A Visit from Aunt Blanche

After scheduling her trip to come out at the same time as Robbie and Austin, Aunt Blanche decided to drive up to Washington with her husband instead of flying up after they cancelled their trip.  After she changed the arrival date several times and then had to delay their departure by a day (due to needing to be tested for Covid-19 after waking up with a sore throat), Aunt Blanche and Uncle Joe finally arrived on Tuesday evening, July 7th.  We were then treated to 4.5 fun filled days with Aunt Blanche at the helm!  Although two main activities were cancelled that she wanted to do with the kids (taking Logan on a pirate ship ride around Lake Union in Seattle and taking the girls to an actual tea house in Sumner for lunch), she managed to make every day full of fun and entertaining activities!  Since they drove here from California, she was able to bring box after box of crafts, supplies, and goodies for the kids to wear, play with, and use.  We had such a good time with her.  She really is one of the funnest aunts around and we are all so grateful to have her back in our lives after so many years, especially since we have not had a visit from Lola in four years.  We are so grateful for the love and attention that she gives our children and are so happy that she and Uncle Joe were still able to make the trip up to see us when so many things are cancelled.

Since Aunt Blanche wasn't able to take Logan on the pirate ship in Seattle, she decided to organize and host a pirate-themed, treasure hunt around our backyard on her first full day here, July 8th.  All three older children received their own treasure map with clues or pictures as to where to find their treasures.  Here is Aunt Blanche explaining the hunt to the kids with her pirate bandana wrapped around her head.  Please note that Uncle Joe was also wearing a pirate hat in the background.

Aunt Blanche explaining Ella's treasure map to her.

The children found a bag of goodies at every location marked on their treasure map.  All of these items were then used to make the most adorable and miniature fairy, mermaid, or pirate-themed garden.  Here is Ella finding one of her bags on the play structure.

Lia studying her map to find the next bag of treasure.

Logan finding one in the branch of a tree.

Uncle Joe helping Ella find her last surprise.

A group shot of the kids with the "pirates" after their hunt was over.

Aunt Blanche passed out a large, round dish for everyone to make their miniature gardens in.  She also provided beautiful sands and rocks, moss, and fake succulents for them to use along with all of the items they found on their hunt.  They all made the most darling gardens to play with in the days to come.

Although Emmett was taking his afternoon nap during the treasure hunt, this is a darling picture of Emmett and Ella that Aunt Blanche managed to take after he woke up..

Here is another great shot that she got of Emmett that afternoon!

We then hosted twelve people for an outdoor dinner party that same Wednesday evening.  Just by luck, Blanche's and Joe's oldest child, Alex, planned a last minute trip to Seattle with his girlfriend for the same time that his parents happened to be here.  We were able to see him again for the first time in four years (for Ron) and ten years (for me).  In addition, we invited Uncle Oscar and Aunt Pat to join us.  Luckily, the weather behaved and we enjoyed a pleasant evening in the backyard.

After dinner, the kids enjoyed playing soccer on the sports court with Uncle Joe, Alex, and his girlfriend, Alana.

Logan kicking the ball.

Ella going after the soccer ball.

Although I didn't get any pictures of it, Emmett really got into chasing and kicking the ball several times.  Not too shabby for an almost 18-month old!

A group shot of the family before everyone went home.

Ron with his Uncle Oscar and Aunt Blanche.

Since the darling tea house in Sumner was still not offering in-house dining, Aunt Blanche decided to host her own tea party at our house in our dining room on Thursday, July 9th.  We ordered a box of scones with cream, jam, and lemon curd that the girls and I went and picked up from the tea house.  We then came back home and got all dressed up and even wore hats from both of my grandmothers that I inherited years ago!  We had such a fun time eating lunch with Aunt Blanche in such a fancy and unique way.

The girls with Aunt Blanche.

Ella and Lia looking so fancy!  We kept on commenting how Fancy Nancy would be so proud of us all.

The darling table all set with food on Aunt Blanche's bee-themed china set that she brought all the way from California.

After we finished lunch, Aunt Blanche took us into her 'nail salon' in the kitchen to do everyone's nails.

After ordering pizza for the kids, Aunt Blanche and Uncle Joe sent Ron and me on our way to celebrate our 15th anniversary that was that same day.  Ron and I drove up to Tukwila to eat at the amazing Din Tai Fung Restaurant where we enjoyed an evening dining on delicious Taiwanese dumplings and reminiscing about the last 15 years of our lives!

The kids had a great time back at home with Aunt Blanche and Uncle Joe who treated them to pizza and pirate-themed, banana splits before heading into the backyard to play.

Since I have never made banana splits for our kids (shocking, I know), the kids were all very curious as to how they would taste.  Luckily, they all approved and happily gobbled up their desserts.  Here is Ella giving the dessert a thumbs up!

On Friday, July 10th, we all piled in our cars and headed up to Lake Samm to spend the afternoon after Emmett's morning nap.  Luckily, it turned out to be the warmest day of Aunt Blanche's visit.  We had a great time swimming in the water.  Baby Emmett really enjoys just sitting in my lap while we float in the inner tube together.  Here we are with papa at our side.

Although Aunt Blanche didn't go in the water, she enjoyed watching everyone from the shore.  Here she is posing with Ella.

After I took both Ella and Lia on long paddle board rides, Lia and Logan ventured out together.

Lia and Ron diving off the dock together.

Emmett loved playing with the rocks again on the beach.

Emmett and I together on the beach.

After getting chilled in the water, Ella found a warm place to lay in the sun on the back of the boat.  I just think she is the cutest, little girl around.

A picture Aunt Blanche took of me paddling out past the docks.

A group photo before heading home.

Another group photo minus Aunt Blanche.

After we got home, Aunt Blanche and Uncle Joe treated us to a surprise dinner of Hawaiian food since our trip to Hawaii had been cancelled in July for the second time this year.  They got the children to help them decorate the table and provided a menu of Hawaiian food that they picked up at two different places on their drive home from the lake.  It was such a thoughtful and fun idea and I loved being treated to a night off from cooking!

After dinner, the girls treated us to a hula performance that they had practiced the evening before when Ron and I were out for our anniversary.  It was so cute to watch them all dancing with their grass skirts and leis on.

The girls dancing away.

They provided pineapple and coconut flavored popsicles for dessert after the hula performance was over.  Here are the kids enjoying their frozen treats out on the deck before heading to bed.

On Saturday, July 11th, we headed up to Seattle to spend the afternoon at Alki Beach.  We stopped first at Spuds to pick up our fish 'n chips lunch to eat down at the beach.  Here is everyone eating our picnic lunch.

We then walked down to the beach where we spent an hour or two playing in the sand.  Emmett was very curious about everything and loved throwing rocks.

Emmett and daddy.

Ella and Logan had fun digging a big hole in a huge mound of sand that someone else had made.

Logan digging away.

Lia and Emmy.

Mama with her baby.

The kids with the "best aunt ever" (notice the awesome t-shirt that Aunt Blanche bought for herself). :-)

A group photo minus Uncle Joe.  We then headed back home for dinner and a slow evening while Aunt Blanche and Uncle Joe washed their clothes and packed up most of their belongings.

At 10 o'clock on the dot, we said goodbye to Aunt Blanche and Uncle Joe on Sunday morning, July 12th.  We had such a great time with them and we were so glad that they were able to make the trip up to see us.  Here is the group picture I took in the front yard of the kids with Aunt Blanche and Uncle Joe before hugging them and sending them on their way!

1 1/2 Years Old!

Well, this little chunk of love turned 1 1/2 years old today!  Where has the time gone?!  I honestly feel like Emmett's entire life has just flown by in a flurry of family activity and chaos, but I guess that is what happens with a fourth child.  Although there are some definite baby qualities left in Emmett, he is definitely turning into a toddler.  He is so BUSY!  When he is awake, Emmett is just nonstop.  He runs wherever he goes and he makes messes wherever he goes.  Much like a tornado, he leaves a path of destruction behind him wherever he wanders in the house.  It's not my favorite phase, but I know that it won't last forever.  Emmett has also become such a chunky, big baby.  There is nothing petite or fragile about him.  He really is developing a strong personality that can and cannot be funny depending on the situation.  He has started throwing little tantrums when he doesn't get something he wants or is not happy with the situation.  In fact, he will often times intentionally sit down and cry on the ground when he refuses to do something that we want him to do.  He has gotten really good at walking down stairs although we are still not super comfortable with him doing this alone.  Often times, he will just make a run for the stairs when he wants to go downstairs when we are not there to hold his hand or carry him down.  He also has learned how to turn around onto his stomach and slide off a bed when he wants to get down.  Emmett also loves to climb on top of the kitchen or dining room table when we are not looking and can be found just sitting up there playing with something when we come into the room.  Needless to say, it gives me quite a scare every time I see him sitting there.  Emmett has definitely chosen his favorite baby blanket (a white one with yellow and grey arrows on it) and he has started wrapping it around his head and neck as his way of cuddling it.  He can be found doing this both in his crib and also when walking around the house with it.  We all think that it is the cutest thing.  A not so cute thing that he has started doing is biting all of us.  Emmett tends to bite Ella and Logan the most since they are the shortest and closest to his level, but he also has bit Lia, Ron, and me several times while we are holding him.  Although he gets scolded and knows that this is wrong, he still bites us from time to time which definitely shows a mischievous side of his personality.  Ron keeps on telling me that Emmett is going to be our toughest child.  I am trying to remain optimistic, but time will only tell...

Emmett's favorite thing to say right now is "What's this?"  He points to things and says "What's this?" all the time.  He also has started doing this to pictures in books when I am reading to him.  His other favorite word is "uh oh" which he also says all the time.  He likes to do something on purpose (like drop a toy) and then say "uh oh" afterwards.  Such a silly boy.  He really didn't learn to say a lot of new words this month in comparison to other months, but he did learn eat, cookie, and rahr (like a lion).  He does understand a lot of what we say to him and can follow directions when we ask him to do something a lot of the time.  He also really enjoys playing with toys and can be found playing with a toy or carrying one around with him most of the day.  Emmett continues to eat a ton of food every meal and is not picky at all.  He eats anything we give him or put on his high chair tray.  He also is still in the process of outgrowing one of his two naps.  Some days, he will take both a morning and afternoon nap and other days he will not fall asleep when I put him down for his second nap.  The one nice thing about this is that we can now go on a summer outing in the afternoon after he takes a morning nap and not have to worry about rushing home in time for him to take his second nap which really helps with having three older children.  

Overall, we all just love our baby Emmett.  He is just the cutest, chunkiest, sweetest thing around and we all just can't get enough of him!

A picture of Emmett playing on the piano while I was trying to get a good, 18-month photo of him.  Playing the piano is one of his favorite things to do right now whenever he is wandering around the main floor of our house.

4th of July on Lake Samm

We wrapped up a wonderful 4th of July holiday yesterday.  Although so many things are still cancelled in our state, we were able to have an almost normal holiday which is such a rare treat these days.  After discussing it with Ron, he decided that he would rather stay home with Emmett on Saturday than drive up separately to the lake so that they could leave early to get home in time for Emmett's bedtime.  Ron had a very slow and relaxing Saturday afternoon and evening with Emmett and enjoyed watching the original Jaws movie that we both love, but can never watch for a family movie night because I am convinced the kids will never go swimming in the water again!  On the other hand, the three older children and I left our house at 2 p.m. and didn't get back until 11:30 that night.  We had such a fun time at Lake Samm with Chris and his family.  In addition, my parents and two of my cousins and their families joined us for the later afternoon and dinner.  We spent the afternoon playing in the water and tubing behind Uncle Gordon's boat.  We then enjoyed a huge potluck BBQ dinner with everyone before my parents and my cousins and their families left for the evening.  After waiting until the sun set (which doesn't happen until after 9 p.m. this time of year), Chris and I blew off all of our fireworks with with the help of Ella, Logan, Trenton, and Riley while the rest of the group looked on.  Although the amazing and huge firework show that takes place directly across the lake from our property was cancelled this year, we still had a great time blowing off our own fireworks and watching the beautiful display of fireworks going off all around the lake.  The evening just flew by and we didn't even finish setting off all of our own fireworks until 10 o'clock.  Time sure flies when you are having fun!  After packing up everything and heading back up to the car, we headed home at 10:45 at night.  Although I missed having Emmett and Ron with us, I was so grateful that we didn't have to worry about getting him home early or attempting to keep him up that late which would have been pure misery for Ron and me. So, it turned out to be the perfect plan for the day!

Although we normally do not use the boat at Lake Samm, Chris got permission from our cousin to take it out.  Ella, Logan, and Trenton enjoyed going on an afternoon tube ride.

Ella smiled from ear to ear the entire time!  I just can't get over how fearless she is at times.

The group heading out of the wake!

The three kids posing for me after their ride was over.

Another close-up of these three cousins.

The kids enjoyed swimming around the dock and playing on the water mat, the pedal boat, and the paddle board.  Here is Lia giving me a smile as Trenton and Logan pedal past me.

Ella asked to use the paddle board all by herself, but Riley eventually joined her.

The two groups colliding.

Ella absolutely adores Riley because he is always such a nice, older cousins who likes to play with her.  These two had a great time paddling around together.

Lia and the boys heading out past the docks.

The kids and me enjoying our BBQ dinner.

As the sun set, we broke out the sparklers first.  Here is Logan showing off one of his.

Riley and Lia combining their sparklers to create more light.

Ella twirling two sparklers at the same time.

The moon rising over Tiger Mountain.

Once it got dark, we lit all of our fountain fireworks that Chris and I had brought.  Ella and Logan took turns helping me light every single one which turned out to be so fun to have them as my assistants!  

An Answer to Prayers...

When Ron first purchased his camper and started taking the kids camping without me back in the Fall of 2017, I decided to simplify my life and not include any of their camping trips in my blog since I can barely keep up with posting everything else that goes on in our busy lives.  However, I felt like I should include a follow up post to the one I wrote on July 1st when they headed off to the Olympic National Forest with no camping reservations and a prayer in their hearts.  After arriving at the Coho Campground two hours later, Ron learned from the campground host that they had been full since Monday of that week.  After hearing the disappointing news, Ron decided to try driving to the other campground an hour away to see if they had any openings.  Before leaving, he asked the campground host if they could use the public restroom before they headed off.  While they were still at the restrooms a few minutes later, the campground host's wife pulled up in her golf cart and found Ron.  After she asked him how many nights they needed a campsite for, she replied that "God had winked at them" as someone had just called and cancelled their 2-night reservation.  She had luckily learned of this cancellation and told her husband while Ron was still visiting the public restrooms with the kids.  After her husband told her about Ron, she raced down to the restroom to find him still there.  If she had learned about the cancellation a few minutes later or if Ron and the kids had finished and left the restroom any sooner, she never would have found him.  This was more than just a coincidence to us.  We believe that this truly was a tender mercy and that Heavenly Father really heard and answered our prayers which we were all so grateful for!  After Ron and the kids headed to their new campsite, they discovered that they had gotten the best one in the entire campground.  It was huge and had its own private forest and trail to a private beach that the kids and Ron loved exploring and playing in for the next three days.  They had such a great time while they were there and they can't wait to take baby Emmett and me back one day!

Ron's set up of Itty Bitty with Rufius, the rooftop tent, on top.

Ella climbing up into the rooftop tent.

The kids loved exploring all of the massive trees in their campsite.

The kids walking over a large, fallen log that had been cut in half years ago.

Ron took the kids to explore the dam on Wynoochee Lake.

The kids posing on their private beach on the shores of Wynoochee Lake.

The kids loved throwing large rocks into the lake and having Ron take video of them in the slow motion mode.  They made some hilarious videos to show me when they got home.

Walking back to the campsite after playing down at the lake.

What should have been...

***I took this photo literally a few footsteps from our campground on San Juan Island when we were camping there August 2018***

Today, we should have been catching a 10:20 ferry boat out of Anacortes for the 1.5 hour sailing to San Juan Island where we were to go camping for the next two nights and three days.  But, instead we are not.  After making a reservation exactly 90 days in advance (in order to reserve the best campsite closest to the water) for June 30 to July 2nd, I found out at the beginning of June that all reservations had been cancelled for the month of June due to Covid-19.  Naturally, I was totally annoyed since we missed the cut off date by ONE day!  We also totally could have left on July 1st to go camping, but I intentionally scheduled our trip to leave on June 30th so that we could get home on the 2nd to give us a "down day" before our long day up at Lake Samm for the 4th of July.  Anyways, after learning that our trip had been cancelled, I immediately hopped online to see if there were any campsites available July 1st through 3rd.  Luckily, there were two still left, but neither one of them were in as good of a spot as the one we stayed in two years ago.  So, although we were disappointed that we would not get to stay in our beloved campsite #16, I quickly made new reservations trying to just be grateful for the opportunity that our family would still have to return back to this beautiful island for another camping adventure this summer.

Fast forward to yesterday when I received a call from the campground ranger informing me that San Juan Island did NOT receive permission to move into Phase 3 like they had planned on July 1st due to a recent spike in the Coronavirus on the island.  As a result, they only received permission to open up the campground on July 1st with 50% of the campsites occupied.  As luck would have it, our campsite did not make the cut and our reservation was being cancelled.  I couldn't believe it!  This was turning into the same scenario as our attempted Hawaii trips!  After calling and cancelling our ferry reservations, Ron and I decided that he should still try to take the older three children camping since he had already taken the days off work and since the kids were already looking forward to it.  Since it was too late to make reservations anywhere else, Ron decided to do something that he has never done before--take off with the kids, the camper, and everything packed up and drive 2 to 3 hours to the Olympic National Forest with no reservations.  He had read about two campgrounds in this national forest a while ago and has always wanted to check them out.  Both of these campgrounds allow half of the campsites to be reserved in advance and the other half to be set aside for first-come, first-serve campers.  Since all of the campsites that could be reserved in advanced were taken, he got up early this morning and pulled out of our driveway with the kids and camper in tow by 9 o'clock.  And since he will not have cell service while they are out in the national forest, I am crossing my fingers that no news means good news.  Hopefully, they have found an available campsite by now and have settled in for the next three days making the time, money, and effort to drive all the way out there worth it!  Time will only tell...