To view the vacation in chronological order go to the first vacation post and proceed from there. Tons of pictures--can't say they are good, just that there are tons. Enjoy!

Day 6

Day 6 was Sunday and little Colby's blessing in church. It was a beautiful blessing, and a beautiful day, and really enjoyable to be all together with my family. Just a great day and a good way to end the week. The food that Paige put together was fabulous. It looked fabulous and tasted delicious.

Day 5

Day 5 was the BBQ to celebrate Great-grandma Calapps 85th B-Day over in Bothell at the family house. Again it rained all day. We took it easy all morning and the little girls got a good nap in before we went anywhere. Dinner and chatting with family lasted all evening and then we visited over at Joe and Becky's for a relaxing hour or two before heading back to Dave and Paige's for bedtime. My kids were needing baths by this time, but it didn't happen...oh well, there was always tomorrow.

Day 4

Day 4 didn't go as planned because it rained. hrrrumph +(. Grouchy and drizzly and wanted to get out. Should have gone out anyway, but sat inside most of the day. We played a few games, colored, watched Veggie Tales, read a book, slept. We should have gone to the park and done letterboxing. or something....Scott got out and played Vball a little in the street. I had been going for a run each day for something physical to do, but Scott didn't have his usual things like elliptical runs or vball games with the group back home and he was feeling antsy. The food was great this week. Staying with Paige was awesome. She had things so well planned. We helped out some with meals, I hope it was enough. Thanks so much for putting us up for the week. You guys are the best!

Day 3

Day 3 was a day at Greenlake. And boy was it hot! We planted ourselves in the shade of a small tree and ate our lunch. Then our kids plus two cousins played to their hearts content on the swings and up the climbing things and in the giant sand box. Apparently this is a new playground. It was well used! We saw at least 4 daycare or YMCA groups along with the moms groups and numerous other families. After a while the kids wanted to go climb the giant tree in the middle of the grass, so we explored that and Kiara was Queen on her branch. We finished off the day with almost an hour on a paddle boat ride out onto the lake. Fun stuff! By the time we got home that afternoon we had 3 sleeping little girls, and 2 parents that wanted a nap too. The sun and the fun was taking it's toll.

Day 2

So day 2 was a ferry ride over from Mukilteo to Clinton. We wanted to give our kids a taste of Puget Sound beaches. We found an out of the way beach called Possession Beach. They absolutely loved finding clam shells and collecting rocks. We relaxed and watched the water and let the waves lap over our ankles, layed back and just enjoyed the peace and serenity and sounds of nature.

The only kink in the plan was that we missed out on spending the day with cousins. The ferry let us board right away, but too quick for the cousins in the other car to park and walk on. Turns out they had an enjoyable day too, playing in the sun and sand. They caught the next ferry over and played at the tiny park in Clinton, but we had already gone on to find a bigger beach to have our lunch at. So I am sorry we missed them, but the fun part was that after getting enough sun, we all got back home within minutes of each other.

Seattle Vacation 2010

We enjoyed a liesurely lunch from the cafe inside the zoo and then headed down the trail in our rented double stroller. Alexa was such a hoot to watch as she toddled from scene to scene. She was an energizer bunny and didn't quit all day. She wanted to touch everything and see everything, boy, it was tough keeping an eye on all 4 kids as they went different directions.

Ahhh the relaxation of a real vacation. And not just a quick weekend, which is Not the same! We drove over and spent the week. We saw Pt Defiance Zoo and Aquarium--fun place, kids loved the kids area the best--could have spent the whole time there. Loved the goats, the lemurs, the meerkat display was awesome, saw cool green snakes, sharks, huge fish, tiger cubs, sea otters, elephants, a bald eagle, peacock, clouded snow leopard cubs ( super cute ), an elusive tarantula (ewww yuck!),

Deep Thoughts...(not by Jack Handy) =)

If I had my child to raise over again,

I'd finger paint more, and point the finger less.

I'd do less correcting, and more connecting.

I'd take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.

I would care to know less, and know to care more.

I'd take more hikes and fly more kites.

I'd stop playing serious, and seriously play.

I'd run through more fields, and gaze at more stars.

I'd do more hugging, and less tugging.

I would be firm less often, and affirm much more.

I'd build self-esteem first, and the house later.

I'd teach less about the love of power,

And more about the power of love.

- Diana Loomans