July Vacation: Phase Three--In Search of Sasquatch 2013 with the Mosers

Our last leg of our journey led us to Uncle Brad and Aunt Pam's lovely house outside of Arlington.  It was long overdue--time for SASQUATCH!

Pam and Brad showed us such a great time--such wonderful hosts!--and we all just basked in one another's company.  We skipped Sasquatch last summer, so it had been a long time since we'd been able to get together.  We were missing a few crazy Mosers, and can only imagine how crazy the next one will be!

We made a memory getting there--we forgot how steep the road is going up to their house!  Brad had to get the tow rope to get us up! :)

Jeff making his famous pancakes...

Garrett and Gavin relaxing...

Their deck is absolutely amazing!!!!  I really could live there.

Uncle Tom, Cousin Megan, Jeffrey

Pam fed us all weekend!  :)

Uncle Brad, Aunt Christi, Uncle Tom, Megs

Carmen and Zach got a weekend together!  They've been married and living in different states while Carmen finishes her Vet degree.  It was so good to see them!

Papa Greg can sleep ANYWHERE!!!  It really  is a gift...  :)

Homemade ice cream, apple pie, rhubarb/strawberry cobbler, chocolate coffee dessert...this lady spoiled us!

Gavin spent most of the weekend shying away from Aunt Joan's camera.  Is he Gary's grandson or what?!?  :)

Shoepeg dip.  Aunt Cindy's signature dish--whether she realizes it or not!  :)

Aunt/G'ma Joan brought the slip-and-slide and the boys LOVED it!  I have never seen so much knee-sliding in my life!

Little Millie was the sweetheart of the weekend.

And of course we watched the Mariners!

And on Sunday we rode the train from Everett to Downtown Seattle to watch the Mariners in person!  Grady and Grace were inseperable all weekend!

It was a fun win--even though it was hot!  We're thinking we may wait a couple of years to take the children again--we're waiting for attention spans to grow!  :)

And this is how we all felt after the weekend!  :)  What a great time together.

July Vacation: Phase Two--Fort Stevens w/ G'ma and Papa

 
It was a long way to Fort Stevens!  We did discover the headphones in the back seat, however, that allowed the kids to watch/listen to their DVD while we listened to music up front.  Josh kept dropping them and asking, "Mom, can you get my iPhones?" A sign of the times.  Love this "Jeff" picture of him falling asleep.  No need for DNA testing here...

The first whole day, the kids were excited to go on a bike ride, so we ate cereal really quickly while Dad figured out the bicycle setup.  We brought a tagalong for Gracie, but she ended up liking the trailer better.  She and Josh still fit, and Daddy was strong enough to tote them around the trails. (Although Gracie would've loved to try to ride her training-wheel bike around--we couldn't get her off of that thing!  She was all over the campsite on her wheels, but we were afraid she'd peter out on our longer rides...)

G'ma and Papa were a few sites away, but their site was home base.  We ate dinner with them each night and sat by their fire.  This picture is when we stopped at the Battery to have lunch during our bike ride that first day.

 Posing with the jeep is always fun...

We hiked around and saw the old fort...and there was "so much walking!" that the tots had to take a break.

Moving along, we stopped by the ocean so the kids could put their toes in the sand...but it was so cold and windy that we promised to try the beach later...

 Gracie likes s'mores withOUT the marshmallow, silly girl.

The beach!  The weather was still cold and windy the next day, but we made it work!  Papa drove his pickup right down on the beach and it acted as a windbreak for the playing in the sand (G'ma and Joshy) and the jumping through the waves (Jeff and Gracie).

The kids were so cozy, sleeping on their side of the tent trailer.  Our lasting memory of this trip would be the night that Joshy woke up at 4AM to tell us he'd wet the bed (he's only wet the bed three times in his life!).  So, we mended the problem for the next two hours, and Jeff (BLESS HIS HEART!) took off in the early morning to find a laundromat to clean the sleeping bag and wet jams.  Jeff said he would never again call Josh's "I have to go potty" bluff at bedtime...

This was such a fun time with G'ma Colleen and Papa Scott!  We'll treasure these great memories of bike riding, ocean playing, mosquito slapping, and camper hopping.

July Vacation: Phase One--Auntie Julz' House!

So if she can't live in Spokane, we guess that the TriCities is the next best place.  The TriCities houses Julie's job and her family...it's only 2 hours away...and it's a GREAT stop to make on the way to Portland or the Oregon Coast!

We left a day early so that we could spend an overnight with Julz.  They just sold their family house, so we stayed with her in Trina's "Cottage" while she was away on a cruise.  We swam in her pool, ate at the Texas Roadhouse, and got to check out Julie's new house that's being built!

The week was just beginning--we were going to camp on the Oregon Coast and see family in Seattle for our Sasquatch Reunion--but when I asked Gracie at the end of our 8-day trip what her highlight was, her quick reply was:  "Swimming at Auntie Julie's pool!!!"  :)