Washington '09

On Sunday, June 14,2009 I drove up to Roy and spent the night with the Barker clan. I played with the boys, Tadden and Wes for a minute before they went to bed. Maddison was already asleep when I got there. Early the next morning, Monday, June
15,2009 Brian took me to the Salt Lake City, UT airport. I flew to Portland, OR where Beacky, Jean and Breanna were waiting to pick me up. After they picked me up we went back to their house in Battle Ground, WA for a while. I kept the girls entertained while the "Mail Mom" delivered a package to the mail box for Jean to open for her birthday. I had taken it up in my suitcase so Becky delivered it so Jean could get some mail. Wow! this was exciting. Jean was so happy that the package was from Grandma Marj and Grandpa Brent!! After opening the package and looking at all of the goodies, we jumped back in and went back to Portland, OR to pick some fresh strawberries. I had never done this before, so it was new and fun. Bre kept eating the berries while Jean would supervise and tell her she wasn't suppose to eat them yet. Once in a while Jean just couldn't help herself so she would quietly ask me if she could eat one. I would tell her, "Just one." The next thing you know she had a mouth full.
On Tuesday, June 16, 2009 we got in the car and headed to Long Beach, WA. Adam had left on Monday as well for a business trip to TX and Becky had asked Jean what she wanted to do for her birthday and she said, "I want to go to the beach." So that is exactly what we did. We stayed at the Discovery Coast Inn. The girls enjoyed this since they had never stayed in a motel before. And the Discovery Coast Inn had little red wagons we could pull the kids to the beach with. Oh so much fun!! We built sandcastles and walked in the water a little. The best part of building the sandcastle was jumping on it to ruin it. The beach was nice and clean while we were there and we all enjoyed ourselves.
We stayed at the beach until Wednesday. We got up on Wednesday morning and asked Jean if she wanted to go back to the beach and she told us "no" she wanted to play in the castle outside. The Discovery Coast Inn had a little play area outside and she wanted to play there instead. So I went out with her and played until she got too cold and we went for jackets and Bre. They played there for a while and then we loaded them up and went for a quick walk on the beach.
Becky had heard there was some cool Cranberry Museum we could check out while we were there, so we tracked it down and checked it out. What a disappointment! There really wasn't much there. I did learn that it takes 4 years to grow cranberries, no wonder they cost so much. After that fun adventure, we headed to the Lighthouse. We drove as close as possible. The hike was a mile and a half and we didn't bring a stroller so we decided we would look from a distance and decide if it would be worth it. We decided no. The kids have to be 7 years old before they can climb up in it anyway, so we enjoyed it from a distance. I told Jean when she was old enough I would make sure to take her to a Lighthouse. She was sad she couldn't go in it. The kids were tired after that so we headed back to Battle Ground.
On Thursday, June 18, 2009 I attempted to teach Becky how to make Egg Rolls. We chopped everything on Wed after the beach. It was a long process. It is just hard with two little ones. I would keep rolling wile Becky would take care of the children's necessities. Well I rolled 100 of the 125 egg rolls. =) Just kidding!!! Becky helped more than that. I just like giving her a hard time about me always doing all the work.
On Friday, June 19, 2009 I once again started working. We had taken out some of the lawn in the front yard and Becky wanted to plant Roses there, so I started the long job. To be hones, I think we started Thurs afternoon maybe even Wed afternoon but I can't remember for sure. We had had great weather all week until we wanted to plant the Roses. I went out and started digging holes and Becky came to supervise. She said she wanted to watch so she would know how to do it the next time. We got the first Rose bush in and it started raining. It would let up a little bit and Becky started on the second hole. It started coming down again! We would stop stand under the little porch and wait. It would let up again and we would go for another shot. We eventually got it done. I think it turned out nice, and Yes, Becky did help a little. We cleaned ourselves up a little and headed back to Portland, OR to pick Adam up from the airport. We got in one of the worst down poor's I've ever saw. We made it to the airport and home safely. Thank goodness! It was crazy weather!
On Saturday,June 20,2009 we got up and started cleaning the house. Breanna was a little sick to her stomach. She had had diarrhea through the night and vomiting. This was the day Jean was having the birthday party, so I started cleaning up while Becky took care of sick kids. Becky came up stairs and felt bad for me so she cleaned toilets. She knows how much I like to clean toilets. =) We got the house clean and a little lunch when the kids showed up. They played upstairs for a while then came down and had cake and ice cream sandwiches. SUGAR HIGH!!!!! Then Jean opened her presents. We then went to the formal living room where they hit the pinata. The kids had a good time and we sent them home with more candy!! I bet their parents love us!
Sunday,June 21,2009 was Fathers Day, so we went to church and just hung out at the house. It was a very relaxing day and much needed for all.
Monday,June 22,2009 I got up and packed my things. Went down and played with the girls. Eventually it was time to go so we went and had lunch with Adam at the VA then off to the airport. It was a nice trip. I enjoyed getting to know the girls a little better. They are growing sooo fast!!