GRANDKIDS...DON'T YOU JUST LOVE THEM.

          Grandkids…don’t you just love them. I found out almost twenty-two years ago just how wonderful having a grandchild could be when Haley was born. I was and still am so in love with the woman she has grown into, plus I’ve had the joy of watching her do so as the years passed.

         

Arayli came into my life about twelve years ago when her mom and my Thor became a couple. She also brought joy into my life and I’ve loved watching her grow from that toddler to the burgeoning young woman she is today. I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of choices she makes as she continues to mature.

          Xander was born almost nine years ago; and it’s been like having and watching his father, Thor, all over again. In fact, I sometimes call him Thor because he so strongly resembles his dad. I was delighted to have another baby to hold and love on.

          As it was with Haley, I was in and out of Xander’s house and had him at least once a week or so as he went from baby to toddler to young boy. He brought so much joy into my life and that of his grandpa who doted on his grandson. I’m not sure Xander will remember his grandpa, but I hope he has a few memories, i.e., sharing his blueberries and raspberries with grandpa.

          Unfortunately, covid came along and I didn’t have the chance to spend time with pretty much any of the grandkids. They grew and changed so much during that time that I don’t feel as though I know them very well at all. I feel guilty some times because I did so much with Haley when she was young, but haven’t had the opportunity in the last few years to spend much time with Arayli and Xander.

          What brought this blog on is that I spent this past Wednesday with Arayli and Thursday with Xander. I’m blogging about this on Friday; and let me tell you, I’m exhausted. Eight trips to and from Snohomish is a lot of driving when I don’t drive all that far on a regular basis.

          Arayli wanted to go for sushi and we did so, to a new place at Alderwood Mall. It must be how sushi is prepared and served in Japan although I don’t really have any idea. There was a robot that went around the restaurant and delivered glasses of water. Maybe it delivers other things, but I didn’t see food or dirty dishes on the robot’s shelves.

          We ordered through an electronic menu. I figured the waiter that wandered around would bring our food. Instead, it came via a conveyer belt that stopped at our booth. We opened the plastic container and removed our dishes. The bill did not arrive electronically, however, so they have some improvements to go. Arayli said it was the best sushi she’d ever had.

          Thursday, Xander wanted to go to the zoo and I opted to take him to Cougar Mountain Zoo in Issaquah. The parking lot is tiny and I was beginning to think we’d have to see if we could park on the street when I realized there were two open spots right in front. There was no signage saying I couldn’t park there so I did.

          About the only impressive thing at this zoo is the collection of bronze statuary. There are pieces located all over the place consisting of animals the zoo does exhibit and ones it does not. A couple of the exhibits were sort of naturalistic, but most were concrete and bars and wire. Very hard to take a photo of some of the animals with bars and wire in the way. It’s also a very small zoo, but the staff seemed very friendly, knowledgeable and happy to be staff members.

          The gift shop was very small with mostly toys and stuffies for sale. The zoo also did not have a restaurant…only a machine that dispensed water and sodas. I do think this zoo is supported very well. There were many pavers with names and other instances where donors were listed. And, I’m sure all the statuary was either gifted or donated.

          When I paid admission, I also bought little cups of chopped apple. Xander fed the raindeer by throwing apple pieces into the exhibit. At the deer and alpaca exhibits, these animals took the apples right from his hand. His favorite was the alpaca because they had such soft heads and noses. Xander’s very favorite was the wolves. There were supposed to be four in the exhibit and he easily found the three white ones. It took some time and a revisit to find the dark gray one. Xander believes the dark gray one is the alpha.

          After the zoo, I drove into the Triple XXX in Issaquah for lunch. Xander’s cheeseburger was as big as mine. I figured he might eat half, but he surprised us both and only left a couple of bites. I was amazed to find out the restaurant only takes cash or checks. They do have an ATM ($3.50 to use) and luckily I had my debit card so I could obtain cash and pay the bill. I wonder what they do if the patron isn’t able to access cash via the ATM.

I remember Triple XXX from when I was young and the great rootbeer. The rootbeer is now $7.95 for a chilled beer mug full and was as delicious as I remember. I think this Triple XXX is the last one around here, and it’s a bit like a museum inside. People have written their names or other messages on dollar bills and these are taped, stapled, glued all over the place. It also contains old car engines, photos of past customers and a wide variety of other memorabilia. I even saw a funeral program for someone.

Anyway, we had fun, or at least I did. Xander and I are going to Woodland Park Zoo in a couple of weeks. I don’t yet know what Arayli would like to do at some point before school begins.

So, as I began this blog post…grandkids…just love, love, love them.