Leavenworth Vacation with Culbersons and Hutchisons

The Culberson's invited us up to their home to spend the weekend for some quality time in the sun. It was desperately needed as the cold and rain of the week began to get on our nerves. It's unbelievable that the weather is already both a focus and a source of bitterness, so we eagerly hit the road to find the sun and heat.
Fred and Connie Culberson could not have been more welcoming to us, and it was such a beautiful relief to have our own space in their amazing garage apartment/loft. I had been worried about the space issue, having both Thomas and Cooper sick throughout the week. At one point John and I were trying to figure out whether we would be able to go or not, as we had not slept much in 11 straight nights. Both boys continued to be really sick throughout the week and both needed a trip to the doctor, but we agreed that Thursday night would lead to our decision. If Cooper could make it through the night, we would head out. Of course, he pulled it off, the first night in many, many nights that he wasn't up fussing, crying, throwing up and coughing, and we only hoped that the space we would have would work out with sickly children.
It couldn't have worked out better. We had a beautiful place to ourselves, and both Fred and Connie and Scott and Michelle were so wonderful to us. We met up with Erica, Brad and the girls for some time down on the river, and quickly determined that with the potential for weather issues to creep up on Sunday, we should take full advantage of the hot weather for our tubing adventures down the river. I kept Cooper back with me, as we weren't sure that a 15 month old should attempt tubing down a river, and we'd let John scout it out for us. Turns out that we decided to take him on Sunday anyway. Friday night we had a wonderful dinner with the Culbersons and then headed out for the Leavenworth fire station. Erica's sister and husband had arranged for us to tour the fire station. How amazing it was to not only tour the station and clamor all over the fire trucks, but we were all invited on two separate rides through the town. You can imagine how amazing it was for both the kids and us adults to get to ride in the engine through town. Cooper slept okay with only one crying episode to deal with, but John had it rough with Thomas, who cried repeatedly throughout the night, and when not crying he was snoring like mad. John was exhausted Saturday morning but pulled through. He was also suffering from a sore throat, and lost another four pounds on this trip. Today I got to join in on the tubing fun. It was a blast to sit back and cruise along the river. Thomas had his own tube, but spent the majority of the ride snuggled up with me enjoying the hot sun. It was so beautiful to float along the river, so relaxing and refreshing. The kids played so well together, and the giant "hot bucket" (the hot tub) was a huge hit with all the kids after playing in the freezing waters of the Wenatchee River. This evening we had Erica and Brad pick up food and bring it over, and after a bit, the kids went down and the adults were able to enjoy some adult time chatting and enjoying each other's company for the evening. Sunday morning was beautiful and hot again, so we headed out to a farm to ride the cow train and play in the hot sun. By mid afternoon, though, the clouds broke over the mountains and the rain came in. We wanted to stretch it out as long as we could, having the report from up in Bellingham that it had been pouring rain all day. It was with sad hearts and a bit of depression that we packed up the car for home. It truly poured and stormed for the entire ride home. We were so very thankful for the wonderful opportunity to spend time with great friends in a truly spectacular home.

Grandpa's Shop

More ocean photos...

Ocean Shores Vacation and Eric Church 2008

We headed off for Ocean Shores with Rhonda in tow. After playing a bit of Mission Impossible and High Speed Merge onto I-5, the Whipples and Hutchesons were off for the coast of somewhere beautiful. We didn't stop until we got there, and thankfully the kids did a fine job of hanging in there for the ride. Somewhat concerning, though, were the clouds and low fog that hovered overhead. What started out as a fine, beautiful, sunny day dissolved over the depressed towns of Aberdeen and Hoquium. The temps dropped as did our hopes for some serious sun worshipping. Once there we discovered our hotel was less than we were hoping for, but our rooms were big enough and connected, so it allowed for fun family time with the kids. Traveling into the town of Ocean Shores, we found that our options for dining were Subway and McDonalds. We chose both. We hit the pool, played on the beach, hit the pool, tried to dodge the plumes of smoke wafting from the casino, and hit the pool again. That night, Rhonda and I ran away to watch Eric Church play at the Elma Fairgrounds. Talk about Small Town USA. It was a blast hanging out with Rhonda, trying to find her a cowboy to flirt with, trying to find some decent fair food and trying to be nice as we people watched. Rhonda put up a good fight, but I thought more than twice about stopping at some roadside bar for a lookie-see on our way home. Not on my watch, Rhonda! On day two we managed to find a great, greasy fish shack called Sandcastles, raced our cars on a beach (go figure! where are the environmentalists on this one!) played on the beach, and again and again called on the pool for entertainment. Tonight we tried to dodge the smoke again, opting to take our fast food from the bistro into the main lobby. Nothing about this hotel was ideal for a family. After another round of swimming, the kids finally gave in to exhaustion and hit the beds. The guys hit the lounge for wings. I hit the hay, barely able to keep my eyes from crossing. Too much fun!
Day Three we hit the pool, loaded up our considerable gear, then headed out for a grand adventure up the coast. We stopped at the new town of Seabrook, marveled at how lost in time the coast is, traveled to the rainforest to hike through the trees, hugged a giant tree, and dined at the Quinault Lodge. Parting ways, the Whipples and Rhonda headed north through the Olympics and the Hutchisons opted to take the lesser of the long ways home. On and on we traveled, up and over the top of the peninsula. It was one very long drive as we raced the clock to beat the last ferry out of Port Townsend. The boys kept it together for the most part, but we were definitely feeling sorry for them as the hours went. We hit the 10:15 ferry after yet another pit stop at McDonalds. We finally arrived at 12:30 am, completely and thoroughly exhausted from our grand adventure!

Grandpa and Cooper

Tubing with the cousins!

Lake Whatcom Adventures- Round #3

Today, while running around on the lawn above the beach, Isaac stepped on the cup that I had left out after Cooper had his way with my soda. Wouldn't have been such a big deal except that is was GLASS. Thankfully, Isaac is super brave and tough, and limped away tonight with only a long cut on his big toe and a bleeder on his little toe. It could have been so much worse. The glass was broken into big and small shards, and his cuts could have been so much more severe. We dogged a big one this afternoon!

Adventures on Lake Whatcom Round #2

One day after Lake Whatcom Rescue


After our last tubing run of the afternoon, I was pulling the kids in close to our dock. I slowed down, then heard this commotion from behind. Turning around to see what was up, I found Thomas flailing in the water, screaming, thrashing, sobbing. The only part of Sophia visible were her toes, as she clung to the tube but tried desperately to haul Thomas back into the tube. Madeline, the third passenger it the tube, sobbed and sobbed on the side, convinced her Tommy was drowning. With Fir Creek life guards looking on, I tried to calm Thomas enough to get him to reach for the rope, then pulled him in from the water. Sophia climbed on board, our little rescue woman, then Jenny pulled in a still sobbing Madeline. Turns out the kids had moved forward on the tube and the wave somehow caught Thomas and pulled him in.

Again, Jenny and I pulled our kids off the boat, shaking our heads and trying to laugh.

Adventures on Lake Whatcom

So I decided not to let my fears of failing or not meeting a high standard keep me from taking the kids out on the boat this year. You see, the first, only and last time I took the boat out by myself, I hit a submerged log out in the deepest and most remote section of Lake Whatcom, and darn it, it will not be me to ruin Bruce's boat! I think I also had to go under the boat and unhook the line as well, but my memory is foggy other than a big, fat log in my way as I raced across the lake.
This summer is going to be different....

Two weeks ago-
Jenny and I decided to take the kids out for afternoon tubing. We had Thomas, two Allen girls, Isaac, Matthew and Sophia with us, with Cooper sitting happy in Jenny's lap. What a fabulous crew! We had several runs, took turns with all the kids, and were switching out the kids for one last run. Starting up, I heard one of the Allen girls yell, "the rope!" I immediately cut the engine, but the damage was done. With keeping an eye on the numerous boats, supervising the kids in and out switching positions from the boat to the tube and making sure Cooper was okay with Jenny, I didn't think to check to see if the rope was clear. I jumped in to see the damage, but couldn't see the damage. It was too far under the boat for me, but tugging, jerking and silently swearing at the underside of the boat was not doing the trick. I hauled myself up and looked at Jenny, wishing to be anywhere but where we were. With a boat full of kids and just the two of us, I tried to figure out what I was supposed to do now. I knew my skills didn't include diving under the boat without a mask, and we quickly realized that neither of us thought to bring our cell phones to call for help. Across the lake, Jenny's friend was out with a beach full of friends, but turns out they watched us thinking we were just waving at them. The waves were crashing against the boat, and I now was more than worried that we'd end up bashing into the docks if we didn't figure something out soon. Looking up at Jenny, I said, "we've got to get help. I can't do this." With that, we hustled the kids in out of the tube, put them at the front of the boat, and started waving. However, with it being mid afternoon and windy, there was a limited number of boats out. Finally, after waving and yelling, and feeling more than humiliated, a boat across the lake took notice of our yelling and came out to investigate. As they neared our boat, and seeing me in the water at the back, one dude executed a perfect Baywatch dive and swam over to investigate. Without much hesitation, he dove under, surfacing pretty quickly and sputtering very un-Baywatch like. Meanwhile, Jenny was turning this little ordeal into our own little episode of Rescue Heroes, and the kids seemed thrilled. Sputtering hero dude went under again, only to come up under the platform and hit his head. I pulled him out, realizing that I didn't need a second rescue operation one one afternoon. He said to me, "Man, I wish I hadn't just pounded that beer!"
Great, I thought. Just what we needed. Drunk Rescue Hero. I smiled at him, willing him to keep it together enough to go back under, all the while trying to keep us from being pounded into the boat by the increasing waves. He went under, again and again. Finally, he pulled the last of our tow rope out, and we all cheered. What could I do for him? How could I possibly make it up to him? I thanked him again and again, telling him how much we appreciated him helping us out with all the kids in the boat. He was so cool about it, and with the beer comment ringing in my ears, I said to him, "We're the beach next to the Firs. You come look me up and we'll buy you all the beer you can drink." He laughed, we hauled ourselves back into our boats, and he was off. Once up in the boat, I wanted to head back in and never get on the boat again. Jenny and I talked, agreed it was in our best interests to buck up and make it work, then gathered ourselves and put the kids back out. Despite feeling slightly sick to my stomach, we rode back to the dock instead of limping. Jenny and I could only laugh and shake our heads as we hauled kids and gear out of the boat and back to the safety of the beach.

Cousins racing and jumping at Jake's 1st track meet!

Tonight we headed out to get the boys some running at the track meet. Jake was game to try it, so we put him in the lane next to Thomas and he headed out fast. It was so fun to watch them running together, then waiting in line to try the long jump. When it came time to race the 50 yard dash, Thomas hit it hard out of the gate and kept looking over his shoulder encouraging Jake to keep going down the line. They were sharing a lane, so it wasn't hard, and super cute to see the boys encouraging each other as they headed for the finish line.
Tommy and cousin Jake sizing up the competition...


Tommy on his way to his first Blue Ribbon!

1st Place!

Thomas was eager to go out and run more at the Civic Field track meet that is held on Mondays. He specifically wanted to try the hurdles and long jump again, just as he did last week. Tonight he looked hard for the finish line, got a late start at the line checking out his cousin Jake in the lane next to him, then made up for it down the stretch and with a mad dash for the finish. He crossed the finish line in 1st place! The smile on his face was priceless!

Slip-N-Sliding!!!!!!!!!

Tommy in Action

Thomas is such a contrast right now. He is still such a little boy, four years old, emotional, demanding, sweet and loving. On the other hand, he is into big boy stuff, riding adult roller coaster, climbing trees and tree forts, jumping off docks and the swim trampoline, racing through the neighborhood on his bike, and getting more cuts and scrapes than we have bandages for. He begs for his friends then needs multiple referees to keep them from tearing each other apart. He loves to take his tools and gardening supplies out and about, asking me, "mom, am I doing a good job?" over and over as he works, rides the mower all over, works in the shop with grandpa and cooks upstairs with grandpa. Cries and throws big fits if his perfect ritual of saying goodbye doesn't work out the exact way he wishes it to be.
"Dad, do army men wear shorts like this?"
"Does a front end loader look like this?" he'll ask while out on the beach.
"Do worker men look like this?" when he's out working on the property.

Big Boy Cooper

Cooper carried this screw driver around for a long time this day. We have noticed that he is a lot more content and focused than his older brother, easily engaged in whatever he choses, quiet and busy for longer chunks of time than Thomas ever dreamed about. He enjoys walking around the patio playing with the straps of the bike trailer and stroller, in and out of the hot water buckets, kicking the soccer ball, playing chase, wandering around the yard and up to the tree fort, then out and about just exploring. He's trying to ride his tractor and scooter around, and is figuring out a bit how to use his feet to move him around on them. Of course, he's taken a few falls while standing on Tommy's big boy scooter. Now we have over turned chairs all over to try to keep him from climbing up on the computer tables and patio furniture. He also loves to chase after birds that venture into the yard or around the beach, and unlike Thomas, enjoys checking out the various dogs we encounter on our adventures. While Thomas still cowers away, Cooper is quick to go up and check them out, squealing his delight. He's not as adventurous in the water, thankfully, and at this stage in the summer still seems content to go in knee and thigh deep, then quickly turns around to play again. It is so relaxing on the beach right now, not having to chase him into the water or race down the dock to chase him down. His words are limited to "ma-ma, ma- ma", da-da, "up", "out", "aht" for hot, and "bah" for multiple things in his life. He loves to play with the friends and cousins that come over and enjoys being in the thick of things. If it's the toilet, the coffee grinder and machine, the washing, the boat...whatever anyone is doing, he has to be there as well. Now he's trying to hop around, and laughs and giggles as he hops around. He's also pushing and pulling the toy lawn mowers around and took a couple of boat rides this weekend. He's quick to smile, laugh and wakes up happy. He also loves go give open mouth kisses, and I saw him smooching and slobbering all over Jenny this afternoon. The other day he was cuddling up to daddy's chest in bed, and it is quick a sight for me...to see him so loving and sweet with his dad.