Category Archives: Family Fun

The Final Mt. St. Helens Post

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I know, I know.  You thought I forgot didn’t you?  Well, here’s the last little bit of our trip.  I’ll warn you, it is heavy on the pictures.  Saturday was our big mountain outing.    Our first stop was the creation museum:

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We were all very excited to start  this leg of our trip.  And it wasn’t raining!

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The museum was a lot of fun.  The front section had a number of hands on stations and lots of posters and pictures explaining what happened before, during, and after the eruption.

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Given Oliver’s love for rocks this was, by far, his favorite corner.

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We were fortunate to visit on a day when the operator, Lloyd, was doing his presentation.  Here he was showing the kids different stones including pumice.  They had to pick ones they thought they could float.  The stone Zoe picked was not pumice and she is telling everyone it sunk.

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This A-frame house was build shortly before the eruption and was flooded by the mud flows.  The owners tried to dig it out but soon found that the waters were flooding.  It has been saved as an example of the eruption’s effects.

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From there we worked our way up the mountain a little more before stopping for lunch at a place with playground and good views.  I can’t remember the name but it was something the forestry people created.  Samantha and I headed inside to check out their displays.  It was a lot of fun and much bigger than I expected.   Last year when we came it was the end of summer and everything was dry and brown.  It was a much bigger impact of the devastation the eruption had.  This time, being the start of spring, things were green and full of life.

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The final stop was the Johnston Ridge Observatory.  And snow at the top.

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Clouds prevented us from really seeing the mountain.

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The family picture attempt with tired kids.

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We took a different path back to the car.  Just a tad more snow.

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We ended the day with bike riding in jammies and a campfire.

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Oh, and the last battle of Ticket to Ride between these two.

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This was the last picture I took on the trip.  Sunday we headed to a church about 20 minutes south that Greg had looked up online.  After that we hit Applebee’s for lunch then picked up the rest of the crew back at camp and headed to visit some dear friends of ours in the Portland area.  Greg really wanted to show them the bus and he asked if we could drive it down.  I don’t know what they were expecting but we could tell by their reaction when we pulled up they weren’t expecting The Bus.  It was a great visit and a great end to our trip.

Mt. St. Helens (part 2)

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Ok, so most of last post was about the bus.  How about some actual trip footage.  Our first day there found us at the children’s Museum in Portland.  The desire was for the zoo (right next door) but the spring rains forced us indoors.

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There was face painting…

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An awesome gravel pit…

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This was Oliver’s favorite.

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And one darn cute little 3-year-old!

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I want one of these in my house.  Giant Light brite.

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We ended our museum play with clay.  They had a great setup that even allowed for your pieces to be painted and fired!

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The Ape Caves (Day 2)

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Day two took us to the Ape Caves.  Since it was (still) cold and wet outside this seemed to be better option than hitting the outside of the mountain.  Although, I do think we got just as wet in the cave.  But it was on our list to do and we are, after all, northwesterners!

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Oliver cautiously taking the stairs down to a very long, dark cave.

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Needless to say it was challenging to take pictures in the caves.  At least for me.  Greg was able to get some better ones and some cool camera effects along the way.  We started hiking down the kid friendly side of the caves.  I’m not sure how far we traveled, given our slower pace with 9 kids 8 and under but it was far enough to be in awe.  I was very proud of all the kids.  At first I wasn’t sure we would all make it very far but each one overcame the darkness and enjoyed the hike.

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Melia, Zoe & Kellina a bit more wet than when we arrived but still all smiles.

Camping Mt. St. Helens

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Or should I say “Glamping?”  Our first trip of the year was also our maiden voyage in the bus.  We had a few hiccups on the way down but all in all it did great.  The ride down was fun.  Kids were able to play in the back or hang out in front with us.

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Oliver was able to nap in his bunk.

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Apparently these are the only pictures I took on the drive down.  I did get some book reading in though.  This is not usually an option for me on road trips as motion sickness takes over.  Greg did a great job driving down and avoided smooshing the people who jump in front and slam on their brakes.  I mean really?  We are big.  Hard to miss.

So, I know I’ve skipped a lot of bus remodel posts.  But how about some pictures of the finished product.  They are the most fun anyway.  The finishing touches (you know like doors, paint, curtains, a few extra shelved) were finished the day before we left.  And no, this time, it was not procrastination.  But, working well under pressure we pulled it off.

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Here we have the front just as you come up the steps.  My co captian’s chair on the left.

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Kitchen with full-sized fridge and extra-large sink.  Both were very handy and well used this weekend.  Two cabinet doors will be added to the pantry (above and below the microwave).

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The hallway just past the kitchen.  The bathroom on the left and clothes closets on the right.

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Our soon to be tiled shower.  This is on the left side of the bathroom.  The only thing not functional in the bus this trip.  Not bad.

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The other side of the bathroom.

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The bunks.  We had Oliver and Abigail on the bottom bunks with Zoe and Ezekiel on the middle bunks this trip.  Until we get a bar or ledge on the top one we’ll hold off on that.  Both Zeke and Zoe fell out of their bunks the first night due to slippery sleeping bags.

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The back bench/bedroom.  We wanted extra bench seating and play area in the back.  We have boxes under the seats that fill in the middle section and cushions to go on top that turns this into a bed.  It worked out pretty well.  A little tweaking is needed to keep a crack from developing between one cushion.  I was not effected but poor Greg kept falling in the hole.  It will be an easy fix.

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And a final view from the back bench forward.  There are still a number of things that need to get done but this project has come a long way in a short time.  We call this our mobile Monticello.  I hope you enjoyed the tour.  I’ll post the rest of our trip soon.

New Projects

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Today was a beautiful sunny day around here. Last minute a friend asked if they could could come play. Of course! Having friends over always means more time playing outside and I told her I had a project for us to do while she was here. I was so excited to do this one. It was one of those Pinterest posts that I wasn’t sure I would ever complete but today we did!

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It all started with an outside dining table that was here when we moved in. I liked it at first but soon got it he way on the porch and became one more flat surface it had to keep clearing. For the last year and a half or so it has been moved from one place to another just trying to keep it out of the way from our many other projects. It finally it landed in the “for the dump” pile. But then Pinterest. I had a new purpose for the now slightly rotted table.

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We took it apart, cut it up, and pieced it back together. It has now become our sensory table. We have plans for water play, rice play, corn play maybe even noodle play! The possibilities are endless.

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Some of our methods may have been a little unconventional but in the end it is just what I was wanting and it saved the table from the dump. All the wood was reused and the only thing I have to buy is totes. (The ones pictures go in our playroom). Another exciting day completed.

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San Diego – The Beach

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Our San Diego visit will have to be spread out over a couple of posts.  We had a lot we wanted to see and do in this area.  One thing for sure was the beach.  The real beach.  A beach with actual waves.  Surfing.  Sand.  A beach with real ocean breeze.  Salty smell.  I love the beach.  And I love beach pictures.  So needless to say we have a few.

Very friendly ‘resident’ campground ducks loved the kids when crackers were involved.

The campground we stayed at was right on the water so as soon as the trailer was set up we headed out for a little walk.  One common theme in most of our beach adventures was our clothing.  I don’t think we ever had our swim suits on.  I don’t know why exactly we would just kind of end up at the beach.  And there was no way we were going to keep the kids out of the water so we just went with it.  And had a blast.

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This beach was on the bay so there were no waves.  The water shallow for a good while and so warm.

Another beach adventure took us to Mission Beach.

This sand is so incredibly fine! As we visited more beaches up the coast it was fun to see how the sand changed. The further north we went the more coarse it became.

I know what you’re thinking. The cutest 17 month old you ever saw!

Oliver was cracking us up as he would grab a chunk of seaweed and throw it back into the waves yelling, “My baby, My Baby, My baby!” as the waves pushed it back onto the shore. Over, and over again.

The wonder of waves

Not crazy about waves. At this point she was yelling “No, No, No!” when I tried to put her down.

We're back!

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This time I (sort of) have an excuse for letting the blog laps.  OK, not really but I have got some great pictures to share so I’m sure you’ll forgive me.

We just returned from our “home-school” family trip.  We like to take a trip in September when all those poor public school children head back to their rooms.  Campgrounds are empty and lines are short.  This years trip was a bit bigger than normal.  Lasted 3 weeks. Visited 3 states.  Saw 3 countries.

 So, without further adu, California here we come! 

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Our first stop was northern Sacramento area.  Yep.  You read that right.  First stop.  21 hours.  But we were there and ready to party. After some sleep.  We met up with my brother Mark and enjoyed some good old fashion visiting.  Can you believe how lame we were?  No pictures.  A total bummer.  While in the area we ended up heading to Lake Tahoe.   There we took some pictures.

 

 

 

The boys loved this old fire truck.

 After a few days hanging with family and playing in the sun we headed to our most southern destination.  San Diego!  But that will have to wait till next time.

Cousins

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This past month we were so excited to have Greg’s cousin and son come visit us from Milwaukee.  We had a blast doing all the touristy things us locals don’t get around to doing.

We started out at Deception Pass and were blessed with a beautiful day (which this summer has been few and far between)

Making the kids sit pretty in too many pictures warrants a crazy picture

We then headed to Friday Harbor.  Someplace I had never been in all the years living around here.  I loved it!  We headed to the American Camp first to explore. 

We headed down a trail to Grandma’s Cove.  It was my favorite place.  Almost like being at the “real” ocean.  You know…not the sound.  That would probably be the one thing I do miss about California.  The real ocean.

Grandma’s Cove had it just about right.  Never mind the mountains you would see across the horizon.  If you closed your eyes it had the right sound, the right smell and the right breeze.

Some of the local wildlife even came out to give us a show.

The ferry schedule restricted us from being able to explore the island too much more but I would love to go to the English camp next time.  It was a great weekend visiting with family and making memories.

Back at Winthrop

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This memorial day weekend saw us back in Winthrop this year.  We had an awesome time.  It was relaxing and mellow.  A perfect way to start out the camping season.

The cutest crew ever!

Deer leg found in our campsite. We found the other three legs in a site a few spaces over.

This little boy buried himself in the sand and Abigail really couldn't understand the point.

Beautiful!

 

 

Great Wolf Lodge

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Summer began this year with a surprise trip to Great Wolf Lodge.  We had a wonderful time and I’m sure we will visit again.  It doesn’t seem to be that big of a water park but there is something for everyone.

 

I love this photo for obvious reasons but, trust me, he did not get hit in the face.  Otherwise he would not look like this…

 By the second day Oliver was having a blast in the water and trying all the different little kid things they had to offer.

   Zeke catching up on a little light reading.

For those of you that aren’t familiar with this site this is the 1,000 gallon bucket that dumps every so often.  There is a bell that dings a few times before it goes.  There are two types of people…those that run TO it (Zoe and Greg), and those that run FROM it (the boys and I).  Abigail is somewhere in between as she just goes with whichever type has her.  Greg heard the bell and ran over with Abigail in his arms.  After the dump she gave a shutter and said “wooo” and that was it.  He came back with a soaking wet girl that look just like this, just a little more wet.  The next time he took her she heard the bell looked up at the bucket then lowered her head with a sigh and took what was coming.

I have so many favorite pictures it was hard to choose.  So I’m going to show you a bunch.  Why not?

See!  She had a good time.

 Ooooo.  The hot tub.  This is where the boys first got comfortable in the water.  That was fine with me.  It was my favorite place.

In the evening the Great Wold Lodge has a story time.  Zoe just HAD to go so in their jammies the kids went down to the story.  They open with this song about not being afraid if you get lost in the woods.  Just trust mother nature. hmmm…OK.  Sure “mother nature” will just eat you.  Anyway.  Greg and I laughed and rolled our eyes (well I did at least) when the song started and had a chat with the kids afterward.  But they got to have their picture taken with Oliver the raccoon.  Zeke was a bit giddy.  He couldn’t stop laughing.  Our Oliver, on the other had looked like this

He almost went up to him but at soon as the raccoon opened his arms to welcome him Oliver jumped back.   I don’t think he is into trusting mother nature do you? Or at least a giant raccoon.

The final pose.  Isn’t she cute!