Day 5: Trekking West: Goodbyes, Hellos, and BFFs

On Monday morning, the 19th, we met John and Cynthia for breakfast to say goodbye.  They would be heading into Seattle for a few days, and we were on our way to visit with Diane's daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter for the day, about an hour and a half north, before returning back to Virginia the following morning. 

Diane's granddaughter, Mikayla, is just about to turn 4.  She and Samantha were very well-matched to play together, and had an absolute ball.  It was so amazing to watch these two little girls, joined at the hip the entire time we were there, sharing, playing, bonding, as cousins should.  Sammi doesn't have any little cousins to play with, so this was a first, although bittersweet since, sadly, thousands of miles stand between them.

The lush green lawn hid a very important plaything...one tiny, lone snowball, left over from a snowfall the week prior.  Just the right size for a game of Kick The Snowball, enjoyment that can only be sustained as long as the equipment lasts.

Bubbles were next.  What child doesn't like bubbles?

And then the dog, sweet, old, patient, became the next object of play.  We had no idea what they were up to, running repeatedly between a patch of grass on one side of the yard to the resting dog on the other...

Until we saw this...

We had a wonderful time spending the afternoon with Diana, Mike and Mikayla, and hope (I know you're reading this, Diana!) they'll come to visit us in the East one day! 

Next up:  Day 6:  National Security and the Apple Juice Incident.