Itching for a road trip--Remembering Seattle

Lately I've been itching for a road trip.  I LOVE the snow, but this road trip idea wouldn't be as much fun in the cold.  So we'll just have to wait.  For now, I'm finally blogging our Seattle trip from last June I think it was.  Glen had a few days of shadowing while the kids and I got to tag along to see friends and my sister and nephew.  I miss my family.  Doesn't this look like so much fun and make you itch for a road trip too?

We spent the night at Glen's parents in Wilbur (they ended up running the motel all last summer) and then stopped at Dry Falls on the way to the freeway.  Geologists claim this was a giant waterfall during the last ice age.

 Then we stopped by Soap Lake.  The minerals in this water are supposed to have healing properties.  So far I haven't had any luck healing my dry hands, but it's always worth a try.  Plus, water is always fun for kids to dip in their feet. 

We stopped at an overlook.  I think this is the Colombia River out in the middle of nowhere.  Across the river is a petrified forrest.

 This was our first snow for the year.  We were amazed at how huge this mass was in June.  Gotta love the mountains.

 That's a waterfall in the background.

 Our Seattle trip had a side trip to Bremerton.  We brought our friend Nataly with us.  This was her find. Look how little that crab is.  The legs were so tiny and perfect.

 That's Glen and Henry.  Love the view.

 Off to the right of where Glen is standing, there was a long pier that we explored down to the water.  There were a few fishermen and lots of fun things to see over the edge.  We saw tons of these jellyfish just swimming around.  Amazing.  We also saw barnacles and tubeworms on the side of the edge.  The tubeworms were a favorite.  We tried to find a stick to so we could see it retract and I can't remember if we were successful or not.  But it was really cool to see all these fun creatures.  We've been talking about marine animals the past 2 years for science and we've finally this week gotten to barnacles but that's another post.

 Another day of our trip included a trip into Seattle to check out the Seattle Aquarium (amazing!!!) with my cute nephew and wonderful sister.  This is my nephew, Harper.  Isn't he a doll?!

 Alex and Harper were so cute together that day.

 There were lots of really cool things at the aquarium including tubeworms that we could pet and see retract and lots of other water creatures to touch like starfish, sea cucumbers, sand dollars and some sea plants.  Not sure where all those pictures went, but it was a really fun day.

 So fun to be with family.

 Where did Harper and Alex go?  We found them hiding in here.

 Then we had to say our goodbyes and our family went on a cruise out into the water to see Seattle from a different viewpoint.  The kids enjoyed being on a boat, but the excitement didn't last long.

 The Space Needle

 There's Seattle.

 After our Seattle trip, we traveled through Mt. Rainier National Park on our way home.  Absolutely gorgeous!

 Check out the proof of beavers in the area.=)

Looking forward to visit Seattle again this summer.  Anyone have room for a family of 7?=)

We really did do SOME camping

We like to camp. We like being outdoors, with no television or computers to distract us (because it's hard to resist when they are around). We like having nature all around, and the feeling like you slept in til 9 or 10 in the morning but it's only 5:30 a.m. Do you know how much you can get done when you wake up at that time of day? I'm almost tempted to park my tent out back to help me wake up in the mornings.=) Point is, we just like to camp. Part of our cross-country trip was supposed to include a lot more camping. Unfortunately, my morning sickness required hot and quick breakfasts in the mornings and a comfy bed for the uncomfortable nausea moments. The one good thing about the nausea was that it helped me not overeat on junk food like I usually tend to do during long car travels.=)

Anyways, the night before getting up to Glen's parents house, I'd been feeling a little better so we decided this was our last chance. We found a primitive camping spot and set up camp. It was wonderful. The kids finally had a chance to just get out and play. Yes the national park stops were good but it wasn't truly free play. It was reading and writing and learning. This campout was running with no where to go, catching the plethora of grasshoppers bouncing about. (Andrew accidentally killed one because he had too many, 8, in his hand. Whoops!) There was a stream close by (almost a little scary for me with my little babies, but that water was way too cold and had to be hiked down a little bit. Luckily Calvin and Alex weren't interested in exploring that area.)

We really did do Some camping and we LOVED it!

The Progression of Izzy's Shiner

It all started at Devil's Tower National Park in Wyoming. We were hiking along the trail while Izzy was jumping from rock to rock in her flip flops. (I know, I know. Bad mommy sets a bad example by hiking in flip flops.) That's when she slipped, fell and hit her cheek just wrong against a big boulder. At first the damage didn't look too bad but that quickly changed as it swelled to a golf ball size lump.

The next morning we woke up to see that the lump had gone down but the bruising had spread. Izzy looked in the mirror and said, "I don't want to go down to breakfast. (we were making sure to stay in hotels with hot breakfasts.) I don't want anyone to see me. When we move, if I still have this, I don't want to go to anyone's house and I don't want anyone to take any pictures." Luckily she forgot about the no picture part (or gave up avoiding us) and let us document the black eye of a lifetime. She finally caved in and came down to breakfast although everywhere we went, we were mostly ready for the obvious question "What happened?" Some of the gasps were bigger than others, but I was very thankful we wouldn't have to see any of these people ever again.

I guess it had to get a little worse before it got better, but after a day or so she was able to open her eye again.

This picture was taken a few days after the road trip. As you can tell, the bruising got a lot better. We were very thankful it didn't last as long as the bruise of 2002, but that's another story.

The day that Glen and I left to go house hunting, the bruise was looking tons better. It's finally almost gone and then guess what happens???

You guessed it. We moved into the new house. Went back to Grandma and Grandpa's house to pick up the kids and bring them home. It was either the first or second day of the kids exploring and running through the new house when Izzy slipped and hit her cheek on the stairs. It was a little lower this time but of course on the same cheek. Anyways, she has another nice little bruise to cover up the one she was almost done with. Luckily we had ice (a bag of frozen corn) on hand and it didn't swell like before.

Day 8--Deer Lodge, Montana--Grant-Kohrs Ranch

Well, we've made it. The last stop on the trip before arriving at our final destination and it was fun. Our favorite part was meeting up with our San Antonio friends who just moved to Deer Lodge (2 mins. or so down the road from this stop.) Thanks Karen for letting us borrow you guys for the day.=)

Background story: When they moved to San Antonio, Glen and Andrew went over to help move their family in. They moved out of their house before we were in the midst of packing so Glen and Andrew went over again to help load up the truck and store their stuff in storage. Their family ended up leaving San Antonio a day after us but were arriving at their home before us so the running joke was we'd get there in time to help move them in. Unfortunately, they didn't have access to their house yet so we didn't get to help. But Karen, we truly would have.=)

There was so much fun stuff to do here and it was all free (except for the wagon ride.) We explored old farming equipment.

Checked out stables, bunkhouses, the original house of the family that used to run this ranch. The favorite was the blacksmith shop. We watched the Park Ranger make a brand from a piece of iron and then she branded everyone a piece of wood for a keepsake. Did I mention this was ALL FREE!!!

The lasso station was a HUGE hit. The kids and adults played for a very long time.

We went on a wagon ride. This part wasn't free but it was worth it. I think the kids had fun and we adults enjoyed the tour of the premises.

The kids worked and worked on their Junior Rancher booklets. Here they aren't Junior Rangers. They became Junior Ranchers.

Alex and Calvin just played and explored new fun things.

They let the kids round up the chickens then collect their eggs.

Dinner's ready. Come and get it.

It was a very fun day and like all of our other stops, we enjoyed it longer than planned. But we enjoyed it and had fun relaxing and playing and then got back in the car for the last leg of the trip. We're almost there. Tomorrow we get to see Grandma and Grandpa.