In The Hartland: Austin's and Robbie's Visit!

Six days after school got out for the summer, we welcomed our guests bright and early on Thursday morning, June 28th. We were treated from a visit from Ron's brother, Robbie, and his wife, Austin, who we all love to pieces! Although Austin made a side trip to see us for a short weekend back in September 2014 after being in Portland for business, we have not had a visit from the two of them since December 2012. So, needless to say, it was a big deal to have them come and see us. After eight whirlwind and busy days, we bid a sad farewell last night before Ron took them to the airport to catch a 10 p.m. red-eye flight back home to Washington DC. We did and saw so much while they were here and really enjoyed spending quality time with them. We are so grateful that Austin and Robbie made the effort to come out and see us. Here is a quick run down of our week with our family from the "other" Washington...

Since I knew they would be so tired from getting up early (1 a.m. Washington time) on Thursday morning, I didn't have anything planned for that day. After Austin and Robbie got back to our house and ate lunch, both of them took a long, afternoon nap before we ate dinner out on the deck. They were feeling a bit rested by Friday morning when we set out on our adventure to Leavenworth. After driving almost 3 hours, we arrived in this amazing little town nestled in the Cascade Mountains that resembles a Bavarian town in the Alps. Although I have been there several times growing up, we have never visited here since we moved back to Washington eleven years ago. So, it was a fun treat to show it to Ron and the kids in addition to Robbie and Austin.

After we arrived, we walked down to the river and ate a picnic lunch right on the water.

The kids enjoyed playing in the river after lunch.

The stunning view from our picnic table.

Robbie and Austin.

We then packed up and headed back into town to spend the next several hours wandering around the quaint streets walking through shops and enjoying some delicious food. Here are the children playing in an adorable "public wash" station outside the restrooms.

Austin, Robbie, the kids, and I standing in front of some of the adorable, Bavarian style shops.

The kids walking down one of the streets lined with beautiful flower pots and hanging baskets.

Robbie and Austin with the mountains behind them.

The Hartland fam.

Lia and papa crossing the street.

After spending 11 hours the day before on our adventure to Leavenworth, we had a slower day on Saturday, June 30th. After a large, waffle breakfast, we packed up and headed downtown to walk around our local farmer's market. We finished off by getting some lunch from some of the food trucks and eating right there in the park.

The kids posing for me.

After the farmers market, we came home for a quiet afternoon. While Ella took a well needed nap, Lia was treated to an entire afternoon of playing American Girl Dolls with Austin which was a dream come true. Austin was the one who introduced us to American Girl Dolls in 2012 and gave Lia her first doll as a Christmas gift that year. To this day, Austin loves playing dolls and will happily spend hours with Lia dressing the dolls and doing their hair. She also loves to lay out all of Lia's doll clothes and organize them into groups. It is quite a sight to behold! Here are the "girls" at play upstairs next to Lia's giant doll house.

After a slow afternoon, we hosted Uncle Oscar and my parents for dinner. I asked Austin to cut up some fruit and this is what she put together in less than an hour--a pirate-themed, fruit platter! Needless to say, Logan was in love with it!

A picture of Robbie and Ron with their Uncle Oscar after dinner was done.

After going to church on Sunday, July 1st, we all came home for lunch and a quiet afternoon before eating dinner and packing up to head to my parent's house to spend the night. We decided to stay at their house on Sunday night to take off an hour or so of driving the next morning to catch our 9:05 ferry in Anacortes. We had to be to the ferry toll booth 30 minutes prior to the ship leaving and some times the line can be an hour long. So, we decided not to risk it and left my parent's house at 5:45 in the morning! We actually made great time and got to the ferry line at 7:30. So, we had plenty of time to spare before catching our ferry to take us to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. We enjoyed the 1.5 hour ferry ride to Friday Harbor and all of the beautiful sights along the way.

Ron and Logan out on the deck of the ship.

The three kids enjoying the warm ferry inside.

An darling boat sailing by our ferry.

After we arrived in Friday Harbor, we drove to Lime Kiln State Park where my family and I have visited several times in the past. We love this park because it is right on the water and sightings of Orca Whales are almost guaranteed this time of year. However, we sadly learned that the Orca Whales had not been seen for the past two weeks since the salmon have been swimming out farther away from shore. Since the whales follow the salmon, they were not to be seen that day. It was a bit of a disappointment, but we still made the most of it and enjoyed spending the rest of the morning and early afternoon on this beautiful beach.

We enjoyed a picnic lunch with stunning views of the water.

We then hiked down to Dead Man's Bay and spent quite some time playing on the beach and exploring the tidal pools.

As always, the kids had to throw some rocks in the water.

Ron, the kids, and the tidal pools.

Logan, Ella, and mom looking for little hermit crabs and other fun creatures in the water.

Lia helping Ella walk over the slippery rocks back to the beach.

A shot of the stunning bay.

After playing on the beach for quite some time, we drove back to Friday Harbor to walk through several of the quaint shops. Here is the gang standing outside one of the darling shops.

We finished off the afternoon eating at a rooftop restaurant with stunning views of the harbor. We enjoyed eating some delicious fish and chips before heading back down to buy some ice cream for dessert.

The kids and their ice cream cones in front of the ferry dock. Poor Logan dropped his ice cream cone on the way up the stairs to take this picture. Hence the sad face. Luckily, I was able to get him a replacement cone for free a few minutes later.

A shot of the harbor while we waited to catch our 6:30 ferry back to Anacortes. We made it back home at 10:15 that night completing a marathon, 16.5 hour day! It was so worth it, but we were all so tired by the time we pulled into our driveway.

We had plans to head to Alki Beach in Seattle on Tuesday evening, July 3rd, but we were all so exhausted from the previous day that we decided to cancel our plans. Instead we enjoyed eating takeout from our favorite Mexican, "taco bus" for dinner outside before roasting marshmallows and making s'mores for dessert.

The kids roasting their marshmallows.

Lia's chocolate and marshmallow covered face.

Logan's messy face.

And Ella's, too! Oh, how these kids love making and eating this gooey, delicious treat.

After a delicious breakfast (complete with Southern grits that Austin made herself), we packed up and headed out to spend the afternoon and evening at Lake Sammamish on Wednesday, July 4th. Although it was overcast, the temps were in the 80s which made for some good swimming even though the lake water still hasn't had the chance to totally warm up for the summer season yet. Ella and Logan were all over it and immediately started jumping off the shallow end of the dock.

Logan taking the plunge.

My water baby.

Logan swimming under the gangplank.

The kids spent hours playing on the floating mat we acquired last summer from the next door neighbor. I even ventured out to spend some time with them playing on it.

The kids and me.

Logan and I tipping over.

Austin and Robbie on the beach.

I convinced Bryce to take Logan out on a ride on the paddle boat.

We enjoyed a picnic dinner of pulled pork sandwiches and other fixings.

After dinner, the adults chatted on the beach...

while Bryce and the kids went back in the water and spent over an hour playing again on the water mat.

I pulled the kids out of the water at 8:30 p.m. to get them dressed so that we could start lighting off our own fireworks before the huge show that is put on directly across the lake from us started at 10:15. The kids absolutely loved it and enjoyed watching Ron and Bryce light off everything.

Ron lighting off another firework.

One of the many fountain fireworks Ron shot off that evening.

We finished off our fireworks by letting the kids twirl sparklers around in the air.

Logan and his sparkler.

And Ella with hers. We then waited until it got completely dark when the amazing, fireworks show began. It lasted until almost 11 p.m. when we finally packed up and got home around 11:30. It made for yet another late evening with the kids and Austin and Robbie.

Although Austin and Robbie were not flying out until after dinner on Thursday, July 5th, I made no plans for the day since I knew it would be their last. We started off the day with a large, Filipino breakfast and then Ron and I began getting ready for our camping trip to the ocean the next day. Lia was able to squeeze in one more AGD session with Austin in the morning and both Ella and Logan also joined in with their own dolls.

We were treated to a Chick-Fil-A lunch courtesy of Austin and Robbie before taking it easy in the backyard in the afternoon. After dinner, we sadly said our goodbyes to Robbie and Austin before Ron took them to the airport at 7 p.m. It sure was a wonderful visit. Here is Logan giving Robbie a goodbye hug.