Independence Day 2016

Fourth of July.....Luke's favorite holiday. (I know...I say it every year.)
I woke up before 6am with the boys, to put out flags for the Boy Scout fundraiser. When we were done, we picked up Foster's donuts and brought some back for Wiggy. I crawled back into bed and slept for two more hours! Deee-lish!

Tubbs was invited to his buddy T-Bone's house for swimming and fireworks. We went out to breakfast together and they picked Tubbs up from there when we were done eating.

 Before breakfast we drove next door to St. John's to pick up fireworks.

Wiggy and I headed to the mall and did a little shopping. We of course had to try on lots of lipsticks at Sephora! 
While we did that, Luke and Bubba headed to Lowe's to pick up a new BBQ.

Luke and Bubba were nice and sweaty after assembling the BBQ, so we all headed out to the pool for a bit. It sure was quiet without Tubbs there. It just didn't seem the same celebrating without him.

We ate some dinner around 8pm and then headed to the front yard for fireworks.

Tubbs came by the house around 9:30 to pick up some clothes so he could stay the night with T-Bone. I sure do like celebrating special days like this with all my kids together! Lesson learned!

Family Vacation - Part V Seattle

On Monday, June 27th we made our way from Lopez Island to the Seattle area, where we would be staying with the Skinners! They lived in Bakersfield for seven years and we love their family! They technically live in Bothell, which is 30 minutes northeast of Seattle. 
On our drive down from Anacortes, Laura recommended a stop at Deception Point. It was a small detour, but it was well worth it. The view from the bridge was amazing! We parked and walked down for a few minutes, but because we all had flip flops on, we weren't prepared for the terrain. We definitely want to go back and do some hiking around if we make our way back up here.

We arrived at the Skinner's house after lunch time. I walked in the house to find Laura making her rolls! These rolls are the best things in the world. I was dying!! 

 

Shortly after unloading our bags from the car, we headed over to a nearby lake so the kids could swim and play at a park. The water was supposed to be pretty chilly, but the kids didn't seem to mind. I guess they were going through a "heat wave" of 85 degrees! 

We picked up some pizza and fruit for the kids to have for dinner and then the adults headed into Seattle for a date night. We picked up Brian from work and then had some dim-sum at their fave restaurant. 
The following day I made some PB chocolate chip cookies and relaxed around the house. After breakfast Luke took Bubba, Tubbs and Laura's middle son Blake to a Seahawks stadium tour. I knew Tubbs was going to be in heaven!

While they were touring the stadium, Laura and I took the remainder of the kids (minus Davin and Cole) to the Science Center in Seattle. The three girls ran around a bit outside before we grabbed some dinner in the food court area. Then we drove over to the Mariners baseball stadium to meet up with Luke and the boys. 

Photos from the game.....

We stayed up way too late chit chatting with the Skinners. It was so nice to see them again. Their home is huge and perfect for having visitors. Lucky for them, they said in the two years they have been there, they have had visitors almost every month!
The next morning we crawled out of bed at 6am and we were on the road by 6:30am! We were tired and not quite ready for the 12+ hour drive back to Roseville. It was int he 60's when we left Seattle. We enjoyed our sweatshirt weather. We of course made a quick detour in Portland at Pine State Biscuits for some breakfast! :)

Pulling into Redding for a Jamba Juice. It was 105 degrees...but everyone was still in their sweatshirts.

Thursday morning we had "saddle blankets," eggs and bacon with grandma and grandpa - then we headed back home! I think we were all officially sick of driving in the car.  I also think we need a vacation from our vacation!
It is good to be home!

Family Vacation - Part IV Lopez Island

When Luke and I look back on the vacation we took in June, we really did cram a lot of stuff into the three weeks we were gone. In reality, it was like 3 to 4 vacations rolled into one. Because of that, I decided to split up the blog posts accordingly.
Monday morning, June 20th we slept in a little later than expected at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Wiggy helped Grandpa water some of his garden and we ate some of Grandpa's famous "saddle blankets,"eggs and bacon.

 We were on the road again by 9:30am and on our way to Portland, Oregon. 

Only 600 miles today. it was a long drive in the car, but the kids were thankful not to be in the back of rental car, which was an Impala. They were able to stretch out in the Acadia.

On the way up, we stopped in Eugene, Oregon. We drove around the University of Oregon, which is where Tubbs says he wants to go to college, and then stopped for some pizza.
We arrived at our hotel around 9pm. On our way up Luke was online, trying to find us a place to stay. He found a great deal on this spa in Portland, so we went for it. It had two queen beds and a pull out sofa. 
The next morning, all the kids got up earlier than expected, so they could swim in the hotel pool before we checked out. 

I took the kids (in their bedheads and swimsuits) down in the elevator to locate the pool. I told them to wait near the elevator while I went to the front desk. the kids down to the front desk to locate the pool. When I asked the guy where the pool was, I felt like Pee Wee Herman at the Alamo--asking where the basement was. The guy explained that the hotel didn't have a pool, but they did have a Jacuzzi and sauna. However, no kids are allowed in the "spa" area because clothing is optional.
Alrighty then. 
So, we marched back upstairs and everyone got showered and ready to hit the road for another day of travel. 
Before leaving Portland, we HAD to stop at our favorite Pine State Biscuits for breakfast/lunch. Mmmmm...the fried chicken, cheese and gravy biscuit. If only it was fat free...and carb free.

Our next stop...Anacortes, Washington to do some grocery shopping and catch the ferry to Lopez Island.

 On the ferry from Anacortes.

 The view of the bay from the back porch.

This was my view everyday at Lopez Island. In my pajamas, unshowered, watching TV and reading magazines on my Nook. Such a nice break from the hectic week on the East coast.

Wednesday morning I threw on some jeans and went down to the dock with Wiggy. We found some seashells and took a nice little walk around. She is my little explorer bug.

The living room has three recliners....and my kids all fought for them. Thankfully there are two couches too.

Sunday morning, June 26th. It was our last full day in the Lopez house. Everyone slept in...even Wiggy. She is usually the first one awake in the morning!

The house had two bedrooms downstairs, but they wanted to sleep upstairs with us--so they slept on these futon cushions on the living room floors.

While we were on Lopez Island, a fire broke out up in Lake Isabella. It was a crazy fast fire and spread real quick. This was a photo that was taken about 24 hours into the fire. This is the view of Mtn. Mesa and Squirrel Valley from across the lake.

Monday morning, June 27th, we woke up at 5:30am to get showered and out the door. Our plan was to catch the 7:15 am ferry to Anacortes. When we came in 2013, there was a long line of care to get on the ferry and you needed to get in an hour early. Sooooo....we got to the ferry at 6:15am to claim a spot in line. Surprisingly, only a few vehicles were in line and we drove right onto the 6:15am ferry. Ooooops. I guess we could've slept in a little bit.
Now we were an hour ahead of schedule. We made it to Anacortes right around 7:15am. Strange enough, there weren't very many places open in Anacortes and we were searching for breakfast. I ended up grabbing some pineapple from Safeway and everyone else settled for Jack in the Box. Ewwwwww. :)