Cherry Hill!

Yesterday we had a fun-filled day at Cherry Hill with some of my family, Todd, Kevin and Candace and kids. Mick couldn't come because their baby was sick, but Todd came anyway with Jaygen and Pace. We all had a great time swimming and riding the water slides. Madi loves doing bobs in the water and Parker keeps working on his front stroke. He even took a breath this time and kept going. It was a great day! Parker, Jaygen, Pace and Madi taking a ride on the cannon

Madi and Lillian just finishing up lunch.

Todd with Jaygen and Pace on the Pirate Ship.

Parker loved the water slides.

The kids didn't want to go home, but after being there for about 7 hours we figured it was time, we were all exhausted.

Parker's Golf Clinic

The last four days Parker has been participating in a golf clinic at our local golf course. The first 3 days were an hour and a half of instruction and then on the last day they got to play about 5 holes of golf and eat brunch. He absolutely loved and keeps asking when we can go golfing on the big course. Every day I picked him up and asked him out it was, his reply was "It was AWESOME!"

Parker with his buddies, Joshua Gozart and Caleb Christensen.

Every kid that participated got a hat, and Parker won the sleeve of golf balls by being the best putter in his group. Way to go Parker!

Another Lost Tooth!

Parker's tooth has been loose forever and last night, after we got home from the fair, he finally lost it! And, we didn't even have to have him eat a caramel apple at the fair. Lynn was able to pull it out with no tears. This is his 3rd tooth gone, but the first one on top. He was very excited and immediately got it ready to put under his pillow for the Tooth Fairy. Luckily the Tooth Fairy remembered to come this time and left him a dollar under his pillow.

Gotta Love the County Fair

For some reason I really enjoy going to the fair each summer. There's always good people watching, good food, and good times. This year we bought pre-paid ride passes for the kids a few days before the fair and they were able to go on all of the rides as many times as they wanted. Our cheap way of avoiding Disneyland or Lagoon one more summer :) Needless to say, they had a blast. They especially liked the fun house and the big slide. They kept sticking their tongues out at us I just couldn't ever get a picture with them out.

Madi was a little nervous about this slide at first and had to walk back down the stairs to the bottom. However, after watching Parker a few times she got up the nerve and ended up loving the slide.

Zucchini Boats

The other night for Family Home Evening, Parker helped me give a lesson on the Brother of Jared building the barges for his family. He read a big chunk of the story and did a great job. After the lesson, we made our own barges (zucchini boats) and floated them down the stream behind our house. They didn't go too far because they got caught up in some branches, but it was still fun to see them float and the kids had a great time.

Seattle - Final 2 Days

Today was Mount St. Helens day and the beginning of our journey home. We started out by heading up the the Johnston Ridge Observatory which is the closest visitor's center to Mount St. Helens. When we first arrived, they were showing a video on the eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980. It started out by hearing the vocals of a man with the last name Johnston who was up by Mount St. Helens taking readings. He said "Vancouver, Vancouver, this is it!" and then it went out and he was gone. It was very chilling and amazing to see the destruction that happened in just a matter of seconds. The eruption, blew 1500 feet off the top and sent enormous amounts of rock, snow, and ice down the mountain's north side at speeds greater than 200 miles an hour. Then after the movie, the screen raised and they opened the curtains and we were looking right at Mount St. Helens. Nature can be such a destructive force. Parker was very excited to see a volcano, but I think he may have been a little disappointed because it wasn't like the volcanoes he had pictured in his head with all the flowing red lava. The kids still seemed to have a lot of fun. The sky was very hazy due to the ash that is constantly getting blown around the area. The picture above is of an old tree that was plowed over in the blast. It was interesting to see all the trees uprooted and laying in the same direction. The picture below was to the North East of the volcano, nearly all vegetation and wildlife up to 6 miles north of the volcano were destroyed and are still relatively barren today. There were trails all around the observatory. We went a little ways on one of the trails and let the kids get some energy out. Typical view of the kids in the back seat. They were such troopers and great kids on the road. This night we ended up in a small town in Eastern Oregon called Pendleton. We got a hotel and then went searching for a fun restaurant. We ended up asking a couple at the park what they would suggest and they referred us to a place called Virgil's at Cimmyotti's. After talking to our waitress, it was an institution where locals have been going for 80 years and they had just restored it. It had red velvet wallpaper, a soda fountain bar, and a great atmosphere. The food was delicious and the kids each drank Shirley Temple's and loved it. The next morning we ate breakfast, went swimming at the hotel and then hit the road for the final journey home. We traveled for about 7 or 8 hours and we were all glad to be home. Even the baby seemed glad. The last 2 days of our trip he/she was sitting right in my ribs and I thought I would never be pain free again. Parker said he "loved everything about the trip, especially camping, playing with cousins and swimming." Madi said she "loved staying at the mall (hotels) and swimming." However, they both said they want to go on a trip again, just not as long next time. There's nothing better than going on a vacation with my family!

Seattle - Day 7

Today was our last day at the beach. Lynn went golfing with my parents and Jim this morning so the kids and I headed to the beach one last time. The kids spent some time looking for rocks and before I knew it, their buckets were full. I told Parker to pick out his favorites and he just said that all of them were his favorites. So needless to say, we have packed home a few extra rocks. As if our yard doesn't have enough.

Last group photos before we go our separate ways:Back Row: Audrey, Parker, Spencer and James

Front Row: Claire and Madilyn

Kris, Jim, James, Claire, Audrey, Spencer, Melissa, Lynn, Madilyn and Parker

And of course, last but not least, Grandma and Grandpa.

After we said our goodbye's, we headed down to Clinton which was on the southern tip of the Island we were on and rode the ferry across the Possession Sound to Mukilteo.

The ferry as it was coming in to pick us up.

Loading the ferry.

My favorite 3 people, checking out the scenery on our way across.

Mukilteo Lighthouse

After the ferry, we drove and drove and drove and thank goodness, the kids both had really good naps until we got to Mt. Rainier. About all I can say is WOW! We were very impressed. We entered the park at the Sunrise entrance and were able to go to the visitor's center while we were there. We were at 6400 ft. elevation and Mt. Rainier is 14,410 feet. We got rained and hailed on, but by the time we made it to the visitor's center, it had stopped. At least we got to enjoy cooler weather for a while.

Beautiful wildflowers were everywhere.

The lighting really was terrible, but Mt. Rainier is right behind us in this picture. We were even able to spot some hikers with a red tent through a spotting scope. It really gives me a better appreciation for those who have hiked Mt. Everest considering Mt. Everest is at least another 10,000 feet taller than Mt. Rainier.

The scenery was absolutely gorgeous with the storm and fog everywhere. It was interesting to see how muddy the river was. A lady at the visitor's center said it is from the silt being washed off of the glacier.

The kids loved riding through tunnels. Madi kept asking us to find another tunnel. After 12 hours of traveling today, we were all excited to find a hotel and it didn't take long for any of us to fall asleep.