Pre Wedding Fun

It took us the entire morning to re-pack our things and load up. It is amazing how all the extra luggage held us up. We even left two bags in Olympia. We drove down near the temple and stopped to pick up a wedding outfit for David. I had high hopes that he'd match Zach with Nadia's super last minute find at Macy's. (I'd combed the stores in Phoenix two weeks before we left and nothing! Devin, you should have gotten egaged before Easter. :) Unfortunatley they were out of the green tie outfit even though the system said they had it.

The first big stop was at a park for family photos. The Cammack clan has added three people since our last session in April of 2008.

Then it was Katrina's parents home for a pre wedding barbeque. They had a lovely backyard and it was a nice party. I enjoyed meeting a new sister in law and her family. The boys stayed up in Seattle for a bowling bachelors party.

Mike Lee, Dustin, Kent, Devin, Spenser, and Clayton Cammack

The groom. Perfect balance even if the other arm is in a cast and sling. Impressive!

Brad had a very good time with his brothers and apparently talked to a sleeping Spenser most of the way home. I'll admit that I'm anxious for a girl's night during the next family get together! For some reason that never seems to happen. I guess the guys outnumber us. We stayed up terribly late chatting with Spense and Nadia. It was fun.

Clamming and Swimming; Chukanut Drive to Deception Pass

Even though we'd been on the beach a number of times we still needed to go clamming. Brad and I ended up digging a lot of clams out of the sand. It was fun but messy. We ended up throwing them all back because we just didn't want to take them home and cook them. Someone else enjoyed all of the digging too.

I've heard somewhere that little boys are made up of dirt. Or in this case sand!

Brad making a hole to find clams in

David had fun helping

William sat in his chair and fussed or slept

Brad had to build a sandcastle while we were there. I think he would have played with it more if we had brought along army figurines. He kept referring to it as a "fort."

What better way to get all that sand off than a hop in the pool afterwards?

We decided to take another costal drive to our next destination. Chukanut Drive. These views were even more breath-taking than our little drive home yesterday. It was simply spectacular.

Deception Pass

Spenser had suggested that we go to Deception Pass and it didn't disappoint. Taken from Wikipedia--Deception Pass is a profoundly dramatic seascape where the tidal flow beneath the twin bridges connecting Fidalgo Island to Whidbey Island goes extremely fast and rough. During lower tides, the swift current can lead to standing waves, huge whirlpools, and roiling eddies."

The view was amazing but no way was I walking out on one of the bridges for a look down! I've recently become much more concerned about heights. Is this a mothering thing?

While looking at the view we met a couple who had once been in the Navy stationed somewhere in Washington. It was fun for Brad to talk with them.

This was our short little hike up under one of the bridges. It didn't last long...we weren't really prepared for all that Deception Pass State Park had to offer. Hikes, beaches, and more. We ended up trekking the shore line right near the pass.

There were lots of things to climb on and David had a good time. He even threw some rocks into the water. We really couldn't see much because of all the mist. It only cleared up after Brad had already taken William to the car.

A misty view of the bridge.

We drove through Anacortes on the way back. The one minor disappointment of this outing was we didn't get to ride a ferry. I was looking forward to that but it was just too late in the day. Better planning next time!

Mt. Baker, Pony Ride, and Peace Arch Park

After waking up and eating breakfast we were suprised to hear the hotel fire alarm. It didn't seem like there was a fire but we realized we hadn't brought the diaper bag, car seat, car keyes or even shoes for the boys (note to self: try to remember these things in an emergency!) The alarm turned out to be nothing; David thought the fire trucks were very interesintg. Since we couldn't go back to our room we took the opportunity to walk on the beach a bit more--in pj's and all.

Brad wanted to drive upto Mt. Baker so that is what we did. It was a fun drive. We stopped at a place called Picture Lake.

Amazingly green--especially after two months in Arizona!

We walked around the lake in an effort to get wiggles out. We stopped for lunch on the way back. It was one of those badly decorated small town places that I thought was too expensive and not terribly good. But Brad always likes to try something different.

Can you see why it is called picture lake?

Just as we were getting off of the mountain we saw a bunch of hand made signs advertising pony rides, snow cones, a petting zoo, and a play area. I was driving so on a whim I stopped to check it out. It was really a down home type operation. Brad and I weren't too sure but the people were really nice.

David looked at some of the animals while we anxiously awaited his first pony ride.

It was worth the wait! Brad was able to lead David around for about ten minutes. Most places won't let a little one year old ride but the lady that owned the horse and property didn't seem worried about it. Brad said that David had big smiles the whole time and he especially liked it when the little pony and the bigger horse were neighing to each other.

David at Peace Arch Park

Even though we had our passports we decided that going into Canada wasn't totally necessary. We actually crossed the border inside of Peace Arch State Park instead. David really enjoyed this park. Especially rolling down the hills! I thought the ocean views were amazing and the flowers on both side of the border were impressive. This is a stop worth making if you ever find yourself in NW Washington.

The US Side

The Canada Side

(Note: The water on my pants is spit up from William. And my eyes are close but this was the best one we had.)

Baby William in Canada (I think)

This is a very short clip of a shoeless David trying to roll down one of the hills at the park. I've posted it mostly for Grandma Kathy but watch if you feel so inclined!

Looking back I'm realizing that we were in the car A LOT today. I'm not sure how it worked but I don't remember it being too bad for the boys. I think they were able to sleep and entertain themselves until we got to the next destination.

We took the road less traveled and drove around the cost to get back to the resort. I really can't get enough of those ocean views espeically during high tide. At first it felt like the ocean was right up at the road. Another fabulous day of vacation...

Birch Bay

Today was beach day. Even though you couldn't see it from our room Birch Bay was literally across the street. We got everyone dressed for the outing. While I was taking a photo of Brad and the boys an elderly gentleman offered to take a photo of the whole family. He said it was just too precious to miss. I'll admit I choked up a bit when he said that.

We walked along the shoreline to the general store to get sunscreen. That took awhile but we finally made it out on the actual sand and realized a stroller wasn't the very brightest idea. It was low tide and the sand was packed really hard but still. We gave up and went back to the hotel to swim.

I guess William gave up before we did!

Since we were already dressed for the beach we swam at the pool instead. David always seems to like the water until it gets too cold. We went into town to get some groceries and came back for lunch and naps. It was a quiet afternoon.

This was our second attempt at going to the beach to find clams. But whoops. We forgot about the afternoon tide. There really wasn't much beach left. After living a mere ten miles from the Atlanic Ocean for the past year you'd think we would have known this! But a true East Coast beach trip has evaded us still....

Nevermind. We took turns playing with David in the water or holding the baby and watching.

I don't know if William really had the same level of energy that David did. Brad was ready to find clams for the second time but just ended up lugging the shovel around.

The seaweed was a huge issue for David. He hated having it on him. I think it is kind of gross and slimy too.

I love how happy he looks!

We made our way inside for dinner. Brad put some very tasty burgers on the grill. We watched part of the Disney movie Cars with David and put the kids to bed. It was truly a relaxing day.

Sunday in Olympia

I felt bad because I think in hauling our bags in we woke up David and William's little cousin Zach. The boys went to bed without a problem but William decided to get up in the 2 am hour. Ouch! Espeically when we are used to him sleeping. I'll admit we were both a little disoriented and unhappy trying to get him quiet. I think Brad ended up sleeping with him on the couch.

We went to church and enjoyed hanging out with Spenser, Nadia and their kids. David really liked their backyard playset. Brad fancied playing Wii with Olivia. It was fun to see how much everyone liked baby William. Zach gave him hugs, Thomas watched him and gave him toys, and Olivia was kind enough to show him her super silly face.

Nadia had a great breakfast including homemade cinnamon rolls and then a tasty dinner with skewers on the grill. We had such a good time that we left later than planned. The weather was amazing and everything looked so green and fresh. I think we were half convinced to move! The two hour trip up to Blaine took longer because of traffic (who knew it would be so bad on a Sunday?) and a stop to feed William. We got to the resort at midnight. Tired but happy.

The Trip Begins

My Mom was kind enough to watch David while Brad and I cleaned up and packed. We grew two whole bags while in Phoenix. Yikes! We loaded our things into Mom and Von's mini van and headed to the airport. We needed two luggage carts and both were full! It looked pretty bad. Six large bags plus all the carryons plus carseats.

Von and Brooke both helped with the luggage and the boys until we had checked everything and headed toward security. Brad and David wandered around the airport. David was fascinated with the little luggage cars that were driving around on the tar mac. It was both sad and interesting to see a huge dust storm from the big glass windows in the air port. We were sad we missed the monsoon season but it was really more unfortunate for Brad who had just washed his Dad's car...oh well. I guess it is the thought that counts.

The airport isn't busy on Saturday nights which was great for us. We did everything without too much trouble including the normally nightmareish security. The only thing that was a challenge was getting all of us and our stuff on the plane. Two carseats, one stroller, two backpacks, one diaper bag, one computer bag.

The flight went well. Both kids were fairly quiet and pretty cooperative. We were glad that Brad's brother Spenser was willing to pick us up. By the time we got to his house in Olympia it was 1 am!

3 & 18 Month Photos

I wanted to leave you with a few of my favorite photos from our most recent sessions with Brad's sister Amy. We tried and tried to get both boys together but after two sessions and lots of different approaches we decided better luck next time. I'm glad Amy is so willing to take pictures of my boys--David was exhausting!

For more of my boys see the blog on her site: amyleephotography.com. We are off to Washington for ten days. A little vacation, Brad's brother's wedding, and an immediate family reunion (minus the honeymooning couple of course.) And dare I say that we won't be sorry to see our Boston home after all the excitement?

Happy Birthday Grandma Noele. Have fun driving up the coast. Thanks for putting up with us!