Spokane #7 of several

The next day we headed to Spokane!  I was pretty excited about this part of the trip. We had never been there. We loved it too. I want to go back and explore more. We know some people and they know who they are.... (insert name) Please take us there and show us more of it.

First stop was Spokane Falls! I don't remember the name of the park, but it was right in down town Spokane. You get on this lift to see them. We ran our butts off, because we thought they were about to close. By the time we got there we ran for nothing, except a laugh. Good times. Good times.

 On this corner of the park they have these statues. I had to take a picture with to send to a friend. She is a runner and every time I see anything running I think of her. Arlee had a lot of fun taking pictures as well. The whole time she is giggling waiting for someone to look and take a picture of her. Once acknowledged she will go to the next thing and giggle some more. She is starved for attention and I love it!

Me posing for my friend, HALEY! "Look I am running!" Don't I look good doing it too? Say yes, or don't say anything at all. Haha.

Arlee was hitching a ride on a wheel chair.

 I could take pictures here all day. I loved this park.

 Only missing Ryker.

Not sure what was up with this goat or the fan that would go when you pushed a button, but it was fun for the kids. We even played a trick on Jens. He sat on it to take a picture and we pushed the button and he thought he had done something wrong. Ulla was taking a picture he thought, but it was actually a video of his reaction. Hilarious, but you had to be there.

What an awesome slide!

 The next day we went to the Rose Gardens in Spokane. Amy loves this place.

 Arlee "smelling her favorite color!" Oh right her favorite flower. That is what she said.

 A little selfie of yours truly!

Everyone else was way ahead of me.

SPOKANE TEMPLE!!!!!!!!! I think we have now seen all the ones in Washington.

 Even though it was cloudy, it was really bright!

The kids with Grandma only missing our niece, Amelia who lives in Kentucky.

Leavenworth/ Wenatchee #6 of several

Hans' sister in law served her mission in Leavenworth, Spokane and Coeur d' Alene so we made this part of the trip since she was coming all the way up here.

After getting off the Ferry we headed to Leavenworth to see some sights. I am not a fan of Leavenworth, because I have kids and even though they are well behaved the shop keepers don't like us in there whether we are going to buy anything or not. It is kind of a scary thing for them. So that makes me ornery a little bit. The ones that we can go in we bought stuff and we had a lot of fun exploring what they had to offer.

We went to this park in Leavenworth. Amy loves it and it was really pretty. We might have to explore it a little more when we have time. It was dinner time and everyone was hungry; especially me.

 After waking up early, driving a lot and a full stomach. This room was beautiful. Even so, it was a welcomed sight and we loved it. Best stay the whole trip. Best breakfast too.

Well it was clean.... Hahaha they had fun and we even got to go swimming.

Our Place #5 of several

Amy found this house for rent. It ended up being about $350 a night. It was a 4 bedroom house with everything that you could think of. Access to the beach, kitchen, hot tub, laundry, yard, view, etc. We had a lot of fun here and would consider going again. 

Hiking and beach (#4 of several)

We went hiking in Moran State Park. Hans heard from our neighbors that there was some great hiking up there. So of course that made it into our agenda. We borrowed a backpack so we didn't have to carry Lydia and off we went. 

 After hiking we went back to house and had dinner. I had the idea to go and watch the sun set, so off we went. We thought we would just play at the beach while we were at it. We got to the beach, got ice cream and had some fun. Hans and his brother would skip rocks. I would go searching for sea shells with Arlee. We always try to find the white ones. That goes for rocks too. Lydia played on the beach with the boys, Ulla waded in and found a really cool shell and Amy fed Ryker.

Arlee loves to throw stuff in the ocean. This time she was throwing it with a shovel.

 Lydia loves animals so much. Especially dogs that want nothing to do with her. This one she was falling around all over the beach.

The last picture she is laughing about falling the dog. Best part of her beach experience.

Whale Watching... (#3 of Several)

Now what the whole trip was planned for... WHALES!!!!!!!!!

 During the company's briefing before we left they told us to always make sure we were holding on. Here I am thinking. Great, I have little kids that don't remember to hold on all the time. Something will excite them and they will fall and hurt themselves.

Setting: On the bow of the boat with the girls, Hans, Ulla and me. We are traveling full speed to get to the whales.  

Conversation with Arlee:
Me: (sunglasses, hoodie and hood on- freezing) Arlee are you holding on?
Arlee: (hanging out, holding on, sitting on the bow with the wind slamming her in the face) Yes are those glasses making it so you can't see?
Me, Hans, Ulla: Hahahahaha
Me: (After I am done laughing) No, I just wanted to make sure that you remembered to hold on.
Hans: Smart Alec. She got that from you.
All of us: Laughing.
We love her so much!!!! Silly girl.

This was a lot of fun and I would totally do this again if anyone would like to come up and see us. : )

#2 of Several Family visit

Orcas Island...
While talking to a friend, she was telling me how beautiful the San Juan Islands were and that we needed to go. They are just North West of Seattle. They are beautiful let me tell ya. We later saw a deal for a bed and breakfast- seemed like a good deal, but wrong timing. Then later we saw a deal for Whale Watching that was guaranteed to see a whale! Are you kidding? This would be awesome. Hans was telling his family that we were thinking about going in June. They should come with us. After some figuring and switching schedules, beach house booked, whale watching booked, schedules prepped, meals done, they came up. What a fun trip we had. Check it out.

We took a Ferry from Anacortes, WA to Orcas Island- (which is part of the San Juan Islands.)

 We had to make a stop and let other travelers off on Lopez Island

Surprisingly it was really calm.

Once we got to the Island it was still to early to check into the beach house so we explored the life on the island. 

There were caterpillars everywhere. All the kids had a few to play with.

Lydia sitting in the bus ready to go. More fun was to be had on the bus than in her car seat and she knew it.