WA trip ... finally!

Well, finally, here it is. A few words and pictures on our 5 week trip to WA.

Some numbers for you: 3000 miles. 65 hours of driving. I packed and unpacked the car 10 times. Each. 10 million grains of sand. 2.4 sq feet of space in the car each (except Blake, who probably got about 4 sq feet of space!). 1 sick boy (on the last day of our drive home). Our Washington State trip was great, but man, am I glad to be out of the car!! Phew! We had a great time with family and friends, playing with cousins, aunts and uncles, going to the zoo, getting wet at the splash park, eating ice cream in the sun, and making sand castles on the sandy (and rocky) beaches. I don’t think I’m going to be able to get all the stories and pictures out there, but I will try. J

On the road

At a rest stop some where between here and there

Our first destination was Gramma Linda and Papa Ray’s house. The boys had a blast playing with their cousin Gabe and getting tickled by their aunties and uncles. Aunty Amy made us yummy pancakes in the shape of Cars 2 cars. We made some cookies for Daddy too - chocolate chip with Double Stuff Oreo’s in the middle! Andrew took one bite and decided it was a good thing that he got to taste them first because Daddy was definitely NOT going to share these cookies! The Coffey BBQ went off without a hitch and the boys loved chasing the ducks, playing ladder ball and having s’more smores. One day we went to Gabe’s house and drove over to Lincoln Park. The day was a bit overcast and the water was a bit too cold for a dip, but they sure loved throwing rocks in the water and swinging on those swings. We tried to go to the Woodland Park Zoo one day but ended up at Greenlake Park where Gramma Linda took us for frozen yogurt! Yum!

Lincoln Park - Andrew, Gabe, James, Aunty Angela

Our next destination was Lynden to visit Gram. We all loved playing outside in the great weather, eating fresh berries, helping Gram in the garden and taking a trip to Edaleen’s to get ice cream cones! The boys found Gram’s VHS tape of Peter Pan. It was the stage version recorded back in the 60s, with visible strings helping them fly and stage props. Andrew LOVED this version of the movie, I couldn’t believe it. With all the technology that is around today and the greatness that is Pixar, I didn’t really think they would like it, but I was definitely proved wrong.

James and Andrew in Erika's Garden at Mom's

Blakey loved exploring at Mom's house.

You can't really see in this picture, but Andrew had lost 2 bottom teeth in two weeks!

Ice cream at Edaleen's.

The next stop for the boys, Aunty Robyn, her friend Dulcey, and I was Friday Harbor. There are 7 great-grandkids. Amelia is the oldest, and then comes Grace, Andrew and Nora who are all about the same age. James and Erik are the next group and little Ada was just born a few months ago. Andrew and James have never had as much fun as they did playing on the hay bales and tractors, quietly visiting the two-day old piglets, making forts on the beach, and visiting with all of their Mommy’s family. I know Erika would have loved to see her boys playing with all their cousins on the island.

Andrew, Amelia with Ada, Grace, Nora, James and Erik.

Robyn, Deanna, Me, Toni and Adam

Some dinner on the porch.

I don't know what I was doing (probably trying to Andrew to look at the camera), but I thought the look on Andrew's face.

Nora and Grace - two peas in a pod (most of the time)

After a few days on the island we headed down to Bellevue to spend a few days with Dad and Roberta. The boys were a bit tired after a couple weeks on the road, so we didn’t make a lot of excursions, but did have a great time relaxing, swimming in the pool and tasting new food. The boys went with Robyn, Dad and I to a sushi restaurant! Both boys had an avocado roll, some sesame noodles and fruit. I’d say it was a good start. J

Throwing rocks at Mukilto Beach

After a relaxing few days we drove over to Lake Chelan to attend the wedding of my good friends Christine and Jim. One morning we went to one of the local orchards and took a hay ride up to pick cherries and apricots. We didn’t pick a lot of fruit, but the boys loved it. Another good friend, Lisa and her husband Kevin brought their two boys and the four of them spent the whole wedding together playing cars, coloring and chasing each other around the vineyard. There were a lot of kids at the wedding and the wedding couple did a great job in planning kid friendly food and lots of activities for them to do. The next day was spent at the hotel pool and a park by the lake. The weather was hot and the area beautiful.

Picking (and eating) cherries

Picking apricots

Our haul

Our hayride to the top of the farm and back again.

At the Zoo

Watching the penguins

Popsicles at Gabe's

That weekend Aunty Robyn took the boys, Mom and I to Moclips on the Washington Coast for a few days. It was foggy most mornings, but we got out to the beach nearly every day to play. It’s always so cool to see the ocean.

Our view of the Pacific from the room

Celebrating

Robyn, Mom and I on the beach

James throwing a stick for Blake - we let him off leash sometimes

Aunty Robyn and Andrew

The last stop on our trip was back to Bellevue for about a week. We went blueberry picking, swam in the pool and had a great birthday party for James at a splash park nearby. If you can’t tell from the pictures, it was a pirate-themes party and it was great to have so many family and friends there.

Blueberry haul

Deciding who to splash

Rachel and Robyn

Pirate James

Pirate Andrew

Argh Matey!!

Overall it was a really trip, although about once a week, I’d think to myself “What were you thinking, putting this kind of schedule together?” And at least once a week, one of the boys would say “I want to go home Aunty Kendall”. It was a tiring trip with lots of time in the car, but the time spent with family and friends was priceless.

P.S. Blake had a truly great time too, although I’m sure he was always glad to get out of the car. He thought playing with Snickers, exploring the farm and running on the beach was biggest adventure of his life. J

P.P.S. I’m sorry for the lack of info from the end of the trip. I’m tired and I thought you’d might be tired after reading all this. J