After a fun-filled (yet exhausting) weekend, we slept in on Sunday and took it easy. The boys decided to explore the little slip of land between the tiny stream in our backyard and the big river (the Tye River) behind that.
The river is freezing cold-icily, painfully cold. TJ took off across the river and was surprised to see Cam right next to him on the other side. Drew wasn't as excited to walk across a freezing river but was not going to be outdone by his younger brother.
On Monday, we created and mastered the "cage" (made out of chairs from the table, a baby gate and anything else we could use) for Eli so that we didn't have to rescue him from the stairs every five minutes (last week we were able to trick him with the gate [see this post], but he quickly figured that one out, little stinker!).
The boys pretending to be stuck in the cage ;)
Later that night TJ made a fire and we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores. It was a fun relaxed evening. The boys, dressed in their jammies (bottoms only thank you very much), learned to make a perfectly golden brown roasted marshmallow from TJ. They also made double deckers, which was a total hit!
Wednesday we woke up EARLY to catch the Ferry from Anacortes to the San Juan Islands. The Ferry left at 9, but we had to be there at least 30 minutes early AND it was a 2 1/2 hour drive! It was so foggy though, that the Ferry didn't leave until closer to 10. It was an awesome experience. This ship was huge! It probably carried 75 cars, trucks with RV's and semis. There were cable trucks and food trucks. It made me think that I could never live on any island. I feel claustrophobic when my needs are dependent on something that could stop working at anytime (kinda like air-conditioning in Vegas. I know it sounds crazy, I accept that :)) It was pretty cold and I got motion-sickness, a little anyway. I was able to get a few pictures on the way over.
By the time we got to the Island the fog had cleared and the weather was fantastic. The Island was beautiful! We drove around the Island first so that we could lull Eli to sleep in the car. TJ pointed out that the Island was fought over by the Brit's and the Americans for a while. There were British and American camps on either side of the Island. I stayed in the car with Eli for a bit while TJ took the older boys onto a beach. He snapped these pictures
After that we explored the Island some more- we went on a little walk at Lime Kiln Point State Park and saw a lighthouse and a whale watching spot (we didn't see any whales though). Then we drove to a little park over the water and had lunch. The weather couldn't have been better. It was in the mid 70's, slightly breezy- so nice!
Totally random, but there was a camel on the Island?!
Last, we visited Roche Harbor. It was a cute place- the architecture was beautiful! There were a couple old Lime Kilns and I thought they were gorgeous, so I took a picture!
After Roche Harbor we got in line to get on the Ferry, parked our car and walked around some of the shops in Friday Harbor (where the Ferry came in). We got some ice-cream too, of course! The ride back was uneventful, except that I felt sick again so I slept in the car with Eli while TJ hung out with the boys. Our last stop for the day was to see Deception Pass. This was my favorite part of the day and one of my favorite of the trip. When we walked out onto the bridge you could see way out onto the ocean, a bunch of tiny islands and when you looked the other way, you could see the ocean as it met the mainland in all of the nooks, sounds and inlands that make up the coast of Washington. It was gorgeous!!
When the early explorers discovered Washington, they thought that Whidbey Island was attached to the mainland. It was discovered later though, that there was a tiny gap between the mainland and the island. And because it looked so deceiving to the early explorers, they named the gap Deception Pass. Part of why I loved it so much could have been because I had gotten a nice nap on the Ferry, or that the drive to the pass was unbelievable, or maybe because the lighting was just beautiful. Either way, it was definitely a highlight for me! Unfortunately my pictures don't capture it quite how I had hoped, but I still like them...
TJ still had to visit a model home after our last stop and then we stopped for dinner on our way home. It was a two hour drive and I decided to get some pictures of us in the car. Again, random, but it's these little details that I want to remember!
Early on in this trip, we realized rather than moving back and forth from the front seat to the back seat, I should just stay in the back with Eli. So that's my spot now. I need to be there to feed him bottles and help him get to sleep, feed him if need be and be his personal entertainment :))) The picture above is the view I see most of the time while sitting in the back of the car! Not too bad I think ;)
We don't turn on movies in the car unless we are on vacation. So whenever we've been in the car, they don't hesitate to ask to turn on a show. This particular night we got to watch Ben Ten!
As we got closer to our cabin, Cam had to go to the bathroom. So much so, that he was out of his seat and jumping up and down in the car. We were 10 minutes away and told him to try to wait. After a few minutes, I turned around to see how he was doing and saw this:
He had fallen asleep standing up and on top of that, he was asleep through all the twisting and turning through the canyon. He would sway along with all of the turns. We were dying in the car- it was pretty funny!
Well, if you made it to the end of this post, you deserve a medal! That was so long, whew :)
2 comments:
Looks like quite the adventure! Great pics!
I LOVE reading these posts!! Sounds like the most wonderful family vacation.
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