Summer Road Trip

Getting Ready to Go 
(Dad distracting the kids, so Mom can pack!)

We had a great summer trip visiting friends and family in Washington and Oregon.

 

We started out in Sedro-Woolley, spending a few days with my parents. Good thing we packed the rain boots and jackets - it felt like October it was so wet & cool!

 

Then, we headed south, met friends for lunch at their home in Raymond, WA, and finished the day in Monmouth, OR, where we stayed with college friends. After two nights in Monmouth, we went east to stay with friends from Great Falls, who now live in Bend. After only one night in Bend, we headed north to Chelan, WA, for my cousin's wedding and a few days of R & R before finally heading home. 

 

Unfortunately, our camera only came out a few times on our journey and the pics below are all that made it! Things we missed on camera: visiting with all our friends, the kids camping with Grammy and Pa, swimming in Lake Chelan, the waterslides at Lake Chelan with cousins Cal and Bennett, and getting all dressed up for the wedding. If anyone has pics to share from our journey - please send them to me! :-)

Trying out Pa's Zip-Line

Enjoying Port Townsend, sans the kids - thanks Mom and Dad for taking the kids camping! We had a wonderful day walking on the ferry and walking around Port Townsend. We ate a two fabulous restaurants and Jason got his fill of seafood. The kids didn't come home until the next day, so we had a total of three meals out together - alone. Happy early anniversary to us!!

Checking out the lava flows on Mckenzie Pass. This was an amazing drive through old-growth forests, then climbing up to the Dee Wright Observatory in the middle of the lava flows. We could see many Cascade peaks including Three Sisters, Mt. Hood, and Mt. Washington.

The Summer's Flying By...

The summer is flying by and it's been a while so here are a few photos from our June and July excursions...

Ground Squirrel Hunting in June

Camping Over Father's Day

Sunroom Project Completion

 Hiking Near Neihart, MT

 Hunter Family Baptism, Wenatchee

Glacier Trip with our Friends the Roberts from Chicago

Snow Fields at Logan Pass, Glacier NP

Independence Day, Great Falls

 

Hiking Along the Missouri River

Memorial Day Weekend: The last days of Winter!!

My parents haven't made the trek to Montana together since Christmas 2010, so we all decided they were due for a visit! Unfortunately, after several weekends of amazingly warm weather, the VERY cold weather reared it's ugly head and we had snow while they were here!! But, we didn't let that spoil our fun and still had a great time. 

My Dad requested a fishing trip while they were here, so Jason rented a boat and they drove a couple hours north, to the Reservation and spent 8 hours fishing (but no catching this time!).

That didn't spoil the fun, Emmett had a great time and I think they all stayed warm - yummy snacks always help...

Jason threw the tackle box at the fish, but they only got a couple quick bites all day - no one else on the lake was catching fish either.

Preschool Graduation

Even though Emmett is going to have one more year of preschool before he starts kindergarten, the other kiddos in his class are all moving up, so his teacher had a mini graduation party for the kids. They were thrilled!

After the caps were put on the diplomas were handed out, we all went down to the auditorium for their spring program - so cute!

Emmett with Mrs. Sommer, his teacher

Spring Soccer

Grammy and Pa gave Emmett and Gracie soccer lessons for their birthdays, so we spent three nights a week and Sunday afternoons at the soccer field for about 6 weeks. Amazing that only one weekend of games were cancelled for snow on the field!

The games were always during nap time...

Emmett was usually 4-6 inches taller than the other kids on the field and he wasn't afraid to take off down the field if he got the ball, so he probably averaged 3 goals per game!

This was Gracie's first season playing soccer and she made huge improvements from the first game to the last game. By the last game she wasn't afraid to charge in after the ball and run it down field if no one was in front of her. She didn't score any goals, just took a couple great shots at it!