Road Trip!

Before we even moved from Seattle, we promised the kids we would go back for a visit when school got out. It was good for all of us to know we would get to see all of our friends again! This last Thursday we hit the road and headed north. It is supposed to be a 7 hour drive but when you take detours to golf shops, extra potty breaks for 3 small bladders, and stop to eat it is more like 9-10 hours.
La-La and Lyla getting ready to sleep; maybe....

Sue and her hubby Darcy

La-La was so excited to see her best friend Lyla so our first night she was able to have a sleepover with Lyla at Na-Na Sue's house. Sue is an amazing friend who was and still is thankfully there for me. The rest of us took over the Hogge's house. I used to baby-sit their boys and Debbie and I loved to hang out. She and I both take things one day at a time and had no problem calling each other for a last minute dinner or a trip to J0-Ann's with kids in tow.

Care Bear, Lyla, and La-La pretending to be a family of birds.

On Friday we met several friends from the Mom's group I was a member of, at the zoo. Care Bear has been asking to go to the zoo since we moved but our little town does not have one so I knew it was a stop we had to make! It was a beautiful sunny day and we had a ball! Lyla was able to come with us which made La-La's day. Jaco's bud Ted was there too. Those two instantly became one silly goofy boy and didn't quit talking and laughing the whole time we were at the zoo! We wish Ted lived here because he is perfect for Jaco!
Ted and Jaco teasing Alex, Ted's brother.

The girls and I made african bead bracelets in the African village at the zoo.



Edmonds Beach

Saturday the kids and I hung out with the Hogge's while Justin golfed his favorite WA golf course before he went to the conference he had to attend to earn his continuing education credits. Debbie asked me what I wanted to do and I said we should go to the beach! I love the Oregon coast but there is something special about the Puget Sound. So many little critters and creatures to discover! We hopped on the bus to Edmonds Beach and were immediately rewarded with something we had never seen before! La-La found this crystal clear blob. We thought for sure it had to be something man made until we found several more and some of them had little rings on them. A Ranger walked by and told us they were Moon Jellies! They seriously looked like sylicone. Debbie and I were joking about who lost their implant!
The Ranger station on the beach had a small museum with a touch tank! We touched tube worms and scared them in to their tubes, had our fingers hugged by anenomes, and saw live beautiful barnacles! Jaco and Care Bear didn't want to touch anything but La-La, Josh, and Spencer touched everything they could! Jaco enjoyed talking to the ranger and learning as much as he could about sea life. He said ocean creatures are the most amazing critters on the planet! I think I agree. My favorite quote of the day was when Care Bear saw a ferry and yelled, "There's the Tooth Fairy!"
Care Bear looking through a Moon Snail's egg case. This is what the Moon Snail lays hundreds of eggs in!

Saturday Night Justin and I went to a graduation dinner for the newest graduates of the residency program Justin completed. It was fun to come back as alumni! Debbie kept all the kids for us and they enjoyed pizza, ice cream, and movies. I was impressed that the kids actually slept together on the same bed! Well, most of them. Jaco ended up upstairs with us but everyone else actually fell asleep and more importantly STAYED asleep on one king sized mattress.
On the way home, we decided to take a detour to go see Mount St Helen's. We were worried we wouldn't be able to see anything because it looked awfully cloudy but amazingly right before we reached the view area, all the clouds and fog disappeared to reveal a beautiful sunny sky! It was pretty cool to see. Mother Nature has quite the way to release her fury! I just hope I am never in her path of destruction!