Our precious niece Kaylee graduated high school! I unfortunately was under the weather with a nasty deep lung cold, but had had it for over a week and did not want to miss seeing her. I flew up for the ceremony on a Friday night, then picked her up Saturday for a fun weekend with her auntie.
The ceremony was held on the football field of her high school. It threatened rain, but aside from some very minor showers, it was OK.
My nieces Paige, Kaylee, and my brother Devin…
It was a sweet surprise to run into some of my friends, including this little peanut who is not so little any more. I used to babysit Maggie when she was in kindergarten…she is now in high school!
After the ceremony, I met up with my friend Julie, whom I have known since 7th grade. She turned 50 the following week and I could not be there, so we celebrated together a little early.
Saturday morning, I met with my friends Heidi, Carol, and Kirsten for breakfast. It was a wonderful time reconnecting. At noon, I picked up KK and we were off for our adventure. (I had done something similar with her sister Paige a few years earlier…)
First stop…the Issaquah Community Playhouse to see the theatrical production of ‘Dreamgirls‘. It would have been perfect had I not been shaking so hard to try to keep from coughing. I would try to hold it in until the music hit a loud note then would cough. I also went through a ton of cough drops.
After the play, we drove into Seattle and checked into our room at the Hotel Max. It’s cool, hipster, boutique hotel. Here is the view from our room.
A delicious Italian dinner at Barolo Ristorante. When I did this with Paige, we went to the Pink Door. I encouraged her to try something she had never tried before since she was entering a new phase in her life. She tried calamari…was not a fan. Proud of her for trying it though.
I offered the same suggestion to Kaylee. She decided to try escargot. She liked it!
We each had an incredible ravioli dinner that left us stuffed. Decided to walk a bit before dessert and ended up shopping and skipping dessert.
Some neat Seattle architecture…
The nest morning, we went to the Space Needle for brunch. What a wonderful experience. I had made reservations. You bypass the crazy long line and go right up to the (Sky City) restaurant. I had told them that this was a special graduation celebration, and they had a window table and a personal card for Kaylee on the table. The restaurant rotates so we had a magnificent rotating view the whole time. Brunch is a three course meal and everything was amazing. We were still kind of full from dinner the night before so lesson learned for next time. The restaurant also surprised Kaylee with an amazing presentation of ice cream over dry ice. It was the most delicious huckleberry ice cream I have ever had.
When I dropped her back off at her house, she showed me the custom labels? stickers? for her motorbike. She has started competing and is doing very well. She’s wearing the new dress we bought the night before.
So much love for this young woman and precious memories I will always cherish.
