Are you all ready to see oodles of our Oregon vacation Pictures!? =)

So sorry it's taken me so long to post these, I know I've been promising them to alot of you for a long time! So I'll just caption one by one, and you'll get the idea. =)

The first two pictures are taken with our ipod-touch, which actually takes awesome pictures.

I got pink eye the day after we left, (yuck) so our first stop was was to pick up vitamin C and black tea bags and Starbucks. Personally, I think the coffee's what cured me....

Sunset pictures are so pretty! I picked one of probably every 10 pictures, so we took LOTS. Ali took some and I took some, so photo credit to her!

We stayed in Lincoln City, Oregon., and on one of the beaches not far from us, we found some tide pools FULL of anemones.

And the ever present mussels. (think of them as the ants of the beach, they're every where.)So I had these plans for a huuuuge sand castle. Like the kind groups of us use to build in Mexico.

I got the kids all hyped, and one morning we headed out to build our castle on the beach!
Buuut.... less then half way through, Brad and Ali lost interest, dubbing it "too big" and deciding they'd rather splash around in the ocean instead. Humph! Well fine... I'll finish it myself! =P
First words out of Ali's mouth when we get back? "Hey Dad, look out the window and see our sand castle!" Our sand castle?? Oh well.

We stopped at another beach about an hour north of Lincoln City, and as we walked, I kept my eyes on the ground. It paid off! I found a WHOLE sand dollar! I've only ever found pieces of them before, and for a beach comber, this was a score.

We visited Cape Meares Lighthouse. The shortest lighthouse on the West Coast.

Unfortunately, we couldn't go up inside the light, because a couple years ago, two guys shot out almost all the glass windows, and destroyed the light bulb. It's still being repaired.

We stopped at the Blue Heron Wine and Cheese Farm. It wasn't much to look at, but we had fun visiting the "animals."

One of the most fun tours ever, was the Tillamook Cheese factory we visited in...you guessed it... Tillamook Oregon!

The assembly line.

The sunsets on the beach are so gorgeous. The breeze blows the salty mist onto your face and gently tosses your hair, while the sun turns the sea into a watery expanse of molten gold. (for my dramatic friend Hannah.)

"My soul is full of longing
For the secret of the sea,
And the heart of the great ocean
Sends a thrilling pulse through me."
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Saddle and Paddle

I've been looking for some kind of shore excursion that would interest us girls when we go on our cruise. The guys are all going fishing together (fun for them) but the only thing that I could find was fishing, fishing, some kind of town tour or gold panning expedition (can you say 'blah'?) or, you guessed it, more fishing.

So I emailed the travel agent that booked our cruise and she found something that made us all but scream with excitement! It's called Saddle and Paddle. Here is the description from the website:


"Experience the beauty of Canada's Yukon Territory by highway, horseback, and canoe. With your mountain guide at the wheel, your mini-bus climbs the Klondike Highway, following the White Pass Trail of '98. You'll view pretty waterfalls, glaciers, and peaks that adorn this famous thoroughfare. Crossing the summit, you'll follow a string of jewel-like lakes into Canada's Yukon Territory. Saddle up at the corral for a guided trail ride to the edge of the Watson River to see the remnants of mining days. Back at the lodge, meet the Dutch family that has made their home here in the Yukon, and enjoy a hearty meal complete with your host's famous apple pie! Then, it's a short stroll down to the lake where your two-person canoes await for a scenic guided paddle on picturesque Spirit Lake. On your return, stay in downtown Skagway for shopping, or return to your ship with plenty of time for other activities."

Because its activity level is marked 'strenuous' mom isn't sure it's her thing. :P
So Ali and Samantha and I will probably do it together and then mom would meet us in downtown Skagway. So we are very excited and can't wait to see if it would all work out.

Hope you're having a blessed, rainy Saturday!

I'm Back...

I know Summer is long gone, but then I had the excuse that fall started, and I got really busy:)

So I thought I would blog about a day trip we took about two weeks ago.

Dad had the day off on a Thursday a couple weeks ago, and they told us early on in the morning, that we were going on a mystery day trip, and to wear walking shoes, and to bring warm coats.

So we get into the car, and head down Chuckanut Drive, which is especially beautiful this time of year due to the beautiful red, orange and yellow trees all along the road.

And then mom and dad took us all to Larrabee State Park , where we had never been before.

We went down to the water first, and found lots of star fish, and climbed on the rocks, and just had fun exploring. You could get right down in the water, and there were star fish all over the place!
Purple ones, pinkish ones, orange ones and red ones...

There were some huge rock faces you could climb up, and the view got even better!

Mom and dad are so sweet:)

When we started to walk back up to the main park area we heard a train whistle, and dad told us to run up to the bridge we had walked under on the main trail, because the train would go right over our heads on the bridge! And sure enough, we got to the bridge and all stood underneath it and listened to the very loud train go right over our headsCAUTION: ADULTS ON THE PLAYGROUND!

While we were waiting for a couple people in the restroom, Brad and Ali started playing in the play ground, and then (I'm not sure how it happened..) but soon we were all being silly and playing on the playground, even mom and dad!

This is a game where you stand on a bar that you rock back and forth, and try to shake the other people off...

I fell off..:)

The park has an outdoor stage where they sometimes hold concerts and things

We had a WONDERFUL time there, and I can't wait until we can go again sometime.

Happy Fall Everyone!

Summer Vacation

Some close friends of ours invited us to join them for a week of vacation in Canada at Paradise Lake this summer. And so this entire last week we were up there with them, and we had such a wonderful time!

We stayed in beautiful log cabins right on the water front, and had so much fun swimming, fishing, and boating on the lake, that my parents decided that we are going to go back on our own next year for a week or two. So anyway here are some pictures for you to see.

WARNING: If any of you tend to go into cardiac arrest at the mere sight of "a big bug," then you might want to skip this post......

I could've taken pictures of the lake all day, it was so beautiful.

The floating dock was lots of fun, dad had us swim out the with life jackets the first time to see how we did, since we haven't been able to swim for so long, and then we were allowed to swim without them when we passed his test.Lots of cute little tadpoles

You had fair warning! These things are pretty common up there, and this particular one measured about 4 1/2 inches! I thought they were pretty cool, but needless to say, my poor mother did not! (she didn't know untill we got home that we had found one IN the cabin! :)

These sweet little chipmunks were all over the place, one even found its way into our cabin!

Lots of fishing was done by this handsome fisherman...

Home again, home again!

Last night at almost exactly 9 :50pm, our pilot brought two tired travelers down for a smooth landing in the Bellingham Airport.

For the last four days my mom and I have been in Palm springs CA. visiting my grandparents. And we had so much fun! My grandparents had several adventures planned for us, so there was never a dull moment! ( I took all of these pictures, so these are the real thing:) I couldn't stop taking pictures of the beautiful mountains that surrounded us.

On day one, it was slightly overcast, but still warm, and we went to a large outdoor market, where they sold everything from jewelry, hats, pottery, and belts to socks and earmuffs. (who would have thought people would be thinking about buying earmuffs in California!)

On day two, it actually rained! But that didn't stop us! We went to a famous date farm called Shields. In their shop they sell everything made from dates! Jams, cookies, cakes, candied dates, ice cream, and dates of many, many different flavors! My mom and grandparents were in heaven because they all looove dates, but I really, really don't like dates! But I still had fun looking with them! And after they were through sampling all their different dates, they bought a couple of packages, and we all had some of their delicious ice cream which Shields makes themselves. I had chocolate, and everyone else had their famous date ice cream.

Then we returned home and I did some swimming. The pools at the resort where they stay, are filled heated by the water in the natural hot springs that the area is known for, and I tell you, those pools are really warm! I went swimming that night when there were less people, and the pools were steaming!!

On day three we went up the palm springs tram. (refer to previous post for more info) It was a warm sunny day, but up at the top of the mountain, it was 26 degrees, and they had 2 1/2 feet of snow!! It was beautiful at the top, and the ride was amazing! The views are exceptional, and even my grandpa who doesn't "do" heights, absolutely loved it. We really enjoyed that. Look at the pictures of the beautiful views from the top of the tram!! Those tall white objects are a few of hundreds of windmills that power the area.

After some lunch, we headed out to the Living Desert, which is a zoo of sorts, but this included botanical gardens native to the California desert, as well as animals. That was a really beautiful and well put together place, and we were glad we went.

My favorite was the butterfly/humming bird exhibit that they had. It is a small, enclosed, outdoor garden, where the humming birds and butterflies live in natural unison. Two of the birds were nesting in small trees, so close I could have touched their tiny nests! I also loved the frogs!)

Part of the zoo, was a life size re-creation of an African village they call Watutu. That was fun to walk through!

Cousins.....:)

On our last day, we took a nature walk along the San Andreas fault. It runs along an oasis in that part of California, and after a 3/4 of a mile walk in the desert, you suddenly come upon this beautiful, gigantic grouping of huge palm trees,

that surround a natural pond, and make up a small palm tree forest.

Along the way we spotted several of these adorable four-toed lizards.

And several of these rather un-nerving signs!

It definitely makes you observe the other signs that say "Stick to the trail!!"

But thank goodness we saw neither sight nor sound sound of these reptiles!

Grandma and Grandpa in front of a stunning view of the mountains.

But now that our trip is over, and the Lord has my mom and I both safely back at home, I have to admit, that I'm glad to be back! It is difficult when you don't have your siblings to talk to, and exclaim over this sight or that, or to ask dad about this or that bird or tree. I know I definitely prefer traveling with my whole family. But I still had a blast, and this trip will serve as a road marker, as I travel through my life.