Three Sleepovers!

Even though we were having lots of fun on our getaway the kids were also having the time of their lives with Ga-Ga & Pa. 

They went down to spend the night on Thursday night and the boys got to skip school on Friday. On Friday they made a trip to the mall so the kids could play. 

On Saturday they all went out to see Peepaw's grave. With family in town over Memorial Day weekend it was a bit busy so we didn't make it out there. 

I always love going to the cemetery to honor my grandpa! I remember going to the cemetery with my Mom when we were on vacations. We'd go and leave flowers at her grandparents graves. I remember being weirded out a little by it, but now that I'm older I understand. I hope my kiddos have lots of fond memories of visiting Peepaw's grave. 

It's crazy to think it's been almost 6 years! It doesn't seem like it's been that long since I last hugged him. 

For some reason they had the grass all dug up around his grave, but they had new sod that was ready to be laid. 

Back and Ga-Ga & Pa's there was lots of fun to be had. Ga-Ga had bought this cool swing for the kids. It's called a hugglepod. 

The older boys had a lot of fun hanging around inside and having Pa be the scary tickle monster. Of course Ella and Zeke wanted nothing to do with it. When I got there I got inside and then they wanted to try it out. They didn't stay inside very long though. 

I had packed the kids swimming suits hoping the weather would be nice enough for the kids to get to play on the slip and slide. Yay for sun! Unfortunately the old slip and slide had too many tears in it so it wasn't really working out. 

Zeke doesn't want anything to do with water! 

He's much more content to drive his Cars around. 

Of course I'm sure there were lots of treats that got eaten. 

And the computer got played on and movies got watched! 

But I'm pretty sure that once Pa came home with a new slip and slide they were outside for hours. In fact I know they were they have the sunburns to prove it! But what Washingtonian doesn't get a sunburn when the sun finally shows its face! 

When we got there we asked the kids if they missed us and their answer was..."not really!" My kids are so lucky that they have grandparents that love them and have fun with them so much so they don't want to leave! Thanks Mom and Dad for taking care of the kids so we could have our getaway! 

A Day Of Hiking & Waterfalls!

The next day we slept in....heavenly...and then ate breakfast and headed out to Lake Cushman. When I checked in the day before this was the place that the lady recommended we go. 

I actually don't even know the name of this river that we crossed over to start our hike! 

Again we couldn't have asked for better weather. It was so gorgeous, but it also wasn't hot so that was nice! 

The sign at the start of the trail! The Rapid Loop Trail is 1.9 miles

A few yards into the trail there was a side trail that led us to this big cedar tree that had fallen over years ago. It's so crazy huge!!! 

Along the trail we got lots of beautiful views of the white water. 

I thought these trees were so interesting how the roots were just crawling over the rocks and reaching to the ground. Michael thought that maybe at one point in time the dirt was up over the roots and water probably washed it out. 

We had to walk past this rock...the picture doesn't do it justice at all. It was massive! It was a little freaky having to walk by it! 

Halfway through the Rapid Loop Trail there was another trail that was called Four Streams. We decided it would be fun to hike that as well. It was 1.2 miles out and then 1.2 miles back. 

After we made it back to the Rapid Loop Trail we got to walk across this awesome bridge. 

The second half of the Rapid Loop trail wasn't as exciting as the first half, but there were some more cute little streams. 

Also there were a couple fun bridges that were made out of logs that fell over the streams. 

When we were almost at the end of the trail there was a section that had fallen away so they have to reroute the trail. We wandered down the other trail so see what happened and that's when we got to see the bridge down the stream that we crossed over when we started our hike. 

On the drive back down from Lake Cushman I got some nice shots of the lake. 

At one point on the lake there was a huge rock that had a rope so people could climb up it and then jump off it into the lake. There was a girl standing at the top, but she was too freaked out to jump. 

On our way up I had seen a sign for a dam so we turned off on that road and checked out the dam. I wish we could have walked out onto it, but it was still fun to see. 

From Lake Cushman we drove north to find a the Murhut Waterfall. It was down this awful dirt road that had tons and tons of huge potholes. I was so freaked out by the road too! I have a serious fear of being in a car and plummeting off the edge of a cliff while driving. I pretty much suck in all the air in the car and start climbing to the other side...as if that side of the car won't go over the cliff too. I know it's not logical, but who ever said fears were logical! 

The hike to the falls was 3/4 of a mile and it was actually harder than any of the hikes we did at Lake Cushman. Lots of inclines! I think it didn't help that we had already hiked over 4 miles that day. For the drive down in order to save whatever dignity I had left I decided to turn on my Frozen soundtrack that my mom had just bought me and I sang the songs from the movie with my eyes shut the whole way down. It was SO much better than the way up. I was able to focus on the songs and I could visualize what was going on in the movie when I was singing that song and I didn't get scared once on the way down!

After we got back to the cabin we ate dinner at The Pub that's on the property. They had live music and the food was excellent and half the price of the Alderbrook Resort! We also got to enjoy the hot tub one more time. 

The next morning...our last day we just took our time getting ready. We didn't have to check out until 11 so we knew we could go slow. We had wanted to take the kayaks out one more time, but when we woke up it was cloudy. I wasn't really interested in being out on the water and getting cold when all I brought was a light coat.

After checking out we headed off to find another waterfall and the High Steel Bridge. We had to drive on a couple different forest service roads, but we found it. What's amazing to me is the fact that we were out in the middle of nowhere and there were still at least 20 other people there to check out the bridge too. 

The bridge was spanning this canyon and it was so high...of course as you can imagine there were some freak out moments. To see how high it was Michael spit over the edge and it took 10 seconds for it to hit the bottom. 

We didn't stay too long, but it was breathtaking. 

On our way to my parents house we stopped for lunch at California Tacos in Olympia. It was one of those taco trucks. We had never eaten from one of them, but the reviews were great and the food was yummy! We swung by the capitol building and found ourselves in the middle of a memorial for firemen. We made one last stop at the movies in Puyallup and saw Mom's Night Out. It was cute, funny and a little annoying at times, but overall entertaining! Then it was off to pick up the kids after being away from them for 3 whole days! 

Jackson Is 6!

My sweet Jackson you are such a lovey boy. You are so tenderhearted. I love that you love stuffed animals. In fact your bed is COVERED in them. I'm not even sure how you have room to sleep up there. 

Your favorite is still your No-No. When I go in to check on you at night I almost always find it either on your neck, covering your face or very close by your head. 

You love to imagine and play! You love dressing up as a cowboy, ninja, construction worker or a mutant turtle. 

You are starting to use your imagination more when it comes to building things and drawing. I love your drawings! 

You love to look your best. If you could wear a dress up shirt everyday I think you would. When we found this little bow tie at a garage sale I knew you would love it! 

You love your siblings and you love doing things for them or giving them things. Gifts is definitely your love language! 

You love your toys.....Uncle Ry just recently gave you the rest of his Star Wars collection and you were so happy! 

Other things going on with you....

You are excelling so much in school. You were at the reading level you needed to be at by the end of the year about a month ago. The biggest change I've seen this year is in your expressions. At the beginning of school you were struggling with making a grumpy face all the time. That grumpy face is no where to be seen anymore! Your confidence level has also increased so much! You used to slink around everywhere looking all scared and now you are much more secure in yourself. 

You are still struggling with some dexterity issues. In fact we finally changed the car seats around so you are now in a booster car seat and you are sitting in the middle of the van so you are able to buckle yourself in. I am going to talk to the doctor and see if you should go back to therapy for some more help in regards to your strength in your hands and in your core. 

Jackson Daniel you are my second baby boy! I remember thinking you were a girl, but then praying for you and that you would be exactly what God wanted for our family and you would also be exactly what Owen would need in a sibling. You are an answer to prayer for sure! God loves you and your sweet loving heart! I know that He has such a wonderful plan for you and lots of wonderful blessings in store as well! 

Love you so much Jackson! 

Happy Birthday Buddy! 

Robin Hood Village Resort!

A couple months ago I finalized our plans for how to celebrate our 15th wedding Anniversary. We already went out to dinner on our actual anniversary, but this was a little getaway! We originally wanted to go to Portland, but then the more I thought about it I really didn't want to be in a busy city. I wanted something more relaxing and laid back. That's when I started checking out Groupon to see if I could find something that was relaxing and not to far from home. That's when I came across a Groupon for Robin Hood Village Resort. I wanted to make sure that this would be a nice place so I did a bunch of research. The reviews were great. People love it! Most of them said that cabin #7 was the best so that's the cabin I booked for us. 

We stayed two nights at our cute little "cabin". It's really more like a manufactured home, but it was so nice! 

Here's the living room! 

The kitchen and dining area! 

Our little bathroom! 

Our bedroom! The thing I'm always most worried about when staying at hotel or cabins is whether or not the bed will be comfortable. This bed was amazing and the bedding was top notch. So soft and comfy! 

After we got settled in the cabin...yes I'm one of those people that moves in. I hate living out of a suitcase! We went to explore the area. There was a little stream just a few feet from our cabin and there was a trail so we walked the trail seeing where it led. 

Along the way we found these hammock chairs just hanging from a tree. The one I'm sitting in taking the picture from was literally hanging over the stream. It was fun! 

When we came back from the stream I saw this hammock so we went to lay down and relax a bit. 

It was so comfortable! I could have probably laid there all day long! 

After lounging for awhile we went across the street to see if the tide had came back in. The resort provides you with the use of kayaks and we had never been kayaking before. 

The weather was perfect! So sunny, but not too hot and just a little breeze, but not too windy. Gorgeous! 

Kayaking was actually easier than I thought it would be. I'm not that coordinated of a person so I was sure I was going to just have us going in circles, but we worked well as a team. 

When we got back from our adventure we noticed that they had signs posted saying not to go further than 100 yards from the shore. We went way further than that....oops! 

That night for dinner we went over to The Alderbrook Resort to eat at the restaurant there. This is probably the only thing I would have changed about the trip. The food was so-so, the services was great, but the prices were ridiculous! The caesar salad was awesome...anchovies! Yummy! If we ever go back an eat there I think we'll just have salad and dessert. 

Here was my vanilla and chocolate cheesecake. It was delicious! 

Because we told them we were celebrating our anniversary they did give us a free dessert...Michael got his creme brule! 

After dinner we went back to the cabin and got to enjoy our own private hot tub and then we watched Star Trek! 

To be continued....

Zeke's Actual Birthday!

On Zeke's actual birthday we happened to be at Fred Meyer's so I had Zeke pick out a cake so we could have a small family celebration that night. 

I made the cake during the day and then we ate it later that night. 

Jackson asked to take the pictures for Zeke's family party! 

I think I might have taken this picture though! He is so cute! 

Zeke picked a strawberry cake and frosting with sprinkles. 

Owen got to help Zeke blow his candles out, but Zeke did blow out one of them. 

Zeke's sprinkle cake! 

Ella and Logan patiently waiting for their piece of cake! 

As you can see Jack had lots of fun taking pictures! It was fun having a small celebration with just the family.