Rachel's first time on a airplane so she was incredibly excited!  

Rachel and Sophia ready for take-off

Mom got to sit by herself (lucky!) and was able to read her entire book!

Sophia wanted to make sure Belinda wasn't scared!

About an hour into the flight the girls discovered the Photo Booth app on the iPad.  We really did have a lot of fun with this and I couldn't resist posting some of the sillier ones we took!

 

this is Sophia and me

the look on mom's face seriously cracks me up in this one!

and of course, pictures wouldn't be complete without a few snaps of Belinda.  

This is maybe one of my all time favorite pictures.
Something about it just gets me giggling.