Costa Rica Flashback

In 2005, my sister Heather and I went on a trip to Costa Rica.

It is definitely on my top 5 list of favorite vacations, ever.


Look at this volcano! We traveled all over the country by rented car.




Hmm... maybe I should cut my hair short and dye it blond again...

I took so many pictures of flowers, I was asked if I was a botanist.



1 1/2 weeks until Baby Bennett.

Trip to see the Coles part 2

Lindsay digs to China,

in a swimsuit and cowgirl boots of course...

Mom and I go to Megan's dance practice.

Her dance class did not allow us inside the classroom,

so I took photos from a window outside...

Then we went to a park...

And then the next day we headed home.

Jackson was not happy about that.

We love you Becky Jon and kids! We miss you!!

Trip to the Coles!

A few weeks ago, Jackson and I were lucky enough to take a trip with Grandma McKinnon to see Becky and her family in Washington. It was a long trip ( about 860 miles each way) but it was well worth it!

We made lots of stops and stayed in Jackson's first hotel.

Here we are in Boise, where we stayed our first night and woke up to yummy continental breakfast.

We stopped off the freeway for some presents and snacks.

Jackson got to play with his some of his favorite cousins,

Megan

Baby Ryan

Lindsay

And Garrett!

We happened to visit during some nice, hot and sunny days.

Of course that calls for running through the sprinklers,

or jumping over them in the trampoline.

And it also means playing "beach"

which from what I understands means laying out in your swimsuit with a towel underneath, and a towel on top.

Car ride fun

We are in the car A LOT.

• My parents live 50 minutes away.

• David's mom, sisters and Kazia live 60 minutes away.

• Aunt Anne-Marie lives 45 minutes away.

• Aunt Staci lives 35 minutes away, as do Uncle Todd and Aunt Heather

• Aunt Heather lives only 20 minutes from us.

• Aunt Lynn, Uncle Alex and kids live about 26 hours away

• Aunt Becky, Uncle Jon and kids live about 15 hours away

• Uncle Mark, Aunt Anna and kids live about 9 hours away

• Great Grandma, uncles and cousins live about 12 hours away

Lately we've gotten pretty desperate in finding new ways to entertain the kids while on the way to visit family. Lame as it seems, we made up a new game that keeps the kids happy for quite a while during car trips to visit family.

You are welcome to try it out yourselves.

I still have to think of a name for the game, but it's all about identifying parts of yourself quickly, and is mostly fun for 2 year olds, but 12 year olds also enjoy it, even though they pretend to be annoyed.

Everyone show your armpits, NOW!

Everyone show your mouths, NOW!

The game also includes showing eyes, elbows, tummies, knees and more, NOW.

I hope your kids enjoy it as much as mine!

Olympic Camping - THE END

Saturday afternoon we said our goodbyes.

We miss you already!

One more night of camping - Jackson took it like a champ.

We need to do this more often.

We drove the rest of the way on Sunday, which was day 7.

7 days of camping, over 2000 miles driven. I was glad to be home.

Olympic Camping - Part IV

We left Kalaloch on Friday, and then stayed at the Cole's home in a Seattle suburb that night.

We were excited to be able to spend more time with them. Saturday morning we went to a nearby lake and put the canoes and kayaks to use.

Jackson had just about had it at this point.

Megan with Staci, Lindsay with Becky.

Fishing on the dock.

Olympic Camping - Part III

Did you know that there is a pretty popular series of books and movies - the Twilight series - that takes place in the Washington's Olympic Peninsula? By an author named Stephenie Meyer? About Vampires and Werewolves?

Yep, there is.

And the city of Forks is definitely capitalizing on it.

Forks was a mere 30 miles from where we were camping, in Kalaloch.

I'm not even a huge fan, but we were so close we had to check it out.

The number of visitors to Forks has increased from approximately 17,000 a year, to 70,000 since the books/movies came out.

Maybe that's why in the chamber of commerce they had the cutouts for the Twilight characters in the lobby.

Which one of these things is not made of cardboard?

And Bella's truck in the parking lot.

Twilight tours. So tempting! Maybe more tempting if the movies had been filmed here, or if the characters in the book were real.

Instead we ate at a Sully's, where they had Edward ice cream, and Jacob burgers.

And scary wooden carvings of ... ???

Olympic Camping - Part II

After camping our first night in Oregon, we drove all day the rest of the day and finally made it to our next destination. We met my sister Becky and her family out our reserved camp spot in Washington.

I've been to a lot of places, and Olympic National Park - especially on the peninsula - ranks as one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.

The forest is beautiful and green and wet, and the ocean is awesome and breathtaking.

We stayed in Kalaloch from Tuesday night through Friday.

Jackson and his cousin Lindsay bonded instantly - she is about 9 months older than him.

Here they are eating fruit snacks of the forest floor. Like a good mother I took a picture before stopping them.

We had crafts! Staci and My mom found these cool wooden boxes from Hobby Lobby. Each kid decorated it then used it to store their treasures, i.e. crab heads, rocks, and dirt.

Here Jasper plays with Megan and Molly next to the Ocean.

And here my husband, Jasper and sisters attempt to kayak the ocean. It was pretty much impossible to get past the waves.

Here I am running from the waves.