Washington!

Washington was awesome! We visited lots of Zach's family. It was great. We were only there for week and a half, but we had quite a whirlwind tour of Leavenworth, Quincy, and the Tri-Cities.

We had a bit of an insane trip up, though. Our car started smoking as we approached Flagstaff, AZ. Luckily there was a dealership that we could take the car to. It turned out to be a torn axle boot. They fixed it up. But then as we were leaving Flagstaff, after a several hour delay, our oil filter blew out and we needed to replace it. Luckily we had a spare and some oil on hand for just such situations.

Then as we were a couple hours away from our destination, a semi-truck cut us off, causing Zach to brake quickly and we got rearended by a girl who was reaching down to pick up a cd. She looked up in time to break, but we still got hit pretty hard. But, surprisingly, there really wasn't that much damage. Subaru's are awesome.

Anyway, we finally made it, in more or less one piece. The best part of this and any vacation is the good times that are had with the fam. The boys were especially happy to spend some quality time with their cousins.

Asher, Madeline, Ben and Sam before a pollywog (tadpole) hunt.

Quincy is where Zach's Grandpa's farm is. This is when we went pollywogging. This is a term for hunting for tadpoles. I had never heard of this term before I met Zach and traveled up to Washington with him, but it is one of the favorite activities for the kids when they are up in Quincy.

Sadly, our hunt was unsuccessful. All of the water we found was moving, and that is not the proper conditions for pollywogs/tadpoles. But we did have fun hunting, which I think is the point.

On the Hunt

(the water is in the ditch off the side of the road. We weren't looking for tadpoles on the dirt road)

Ben and Sam taking a little nap with Tinkerbell. This is the closest she probably ever got to them willingly. The boys loved her. The feelings were not mutual.

Zach and Scott ran in the race up there. Zach ran a 10K and Scott ran a half marathon. They both ended up getting first in their age group! They got a little award mug. It's cute. They think they did so well, because they're awesome, but also because they had been running in Arizona where it is blazing hot, and it was a hot day in Washington, which is like a amazingly pleasant day in Arizona.

Ben, Zach, Award Cup, and Sam.

The following pictures are of more fun with cousins.

Sam, Aunt Emma, and Maddy playing in the little kiddie pool in the park.

Ben and Asher running in the sprinklers at Grandpa Great's house.

Asher, pushing Ben and Sam around in Grandma Great's wheelchair.

(This was an approved activity, I promise)

Ben and Grandpa. Chillin'.

It was awesome. Exhausting and awesome. Thanks to everyone who put us up and put up with us. We loved it.

And sorry to everyone over in Seattle who we didn't get to see. Sorry! We'll try to swing it next time.

San Diego

After Sea World, we got to go to the beaches in San Diego. The boys had so much fun. They love running around in the waves and playing in the sand.

Zach and the boys building little sand castles. Which they then proceeded to destroy.

Stephanie, Hannah and Emma ended up playing in the waves and having tons of fun. And being very cold and wet for the rest of the day. Sadly, I think I'm getting old. I didn't want to swim because I didn't want to feel gross for the rest of the day while we drove home. Yep. Gettin' old.

Sam, Grandpa/Scott, Ben and Zach jumping in the waves.

Grandpa and Sam having so much fun

Sam. Laying in the sand. I'm really not sure why.

Ben, after getting up from the laying down in the sand. Very sandy.

It was awesome. But the problem with places that are so fun and warm is that all kinds of crazys and weirdos show up. That's the price you pay for amazing weather all year round, though.

Ben and Sam playing in the showers.

a gazillion posts...

I am monstrously behind. It's awful. We've been up in Washington for almost two weeks, but have been so busy doing all manner of awesomeness, that I have not gotten around to posting about it. And I'm still not. I'm going to try and post some stuff in the next couple of days. Stay tuned!

Shamu! Shamu! Shamu!

We went to San Diego this past weekend to go to Sea World! Who-hoo! It was pretty awesome.

Ben and Belugas

Shauna/Grandma got the boys pretty excited about the Shamu show. I don't have any pictures of the actual show, because, we were sitting in the soak zone. Sam thought getting splashed by Shamu was amazing! Ben, not so much.

Mommy and Ben after a Shamu splash attack

We also got to go and touch bat rays, which was one of my favorite parts. The rays are beautiful and weird and crazy looking. And nice and slippery to touch. And the boys liked it too.

Grandpa and Sam (in the middle) petting bat rays

Luckily there was a family next to Ben and I who had bought some fish to feed to the rays, and they kept coming to us thinking that we had it. Silly bat rays! So, we got to touch several. It was awesome.

Katie and Ben petting bat rays

It was so much fun. We were all kinda tuckered out by the end of the day. And some of us even nodded off in the quiet tranquility of the manatee exhibit. It's crazy peaceful in there.

Emma, Hannah, Stephanie, Ben, and Scott, taking it easy

But once we got some food in us we got a small portion of our energy back.

Sam, eating a Shamu cookie

With our new found energy we hit the Shamu Rocks! show. It's like a normal show, except less chatty. Which is not a bad thing.

The boys were pretty enchanted with the whole Shamu idea. We got them little stuffed Shamu toys, which they call "baby Shamu."

The best part? On the way home, Ben was flying his Shamu through the air singing, "Bat-Shamu! Bat-Shamu! Bat-Shamu!" And that is why the horrible sunburns we received while there are worth it.

It's Independence Day!

So, for the 4th of July (a wee bit late, I know) Zach and his Dad decided to run a 10K. Not exactly the way that I would choose to celebrate a holiday, so I only let them sign me up for the 2 mile fun run. Which is something of an oxymoron, but we went ahead with it anyway.

Zach and Scott started quite a bit sooner, because they had longer to run.

Ben, Sam and Emma before the race

We started out pretty strong, then we crossed the starting line. It was very hilly, and rocky, and I was pushing the boys. So, we ended up walking quite a bit. Quite a lot, actually. But, overall, we were pleased with our performance.

And afterwards they had ice cream bars. But the boys ate mine. That is so like them.

After all that hard work, the boys needed to ice cream to help regain their energy

(Note: The boys were so excited to see American flags all day. They kept pointing them out. In fact they still are)

Scott ended up coming in second place in his age group, which is amazing! And he got a ribbon, which was awesome. Then we went and ate a lot of food, which is why you go running anyway. At least for me. And then we got home and slept for several hours. It was great.

Later, we faced the crowds and went to watch the fireworks. Ben fell asleep, but Sam stayed awake and got an ice cream. That's what you get for taking a nap.

And it was a spiderman ice cream too.

Waiting for fireworks. And eating ice cream.

Drippy ice cream covered Sam shorts

Ben woke up when the fireworks started. Both the boys got a little scared, because we were pretty close. Sam insisted on staying wrapped up in my arms with his head burried in my shoulder. Ben was hiding behind Zach's back, peeking around at the fireworks.

Smiley Ben

In the end we were all happy. Especially Ben. And in the end, we love America.

Out of the toddler's mouth

With no preamble, here are some little boy quotes.

After Sam had been pestering me for some more chocolate pudding
Sam: Tick, tick, tick... DING! DING! DING! Oh, Mommy, it's time to give me chocolate!

When Ben found and tried on a big skull mask in the toy section of the store.
Ben: Grrr!
Me: Aah!
Ben: Don't worry Mommy. I'm just being silly with that silly mask.

Ben: Hey Sam. You're my brother.

Sam: I am your brother. And I like you.

Ben: I like you. I'm holding a boom. (Boom is their word for gun. And it's true, he was carrying around a nerf gun.)