Good Times

It has been a while since I have blogged. We have been busy the last couple of months with traveling for vacations and just being gone really. So for my blog this time I started with the pictures that were the most recent trip we went on. We didn't go far for this last trip we just went up to Bellingham and we took the trailer and camped out on the compound in bewtween my grandma and grandpa's house and my sisters house. It was the perfect camp ground because for one we didn't have to pay for the camp ground and we had the beach and a pool and the kids just got to roam which was really nice. The kids really enjoyed themselves and we always enjoy going up there.

My grandparents got a golf cart to drive around on the compound so that my grandpa could get out side because he can't just go and walk around the property anymore. So the kids discovered the golf cart and Carson loved going for rides in it.

My uncle and cousin went crabbing out in the bay and they got some crab so guess what we did with them?
Here are some more crab.

And this is what we did to them so we could eat them. You can't really see them but all 9 of them are in the pot. We usually good it on the beach and then clean them on the beach as well but for some reason we just did it here.

Madison learned to drive the golf cart and once she got the hang of it she was off all the time in the golf cart.

Something else I like to do up at the compound is pick fresh green beans. They are the best right off the vine. We used these to can. It wasn't alot but enough to make some little jars. We didn't can them for me we canned them for someone else.

My grandma packing the jars with green beans.

Here are our jars.

The next day we had my cousins out and we went on the beach and played and just visited really.

This is Carson not really liking being on the beach because, he got used to it though.

We went and looked under the rocks on the beach and found crabs and this was one of the bigger crabs that we saw.

This is what we see when we are sitting on the beach.

See I told you that he would be o.k later on.

Zach is looking for shells and things on the beach.

Here is what Zach found on the beach.

Here is our camp ground. I think we should camp there all the time.

This is my grandpa getting ready to sit and eat some crab. I wish I would have gotten a front shot of him but I never thought too. I always wait to long, I need to get the picture when I think about it.

Here is the view that we get to see. This is zoomed it but you can still see Mt Baker pretty good and Bellingham is underneath it.

I tried to get a shot of the moon and how it was shining on the water. It isn't the best but you can see it. It looked really cool in person.

One of the nights that we were there we decided to have a beach fire it was cloudy but still fun.

Bellingham.

Zach and Madison throwing rocks in the water.

Our fire.

We left on Sunday the 1st of August, which was my mom's birthday so before we left town we went by the cemetary and put flours there for my mom and clean it up a bit. During the time that we were there at the cemetary my grandpa passed away. It was sad but it was kind of neat too because he died on my mom's birthday. My grandpa had been sick for a long time and had kind of been expected but it also happened kind of suddenly. So we said happy birthday to my mom and said good bye to my grandpa but we will see them both again.

After we left on the 1st the kids and I came back on Tuesday the 3rd to hang out with the family some more and the funeral for my grandpa was on Thursday so we got to camp out some more. One of the things we did while I was up there was can apple pie filling. I had never done that before so my aunt and grandma helped me.

These are fresh apples from the tree, who could ask for more then a bunch of fruit trees to pick off of.

Getting the jars ready.

This is the finishing look of the apple pie filling.

My cousin Holly washing her goat. She does 4H and she has a bunch of goats and this goat that she is getting ready is a meat goat. Then she has goats that she shows at the fair and she breeds them as well.

Carson trying to pet one of the other goats.

On one of the last days we were up in Bellingham we made cookies because the kids wanted to and I think secretly my grandma wanted us to as well.

So now we are onto another little trip that we did. Well it is't really a trip, we just went to Olympia and stayed the night at Larry's mom's house. Madison and Zach stayed with Larry's mom and step dad for a couple of days which was kind of odd to have only one child at home. So while Madison and Zach were staying with Larry's mom Madison got to learn how to ride a horse. These pictures are from when Larry and I were still there and Don't worry she didn't learn to ride without a saddle, during that week she rode with a saddle. Madison loved it and Zach actually rode too.

Here she is just getting started.

Here she is learning how to balance on the horse.

Now she is learning how to get off the horse.

Larry got on the horse gave Carson and Zach a ride.

We are done with the horse and the kids are petting her.

Well back in June Colleen came and visited and helped Jen out with her kids while Jen and Dave had their third baby. The kids were so excited for them to. Zack Conlin and Madison have been great friends from the moment we became friends with the Conlins. It is so great to see how much they have grown.

They are just to cute.

Zach and Josh.

So far our summer has been great, this summer is going by way to fast but I won't lie, I am kind of looking forward to getting back into school just to get back into the routine of things.

Road Trip

On the 18th of June we left for a road trip to California. We took the kids out of school early because their last day was Monday the 21st and it was a half day and so really what do they do the last day of school or actually the last week of school. So when Madison got home from School on Friday we took off and headed to Olympia first and stayed there with Larry's brother and sister-in-law and had a bbq. Then on Saturday we left at around 8 in the morning and headed to Redding California. We were a little worried about driving because the last time we did this trip Carson was not a very good traveler in the car. Fortunately he like to watch movies in the car so I loaded up on almost every movie we had int he house just so that we would be covered and I also had our portable dvd player that we take on the planes for Madison in the back because well she is the only girl and she is older now and she doesn't always like the same movies the boys do. So off we went to Redding California and all the kids did great. There was no complaining and it was a great drive. We left rainy weather to the beautiful sunny California. So we stopped in Redding California and stayed there. Oh by the way the whole point of our trip was to go and visit friends that we have in Vacaville and Livermore California. We stayed in Redding and the kids got to swim for a little bit because we got there later then we wanted and the pool water was really cold. Carson wanted nothing to do with the water and that wasn't a good sign since both of our friends have pools at their houses. The kids swam and then we all went to bed so that we could get up and head to Vacaville the next morning.

We headed to Vacaville and it was a good thing that we didn't have that far to go because I don't think that Carson was liking being in the car anymore. So here are a few pictures from our trip. We took so many that I couldn't choose which one I wanted to post and I didn't want to post all of them or I would be here forever.

This is how I packed the kids. I wanted to be organized this trip so that I didn't have clothes all over the place. I got this from somebody else and I thought that this was a good idea. Larry told me that I was a freak because this was all done probably 5 days before we had to leave, but I like to be ready so that all I have to do is put it in the car the day we have to leave. So each row is for each child and they are rolled up in outfits and it has their name on it and what day they are whearing it so that they aren't going through the suit case finding something to wear. It worked out great. The only thing that I forgot was an extra bag for the dirty clothes.

This is what it looked like.

I think that this is in Portland because after portland it wasn't that green anymore.

All the kids fell asleep in the car it was nice.

carson being happy

This is the first day at our friends Brian and Nicki's house. That is their son Reese with Zach they are catching some rays. Unfortunately they on screen didn't work that first day and I don't know why because both Madison and Zach got sub burned really really bad, Zach got the worst of it. He was sore the whole week we were gone.

Carson had to get used to the idea of a pool, but after he got used to it he loved it, we couldn't get him out of it.

They have a nice waterfall in their pool.

Carson wouldn't put his swimsuit on while we were at Brian and Nicki's so he went naked for most of his swimming.

See how bad he got sunburned.

On our Last night their Brian roasted a tri tip and they wanted to try roasting a pineapple as well but they didn't know how they were going to get a whole right in the middle of the pineapple so how else would you put a whole in but with a drill.

The end result.

The pineapple and the tri tip was great by the way.

Later on after dinner the kids all got ice cream and they all loved it.

We left Brian and Nicki's on Tuesday the 22nd and headed to Livermore California to visit our other friends Mike and Sou and their five kids.

We finally got a swimsuit on carson

Mike and Sou have a great slide at their place and Madison was the only one out of my kids who would go down it.

Here are the girls out of the group. Starting from the left is Emily, then Madison then Abbie.

They wanted to make funny faces for the second picture.

On our last day of our visit we decided to go to six flags, it was so much fun and the kids just about when on every single ride their was. They had so much fun.

Here we are getting started.

Zach was a littel hesitant on going on the rides but he did try some of them.

Here are all the kids except for Mike and Sou's oldest. Starting from the left

Emily, Madison, Abbie, Carter, Baker, and Zach. Carson wasn't in the mood for a picture.

I think that this was the second ride that the kids went on and Madison didn't want to go on it but Larry got her to go on it and she loved it.

There they are getting going up.Here they are coming back down, Madison and Larry were in the back. I tried to get a better picture but I was holding carson and couldn't get a good picture.

This is the end result and look at Madison she looks happy. They got soaked.

Madison after the ride.

Zach found a ride that he wanted to go oncarson got to go on some of the rides too but unfortunately he couldn't go on by himself which was to bad becuase we looked pretty funny going on his rides with him.

Here they are on some more rides.

They finally let carson go on a ride all by himself and he loved it.

We went and saw both the dolphin and the whale show they were great.

Here is Madison and Abbie.

More rides.

Larry went on this ride with the kids and then after that the kids went on it by themselves again, and then again.

There they go.

can you see them in this picture that is them way over there.

Here they are waiting in line for more rides.

Larry riding on a ride with Carson.

Carson found the animals.

I even got a chance to go on rides with carson.

We had a great time visiting with our friends and the weather was great. I think I could move there was a store available. It is the weather that gets me. I love the warm weather. The drive back went well as well. We stopped in Redding first then in Vacouver Wa and then home. It was so nice to be home and in our own bed. Carson still hasn't quite back onto his routine of things. I hope the does soon though.