Simpsons in Seattle

A few weeks ago, the girls and I volunteered for a Keep Bellevue Clean event. I've been eyeing all the trash on the highway and on major streets so when I saw this pop up as a community event, I was eager to go. We walked around a high trafficked corridor (altho very little traffic was there so early on a Sat morning!) with bright yellow vests and garbage grabbers in our hands, and picked up all the trash we saw along the way. The girls had so much fun that we went way over the estimated time for the event and were the last group to return. I recall enjoying doing similar events as a kid when we did graffiti or beach cleanups, so I'm glad the girls are getting into it too. Now if only I could figure out how to clean the freeways.

We went to visit a friend who is fostering kitties and the girls are in luuuurv. These kitties are so cute! The kids stole my phone and took about a gazillion photos, so here's a few good ones. Doesn't this make you want to get a kitty?  

My friend Kathy snagged some invites to a private event at Chihuly last week and lucky me got to be her plus one! The greenhouse was gorgeous all lit up at night and it was great being able to walk around the museum without the crowds. We also got to sit and watch the glass blowing demonstration up close and listened in as the folks next to me asked a ton of questions. It was a really nice night out!  So pretty! Watching the glassblowers at work. They sell what they make at the Space Needle gift shop and proceeds go to charity. Space Needle lit up at night  

Our first Yu-cousin trip was in June 2007 to Vancouver, and ever since then, several of us "older" cousins try to get together every few years to see one another and catch up. COVID put a damper on our trips but we rallied this year to find a time that worked for us Lady Cousins and guess what? Everyone descended here to Seattle last weekend!  It was a really nice long weekend filled with LOTs of talking, laughing and eating. We kept the weekend super easy and low profile - we didn't have too many plans and were pretty content to make soup noodles at home and just hang out listening to music, playing mah jong and watching movies. Mostly, it was just nice to catch up and chat. I was super sad to see them all leave on Monday; it really makes me wish I had closer family in Seattle. At the same time though, it means these weekends with them are that special!  Evie and Nora were sad they weren't able to join. Thanks to all the dads for watching the kiddos so we could do th