Washington Vacation

For spring break this year we decided to take sort of a last minute trip. A combination of a tax return and easy time off of work for Zack and Spring break for the kids made up our minds for us. We called up our friends near Seattle and said we were coming back for a visit. One thing led to another and it was decided that we would spend a few days in Seattle and then a few days out on the WA coast near Oregon (Long Beach) with the Cameron Clan (see http://melandcompany.blogspot.com/)

We started Sunday Apr 5th with an early visit from the Easter Bunny, that clever bunny knew just what to bring us... sand buckets, sunglasses, umbrellas, and activities & treats for the car.

Zack had to work Sunday so we spent the morning listening to conference, eating candy, packing the car and waiting very impatiently for Dad to come home. The girls actually took chairs down the street and sat on the corner watching for Dad to get home so we could leave on the trip. We drove as far as Baker City Oregon and stayed a night there. The room at the Super 8 there was crammed with 3 queen beds. Exciting for the kids but not very conducive for 5 little wound up kids to sleep. I woke a couple times to Sarah laughing at Bekah's snores. They had an indoor swimming pool but silly me didn't pack the swimsuits into the overnight bag we used for the first night. They were buried deep in the van somewhere. That was the only chance on the whole trip they could have gone swimming too... (

Monday morning we got an early start and finished the drive to Seattle. We stopped at Snoqualamie falls and enjoyed the sights there. We had a nice steak dinner that night at a favorite restaurant and checked into the hotel in Seattle.

Tuesday we met Melanie and her kids at the aquarium in Seattle, we got some greasy burgers, fries and chocolate shakes at Dick's (Yum!) after that we went to Coulon beach park and let the kids play a bit. We washed up a the Cameron's and then went to Ben and Cathy Lim's house for a dinner get-together. They made "lympia" ( I know I spelled that wrong) for us and followed it up with a chocolate fountain which was a big hit with the kids... and me too hee hee. It was a great chance to see some friends we used to get together with all the time there.

Wednesday we spent most of the day at the Zoo and then we wandered a giant mall we used to go to all the time when we lived there. We took the kids to the Cameron's house again and then just Zack and I went out to dinner at a nice seafood restaurant in Seattle on the docks. It was fantastic.

Thursday, we loaded up and drove to Ocean park WA to the house we rented there. We stopped at the Cape Disappointment lighthouse on the way in. It's very pretty but we couldn't climb up into it because it is too old. The house was perfect for our two families and we had a fantastic time there. the house was just yards away from the beach. It was very secluded and had a fire pit that we enjoyed. Here's a slide show of all the pictures from there... I'll probably update it later with a few more from Melanie's camera too.

Friday started out looking stormy but turned clear and beautiful. The kids flew kites, played in the sand, looked for shells and eventually were jumping in the waves (brrrr!). We had a BBQ that night and roasted hot dogs for the kids, followed by smores.

Saturday, we got up and had a big breakfast followed by an Easter egg hunt outside the house. We went to the other light house on Long beach (North Head Light house) and we were able to take the older kids up to the top in that one. It was built in the 1890's. The guide there said as soon as it started to crack they would have to lock it up like the other light house.

It was a bit more stormy this day so we spent most of the time inside paying games, watching Monty Python and eating .... Melanie was a bit braver and took the kids out to the beach to play in the rain and wind at the beach.

Easter Sunday, for us, was spent in the car coming home... the whole time wishing we could have stayed. Emma said the trip could be complete finally after Sarah was sick in the car and we had to stop to clean that up. (the "token" throw up event) Anyone who has heard about the car trips with us has probably also heard about the many many throw-ups, ick!

We had a fantastic time and can't wait to do it again sometime.