Climbing and Jumping

This has been one of the busiest vacations ever! It seems like we are constantly packing up the kids and going somewhere. I only have like 3 weeks to go! Wonder what else we’ll cram in. :) We went to the Sand in the City in Olympia this weekend, put on by the Children’s Hands On Museum. They had a sand carving contest and ton of things for little kids to do - play in a huge sandbox, sift through sand, make starfish stamp rubbings, make mosaic necklaces, climb up a rock wall! The 3 boys waiting in line for about a half an hour to climb up the wall. I really didn’t think Jayden would do it, I figured he’d jump out of line when he got close to the front. But he followed his cousins right up to the end. He got his harness put on, hooked up to his belay, and then he chickened out. Fine by me, I was proud of him for getting that far without freaking out. His 2 cousins though, they did a little climbing!











Today we hung out at the house and played in the lake. The boys had gone swimming 4 different times before lunch!

Trains and Ferries

Jayden loves trains and had been talking about wanting to ride one for awhile. So, while we were staying in Kelso earlier this month, when Royal was here, we decided to take a train ride to get out of the house for a day. Amtrak stops right in Kelso, so we bought some tickets and rode the train to Portland. Jayden loved it! Here we are in the train station in Kelso waiting for the train to arrive.









And here we are in Portland, sitting on a bench right outside the train station with a typical Portlandite - blue hair and all!




On Friday, we decided to make a trip to Seattle to go to the aquarium. Instead of driving though, we got on the ferry in Bremerton and Jayden got to experience his first ferry ride!

The 3 boys weren’t sure what to think when the captain blew the horn!



Kay and Jo



Brendan playing with Willow



There's Seattle!



Looking at fish





Checking out the Nemo tank





Into the under water dome!







After the aquarium and before we got back on the ferry to head home, it was time for a carousel ride!







Willow was all worn out

To the Beach!

Today, the 4 of us and the Wagner’s loaded up a couple of cars and headed out to Westport! Living in Kansas, sometimes it makes me feel a little crazy knowing that I am no where near an ocean, I feel a little claustrophobic being completely surrounded by land. So, while Royal is still here, we wanted to take advantage of the Pacific Ocean only being an hour and a half away! It was pretty cold when we got there this morning, but the sun eventually came out and it warmed up quite a bit. I was just thankful it wasn’t raining!

Royal and Willow all coordinated in their purple!



Taking advantage of some driftwood.



The 3 boys contemplating their next move.



They decided that it’s not too cold and yes, they were going to go swimming. Brrrrrrr. I remember when we used to do this as kids. Now, it’s too freakin’ cold. :)







Royal put Willow’s feet in the ocean for the first time. It won’t be the last!



She got a little cold, her lips turned a bit blue, and she didn’t seem to happy.



But she perked up right away!



After we got most the sand off the boys, got them dried up, and a bit warmed up. We hit the town, smelled some flowers, checked out the docks and boats, and then went to the candy store and got lollipops and salt water taffy. Because it’s just not a trip to the beach without leaving with a bag of taffy!



We then headed back to the beach to play for a bit before we got back in the car!







Yea for the ocean and cousins!

More Fun in Washington!

Jayden has been having so much fun with Brennie and Wyatt around. The 3 are pretty much together all the time! Here are some more pictures of what we’ve been doing!

Lots of swimming!









Me and Willow watching the swimmers



The 3 sisters together again! Can’t wait till Jo’s on vacation next week!



The 3 cousins!