Aaron & Isaac

There And Back Again, by Mom-mom

Welcome our guest writer Mom-mom, who tells the story of going from Bellevue to Seattle and back to pick up the twins...

Mom-mom was scheduled to take care of Isaac and Aaron on Monday since YMCA Winter Camp would probably be closed due to the large amounts of snow over the past few days.
Pop was going to drive Mom-mom to the city, to Rainier Avenue and she was going to walk up the hill to Joseph's house, spend the day with the boys and get a ride back to Bellevue at the end of the day with Pop. Mom-mom was not driving yet due to the recovery from her back surgery and the snow storm.
Mom-mom and Pop woke up early on Monday morning to find out that Pop's office was closed due to the snow storm. Consequently, he wasn't driving into the city. What was Mom-mom to do?
Mom-mom knew that Joseph was counting on her. She had to find a way to get into the city. The buses were not coming up the hill to her house, if they were even running at all.
So, Mom-mom made got warmly dressed, made a "Seattle" sign and at 5:50 a.m. walked two blocks away to the main street, carrying her sign. She had plans to walk to the either walk to the Park and Ride, about 2 miles away, all down hill - or hitch a ride with someone going into the city.
The second vehicle stopped when the driver saw the sign and asked if he could help. Mom-mom explained that she wanted to get to Rainier Avenue at I-90. He said he could take her there. The driving was slow but the 4 wheel drive SUV did well in the snow. The driver's job was to drive patients for treatment such as dialysis in a small bus. Mom-mom felt comfortable with his driving and safe in his car. He took Mom-mom to her requested stop, about 6 blocks down the hill from Joseph's house. Joseph's neighbor was blocked off due to the hills and the large amount of snow.
When Mom-mom arrived at Joseph's house at 6:50 a.m. he was just getting dressed. Mom-mom thought that it would be better to take the boys back to Bellevue since Pop was not in the city to drive her back home at the end of the day. The boys were still asleep and Venessa was getting ready for work. The boys woke up shortly after, got dressed, had breakfast and put on their snow clothes to walk to the bus stop back on Rainier Avenue. At least it was all downhill this time, though the going was slow. The first few busses that drove by were completely full and could not stop for us. Eventually we all got onto a bus and we went downtown near Joseph's office. Joseph walked on the work and Mom-mom and the boys walked to a bus stop for a bus back to Bellevue. She had enough money for cab fare if a bus did not come, but that could have ranged from $50 - $60. Luckily, a Bellevue bus showed up before an empty cab. The boys were very patient waiting for the bus, talking to the other people waiting for the bus to Bellevue.
The bus took us all the way to Bellevue, even using the freeway exit just down the hill from Mom-mom's house. The only problem was that there was no bus stop there and the driver was not allowed to drop off riders at an unsafe intersection. Mom-mom and the boys stayed on the bus for several blocks further and then were able to get off of the bus.
Now the walk continued, with the occasional stop to fix socks that kept creeping down into snow boots, to put mitten back on that came off to touch the snow or to adjust heavy backpacks that didn't seem to stay put on little backs. They walked for about 6 blocks and then the boys plopped down in the snow and were too tired to continue. Mom-mom was pretty tired too, but we were one mile from the house. What to do now? There weren't any busses going up the hill in the snow. Pop wasn't able to drive down the hill to pick them up. Even the Baskin and Robbins was closed so no stopping for treats.
Mom-mom decided the only way to get back home was to find another 4 wheel drive SUV to drive them all up the hill. The boys had seen the "no hitch-hiking" sign on the walk as they crossed the freeway. Mom-mom told them that since they weren't going on the freeway, it was OK to put out their thumbs and hitch a ride for the last mile home. They tired of holding out their thumbs after a few minutes and found it more entertaining to throw snowballs into the street. This time may cars drove by without stopping, most of them not heading up the hill but turning at the intersection to head to the shopping area. After about 15 minutes, a driver stopped to drive the tired three-some up the hill. The SUV even had some toys in the back seat to play with for the short drive home. When we arrived in front of the house, Pop was there shoveling the snow. The boys were having so much fun with the toys in the car, they were reluctant to get out of the car. Seeing Pop in the snow helped to entice them out of the SUV. We thanked the driver and he went on his way. It was now 11:00 a.m., 5 hours after Mom-mom had left home that morning.
What an adventure! The boys mustered up some energy to play in the snow a bit and sled down the little hill in front of the house. Mom-mom was totally exhausted and went into the house to rest before the day of playing with two 5 year old bundles of energy. The boys were snowed in at Mom-mom's and Pop's house for 3 days. They played in the snow, celebrated Chanukah and even had a virtual candle lighting with Joseph and Venessa via webcam. That was a wonderful experience.
All in all, it was a fun week, a bit tiring for Mom-mom even if it did take her mind off of her recovery for a while.
She hopes that the boys will remember this adventure with their "hitch-hiking Mom-mom". She won't forget it for some time!