Summer Vacation Part 1

After spending a wonderful weekend in Malad for the 4th of July, we headed Northwest to Washington State for some R&R. Since Chris had to work it was just the kids and I. The drive up took us 15 1/2 hours which for us was pretty good. The weather was nice and not too hot so I didn't have to blast the A/C and the kids were really good with only one minor episode. I only got sleepy a couple of times and Tyler helped out once with a wild game of Travel ABC's and I called and had Chris talk to me the other time. Oh, and I might have eaten a LOT of M&M's to help combat drowsiness. We sang a lot...our own Bingo Song...that went something like this: "We're on our way to Washington and Boise is our next stop, B-O-I-S-E, B-O-I-S-E, B-O-I-S-E and Boise is our next stop." This continued all the way to Washington with each new stop along the way earning a new verse. The kids seemed to think that was pretty fun. The kids watched a few movies and we listened to the "Life of Pi" on CD. Except for the traffic jam in the Snoqualmie Pass, the trip was one of our best.

We stayed with my parents in Orting, WA (close to Puyallup) until the 14th and mostly just relaxed. In fact, I hardly took any pictures at all so I don't have many to post. The weather to me was beautiful but I guess they said it was record breaking heat. I wouldn't know the difference as I stayed nice and comfortable in the air conditioned house. I did venture out a few times to air conditioned stores and malls. The kids spent lots of time playing on Grandma's Wii (since we don't have one), watching movies, playing outside and working on little projects with Grandma. The girls had a lot of fun making their own paper dolls which turned out VERY cute. We did some geocaching and spent one day at the river swimming and soaking up the sun. The kids got to camp out most of time and enjoyed playing on the slip-n-slide or running through the sprinklers. My sister Lisa and her family came up and spent a few days with us and the kids had a lot of fun playing with cousins. My brother David and his wife, Angela, also came down for a day to visit and we enjoyed seeing them. Although the kids were disappointed that they didn't bring their little Chihuahua, Nala, as they were really missing Roxy. The menfolk gave us a girls night out so my mom, sister and I headed to the temple for a session and then out to dinner and dessert and a few errands. 7 hours later we deemed it safe to return home. You know there is that breaking point where it becomes too long and then you've just made more work for yourself. We certainly enjoyed the little break and spending some time together.

It was a nice break from reality and I enjoyed getting to visit with my family, read (Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet) without feeling too guilty, relax, not have to drive kids everywhere, make decisions, figure out what to cook, answer phone calls, shop, clean...the list goes on and on. I even found time to sew Lauren's skirt that I was going to make her for her birthday...back in April. Thanks mom and dad (and Chris) for allowing me a little break.

We just recently start geocaching and had fun looking for caches around the city of Orting. There are about 7 or 8 and we found all but one. Some took us a few tries but except for the one we eventually found them. This was our first "micro cache". I didn't know they had them this small and we didn't know that it was a micro when we were looking for it. Tyler eventually looked up into the tree and pulled this out and asked me if it could be what we were looking for. At first glance I didn't think so but then I poked around a bit and realized it was exactly what we were looking for.
Brooklynn and McKenna didn't care for geocaching as much unless it was one that had toys to trade. This one I had to take a picture of just because as soon as I opened up the log I saw that my sister had found it a few months ago when she was up over Spring Break.

Nice self-portrait outside the temple
(Mom - Lisa - Michelle)

The skirt I finally finished for Lauren's birthday.

"The Lollipop Girls"
(L-R): Brooklynn, McKenna, LaRue, Lauren, Matilda

My sister, brother, me and our families headed into town for a Saturday Market. The girls all got these big suckers and were happy as clams. After, we walked over to the park and let the kids play for a while.

LaRue and McKenna playing at the park

Can you find Tyler and Lauren?