Dwayne and I celebrated our first anniversary at Salish Lodge, but it was less a romantic gesture and more a nod to 2020 Covid-world to return on our 18th, where we could eat outside and stay overnight in what felt like safety.
The falls are delightful, and we (accidently) timed dessert with the sunset. I’m at 561 written reasons why I love this man! None of which I will share now, for I hope to show not tell. XOXO
For the first time in 10-and-a-half years, I got to take a kid out for half-birthday breakfast! Thank goodness for Dwayne’s intermittent keto dieting, because this boy is FUN to hang out with…when we don’t have to do school.
Wesley’s breakfast of champions was four pieces of cinnamon rolls cut into slabs and turned into French toast. It was as tasty and calorie-laden as it sounds. And since we’re not eating at restaurants these days, we went to the local park and soaked in the sunshine, pretending the fresh air made our fare healthier. Because it couldn’t have been more satisfying!
Flowing Lake is my favorite close-enough place, and it seemed like a good time to get out for a few days–the sunniest of 2020, thus far!
The lake is a little too cold for me, but the kids all dipped toes in a few times while I read my book. [I finally finished the one it took me 6 weeks to get through. This camping trip put me back at a book-a-day pace.] I prefer the nature trail and the wooded sites and the kids spent plenty of time there, too.
In fact, one might say Wesley spent half his time in the hammock.
I brought two sisters with me, and Wes taught them all sorts of bad habits, like how to hang upside down.
The girls had only roasted marshmallows before, so we taught them how to roast hotdogs. Piper did graduate level roasting by toasting my bun over fire. De-lish!
Piper had some extra fun when she found that one of the inflatables had a gash too big to repair. How does she wear skirts so well?
I only blog the good parts–hard to take pictures of annoying jibberjabber, or me reminding kids for the 4th time to not leave trash or dishes for me to deal with, but I love my mobile toy! I had my first pull-through space (there is no bad site at Flowing Lake, but I wouldn’t mind getting #29 again!), I did the entire camping trip solo (not counting kids), and the weather was an 11 out of 10. I hope for more of these adventures. Let me know if your kids want to tag along next time!
If the world had spun on its regular, non-pandemic axis, we would have arrived home from our 16-week world adventure, flying in after a grand finale of a week-long cruise through the Fijian islands. Our long-planned-for adventure would be over, and now we would be just figuring out how to reenter our world and what lies next for our family. However, now we still have anticipation of that trip–even if accompanied by weird uncertainty.
It was most amused two years ago when Wes put 1 and 2 together and came up with a flying machine. He recreated the moment after cleaning off the driveway for me today.
I didn’t get my Emily time since making it to the island, so we made our way over to their homey paradise on our last Whidbey afternoon. The kids frolicked in the pond, and I could not take enough pictures of their antics amidst the greenest setting.
I love all my island peeps.
We love, love celebrating Independence Day on Whidbey Island. Seven years ago, we stumbled across the July 3rd Freedom Festival and the next day ended up at the 4th of July Maxwelton Parade, and a tradition was born. This year, we were going to break tradition by being in New Zealand. Even when that didn’t happen, we already had a renter at the cabin for the weekend, and they were one of the few that didn’t corona-cancel their reservation.
So Plan B. By happenstance, I had already gotten reservations for north Whidbey, as we camped at Deception Pass until July 3rd. And eventually I remembered that the Langley Fairgrounds doubles as a campground during non-fair months, which would have still called for a Plan C, if the fair hadn’t already been canceled this year because of COVID. So on Friday, we packed up at Deception Pass and drove down to South Whidbey, and parked the RV in the bunny-infested field that certainly had location, location, location (and rabbit poop) to recommend itself. We eventually had to give BFF back to her parents, but with an invitation (yahoo!) to celebrate the 4th at their house.
Piper set the tone for the day by using a sponge to call an exterminator about the millipede (or multi-armed tickling Papa) in the bed. I think she just got tickled more.
The first thing the kids did when we got to their house was shoot off confetti cannons. See that cute camper in the background? Jon let us all cram in and took us for a quick ride down the beach road.
Between the ribs, the burgers, the hotdogs, the beans, the corn, the chips…well, Dwayne and I returned to clean eating when the weekend was over.
And that was before another neighbor brought over his “gag gift” cotton candy maker. It was no joke– the machine was pretty much industrial grade, and the kids were thrilled. And possibly hyped up on more then just sugar…
….which was fine, because they played and played and played all afternoon. Little J has a BIG crush on Piper and the 4 kids (minus Kyla, who went off by herself to immerse herself in stories) were a Norman Rockwell’s muse for American kids on USA’s birthday. Piper decided to wear Wes’s change of clothes as a swimsuit, which is just as weird as she is, so it worked.
We didn’t see Kyla much as she is her own best friend, and craves time living in her own storied universe, but I at least tried to get one picture of her Red, White, and Blue.
I didn’t grow up with fireworks, but Jon loves them (his wife is tolerant), and has very generously allowed my kids to do the safe fireworks with his kids. It quickly became another part of the 4th to give him some cash a few weeks before and he’d shop for my kids, too. This year, I bought my first ever fireworks when I realized that Costco sells packs. I bought a few to add to Jon’s collection, and there was a fun assortment of daytime and evening fireworks.
The best fireworks of the night? Jon and Dwayne remembering youtube vidoes of burning steel wool. Of course, Jon had more than enough materials. At first, they just used a rope and one ‘bar’ of steel wool. The full minute video, which I won’t subject you to, was the men using chicken wire to create a small cage to house 8 bars and protect the rope, and lighting it on fire. I think Dwayne is just setting off a few bars.
Happy Birthday, America! I know you’re kind of a mess right now, but we all have our awkward phases and difficult periods. You will be better by this time next year.
I was excited to begin our next RV adventure. Me & 3 4 packed up the camper on Wednesday and headed up to Deception Pass for a few nights of, well, rain, jet noise, too much screen time and not enough reading time.
However, all that miraculously combined to make a really fun camping trip. The beauty of Deception cannot be underestimated. Even our campsite, which this naïve RVer flooded at the first opportunity, was dripping with northwest lushness. (Particularly after I, you know, flooded it.*)
Once we were outside, we barely noticed the drizzle. By the second day, the kids donned their swimsuits and played the afternoon away. Wes spent time picking his Cheetos out of the sand, Piper clambered up cliffs, Kyla ran into a beloved former teacher on the beach, and I beat all the kids at getting wet first. Kyla spent Thursday afternoon charting her sea-encircled rock, studying different types of seaweed. I love that my geek girl has an enduring interest in kelp collections.
I also got us out on bike rides. Classic parenting mistake–it was going so well, I kept at it until I broke Piper. The trail to North Beach became too root-encumbered and narrow to be a bike path any more. So we ended up walking our bikes for almost half a mile–through gorgeous forest and lookouts, I might add. But it might be a long time before I can convince the youngers to go on another biking adventure with me. Some damage control was done by turning on a movie back at the motorhome and making popcorn.
Dwayne and I are both touchy-feeling snugglers, who created a persnickety snuggler (Piper), a consummate snuggler (Kyla), and a radically obsessive, promiscuous snuggler. Wes will snuggle with anything (except Piper, for personal safety reasons). Here, he is making himself very much at home with his tablet and BFF.
Dwayne joined us Thursday afternoon. This man can do many things well, but I really just married him for his backrubs and fire-making skills. I was really pleased that I had managed all the RV driving and set up myself, but it was such a relief to have him by my side again.
The 4th of July weekend was fully booked long before I thought about making reservations, so we had to break camp (oh, my, how I love RVs!!) Friday morning and make our way to our next adventure.
*No, I’m not going to tell that story. I just got the opportunity to learn the hard way.
Needopedia 