Orcas Island

Today we drove to Anacortes and got on a big ferry. My Dad surprised us with a trip to the San Juan Islands...Orcas Island to be specific. The boat ride was about an hour and I made sure to take my Dramamine before had. The islands are so beautiful and green! Once we drove off the ferry we headed to the other side of the island to stay at the Rosario Resort, which was built in 1906 by a famous Seattle ship builder.

After we checked in we decided to hike up to a waterfall in the national park. I'll let the pictures speak from themselves.

Came back from the hike and took a quick nap and then went to the Mansion house to learn about the resort. There is a huge organ in the house and the hotel manager is a composer so he played a slide show and played the organ. It was very interesting....and there was a celebrity in the house! Oooooh the host of the game show Jeopardy, Alex Trebec, was there with his wife celebrating their anniversary.

Had a lovely dinner in town and then went back to the hotel. Mom and Dad channel surfed while I tried to catch up on my reading for school.

Bellingham, WA

Today we checked out of the Semiahmoo Resort and drove down to Bellingham to stay at a bed and breakfast in the country. We are the only guests here for the next few days so the manager decided to let me have my own room instead of a futon in the room my parents were gonna get. Mmmmmm my own space for 2 days!!!! Don't get me wrong, I'm having a great time with the parents, but my Dad's snoring last night was insane!

We looked at a few more properties and then drove thru a little bit of Western Washington University campus. We skipped lunch today so Mom and I were famished. On the recommendation of the B&B manager we ate at a little place called the Prospect Street Cafe. It was delicious and I tried some new and different things. For all those who know me well, you know I'm not an adventurous eater. Instead of bread for an appetizer this place serves poppadoms with smoked Greek yogurt and chives....boy were they delicious. We had no idea what poppadoms were so we asked the waitress what they were, she said it's made with flax flour and it's an east Indian food. The main course was Teriyaki pork tenderloin with fresh asparagus, and mustard spatzle...what is spatzle you ask...well, I'll tell you: A form of pasta/noodle paste formed into irregular strips or dumplings. We couldn't decide on which dessert to try so we shared flourless chocolate cake, ginger poached pear, and a cheesecake that had carmel and coconut flavors. It was a culinary delight!

Canada

Today we drove to Vancouver, BC. When we crossed the boarder Dad asked if they still stamp passports...they don't at the booths...you have to go in and they do a bunch of checks before they will stamp it. Lame! What is the point of having all those blank pages in your passport if you don't get stamps for where you've been!?! Dad said those pages are for real foreign countries not the 51st state ha ha!

We stopped to see the new Temple which will be dedicated next week. I don't know why, but it's always comforting to see the Church in far from home places.

Vancouver is huge! I had no idea it was such a big city. The streets the GPS system led us down on the way to the Vancouver Aquarium at Stanley Park were pretty shady for a while. We went past all the homeless missions and saw a bunch of drug deals go down. Mom was pretty nervous, but it was broad daylight on busy city streets and we were in a locked car.

Stanley Park is beautiful and the Vancouver Aquarium is big. We saw otters, Beluga whales, sharks, etc and a great 4D movie about the shallow seas. During the movie we got spritzed with water, had wind blowing in our faces, and our chairs vibrate as we watched the 20 min. 3D show. After the Aquarium we drove to another side of the park to look at some Totem Poles on exhibit and learned that the poles are like family crests. They tell the heritage of the family or a mythical tale.

Road Trip

My parents bought some property in Washington State a few years ago and I've never been up to see it. The Company I work for has gotten itself in some real financial trouble and has decided that their only option is to file Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and as of the 23rd I am no longer employed. I figured now was as good as ever to go up with Mom and Dad to see the property and have a little fun before I begin the dreaded job hunt. We left Sunday morning and made it as far as Kenniwick, WA where we stayed the night.

We passed through Boise, ID and stopped in to say hi to Patrick and Natalie Sessions. They've been living there for the last few months because Pat bought a fuel injection business. They seemed very happy and excited about the business.
We got to Semiahmoo, WA late Monday afternoon and checked in to the resort. It is amazing! The hotel is on a "Spit" which is a stretch of sand bar that goes out into the bay, so the ocean is on both sides. The hotel used to be a fish cannery back in the day. After we settled in we drove to the lot, which has a beautiful ocean view and then also drove by a few homes that are for sale. The parents are trying to decide if it would be more cost effective to buy an existing home instead of building. The yards in their community are so well groomed and the flowers are huge and bright and everything is just so green!

On Tuesday morning my parents went out to look at more homes and I decided to stay at the hotel and read the chapters that were assigned for this weeks Criminal Law and Constitutional Issues classes. I got myself a hot chocolate and some mini Oreos and settled into an easy chair in front of a picture window overlooking the ocean. I read for a few hours and then got bored so I called and Dad brought Mom back to the hotel so we could walk the beaches while he sprayed roundup on the gigantic stinging nettle that covers the lot.

My Mom and I walked for about 2 1/2 hours on both sides of the Spit....the tide was low and we saw lots of clam and oyster shells and a few crab shells...the seagulls really eat well here. Also saw a few Bald Eagles soaring with the gulls, ravens, and blue herons. As we walked along a path I looked up at tree and one solitary leaf was blowing in the breeze...it totally looked like a hand waving and we had a good laugh.

The Raven and the Salmon Woman totem pole

After Dad got back and showered we walked over to the Marina for lunch and to look at the sail boats. While we were out we heard some planes in the sky and looked up to see 5 very colorful planes flying in amazing low formations. The girl in the store thought they were from Canada and were practicing for an airshow or something.

After lunch we drove around Blaine and Mom had us stop at one of her fav spots, The Blackberry something or other for some lovely cookies. Blaine is on the U.S./Canadian border...it's crazy...you go to the Peace Arch Park and on the other side is Canada....you could just stand with one foot on U.S. soil and one foot on Canadian soil...well except for the fact that a Border Patrol Officer is sitting in an SUV watching like a hawk.

Look who's 2!

I can't believe Sophia is 2 yrs old! Time just flies and I've loved the opportunity I've had to watch her learn and grow. She is so smart and picks up on things very quickly and has the cutest little personality.

Her birthday was on the 22nd but her party was today. Anne's whole family and their significant others came in to town, their friends the Bywaters, and Sophie's neighborhood friend Kenzie (who is 3), her mom, and little sister came over for the party. It was a "Finding Nemo" theme and Sophie got an awesome present from G'ma and G'pa Kingsley....a new backyard swing set. She had a blast going down the slide and riding the glider.

I decided to fire up the ol Cricket and make some vinyl flowers, etc. for the little playroom Hyrum put under the stairs when he finished the basement. I put some of it up a few days before the party. I was looking down at one of the pieces of vinyl and all of a sudden this cute little face popped in front of mine and said "Hi!" she was crouched down and was smiling and watching me. It was so stinkin cute! Today I got the rest of the flowers put up and Sophie got a cute little kitchen to go in her nook...it looks great!

Paint

Hyrum has been busy finishing his basement in preparation for Baby 2 and Grandma Kingsley's (Kathy was kind enough to offer to stay for a month to help with Sophie after Baby 2 is born) arrival in May and he asked me to come paint today. He borrowed our cousin Andy's paint sprayer and needed me to back roll after he sprayed. It took all day, but we got it finished and only a few spots on the baseboards need to be touched up. I've never used a sprayer before and I must say it's a handy thing to have. It would've taken a couple of days to hand roll a whole basement. We were covered in paint by the time it was complete and when we went upstairs Sophie said, "Daddy and Wawa are workers" annnnnd how!

The only thing I would do differently if I ever help with a sprayer is wear a mask or bandanna...I don't think the paint in me asthma riddled lungs was helpful...have a bit of cough and scratchy throat, but that should go away in the next few days and were well worth the warm fuzzy feelings I got from being able to help my little bro and his family out and it was good exercise and definitely not something routine : )

Scrapbooking

Today, I went down to my cousin Sabrina's house. Bridger is the only kid still at home so when it was lunch time we decided to go to McDonald's but discovered that her husband had taken the car with the car seat in it. Bri found an old one and we strapped that into my Bug. That's the first time I've had a car seat in Hobbs and I had no clue how to strap it in....good learning experience :D

After lunch, Bridger needed a nap and Bri needed to lay down. She had some minor surgery to remove some excess scar tissue that built up from her C Sections and she's still pretty swollen so we lay on the couches and chatted the afternoon away. After dinner the kids were settled in front of cartoons and we scrap booked for a few hours. I didn't have any pictures printed yet so I helped Bri with hers. Scrap booking is very relaxing for me...and a great creative outlet. I'm a scrapper!

Spaaaaaaa day

For the 2nd day of my Staycation I decided I needed Spa day. I went with my Mom to the Segolily Day Spa and had a fruit body scrub and mini facial. It was amazing! While I was getting the body scrub I thought what it would be like to have enough money to get one every week. I will just have to be satisfied with the few times a year I treat myself to some pampering.

I've never done a body scrub before...it was very interesting. First she used a dry brush to remove the dry skin. I told my Mom I felt like a horse being curried tee hee! The girl had a brush in each hand and just brushed away on my arms, legs, back, and tummy. To be honest it felt pretty good. Then she put a fruit scrub on and wrapped me in plastic for 10 min. After I got in the best shower ever! 2 rows of shower heads on the walls and one of those giant rain shower heads above. Once I was all rinsed she rubbed in a thick citrus lotion and then I got a potty break before my facial. Soooooo refreshed!