Seaquest Camping Trip!

After having a crazy September with Michael and I going to Maui and then going to his Water Conference at the end of the month; we wanted to fit in one last camping trip with the kiddos. Thankfully the weather was so nice! 

When we were all packed up and ready to go Charlie came along to say goodbye to us! 

Sweet boy! 

We'll miss our Charlie! 

We were headed south so we stopped at The Country Cousin for lunch. They have chickens and I just had to take a picture of this chicken on a swing! I texted it to Kim and told her they were slacking....their chickens don't have a swing! 

We ended up reserving a site at Seaquest State Park right outside of Castle Rock. Ella was obsessed with the sunlight shining through the trees! 

I picked this site based mainly on the pictures online where it looked like there was enough level ground for the boys' tent. It worked out perfectly! 

I even loved how the trailer was positioned up a little bit above the main area of camp! 

After our previous camping trip to Taidnapam in July, I ordered a bunch of stuff online from Camping World. One of those things was this little side table for Michael to use while cooking. It was perfect and it barely weighs anything and it folds up so small!! 

I also got the cushions for the picnic table benches The were a little skinny....I think they are made more for those metal picnic tables....the straps that came with them wouldn't reach around, but thankfully Michael had a container full of bungy cords so we made it work! I also got the rope lights that we hung around the pop-up canopy! 

Just a couple steps through the woods from our site was this awesome field that a huge playground on the other side. You can barely see the kids standing in the background on those big dirt hills. Those were just compact dirt. It's honestly all kids need. Zeke was so bummed he didn't have his Hot Wheels cars with him. 

There was also a couple horseshoe pits. We just had to get the horseshoes from the ranger at the front check-in area. 

Daddy and his older boys! 

Almost every time the sunlight was coming through the trees Ella had to take a picture...she so cute! 

Of course she wanted a turn playing against Daddy as well! 

We were in site 9. Site 10 which was right next to us was really nice too. It'd be nice to come back with friends and stay again sometime. 

Our site from the road. Because of the way the parking was angled it was really very private! 

Love the big tall trees! 

One of the days we drove into town only about 5 miles down the road and we ate Mexican food for dinner. On our way back to the site we tried to find a place that we could see the lake. We knew there was a lake right across the main highway from us, but we didn't know if we could access it. We did see some signs for a boat launch so we followed them. That's all it was though...no park for the kids to play at or dock to walk out on. Come to find out after our trip at Mount St. Helen's Visitor Center that's right across the highway from the campground there is a whole boardwalk that goes out to the water. We'll just have to check that out next time! 

My main goal for this trip was to honestly do nothing and go nowhere. We went out that one time for dinner and after that we just hunkered down and stayed at camp. We had such a busy summer I just wanted to have some rest and relaxation with my family. 

While we were playing games, Owen was wearing his hat backwards and I told him to take his glasses off. When I met Michael he was only 16 years old and he was wearing a baseball hat backwards. Owen and Michael aren't the spitting image of each other, but they do have many similarities. 

Then we took a picture with his glasses on and he liked that better and I have to agree...I love Owen's glasses! He's such a cutie! 

Years ago Ellen gave me these cute red and yellow baskets. I use them all the time for camping. We just rip off parchment paper to cover the basket and then after dinner just toss the paper...no dishes! 

You can also barely see a couple other purchases I got from Camping World in teh background. It was finally time to move from the small kid camping chairs to nicer ones. I got myself one of those big saucer type chairs. It's right behind Ella. We also decided to get a propane firepit. 

We knew there were some trails around so it was time to stretch our legs and go on a walk. 

Taking a picture of the map in hopes of not getting lost!

Even though the weather was nice I hate being cold so I was wearing jeans over a pair of leggings. I figured since the trail was in the woods it would be shaded and be colder. Well after we had been walking for while I couldn't take it anymore I was too hot. I decided to take off my jeans. The kids thought I was nuts. Of course I still had my leggings on underneath though! 

We came across SO many huge ant hills! It was crazy!!! 

Some of them were over 3ft in diameter maybe even bigger! 

This one was off the trail so it's harder to see. It's right in the middle of the picture! 

Such a pretty walk! 

More ants! 

Someone carved a heart in the moss! 

During these hikes the other kids are usually with Daddy trekking through the forest while Owen is slower so he's my buddy! 

The walk ended up being WAY longer than we thought it would, but it was fun. We were all ready for it to be over though! :) 

More sunlight streaming through. 

There were a few squirrels around our site. I had been encouraging Ella and Zeke to make a cute house for them and then leave them a food offering. They weren't interested at first, but they finally came around. 

They had so much fun using all sorts of stuff they found in the forest to make this cute house. I love how the walkway up to the house was even lined. 

They put some bread in the house! The squirrels even started coming around to get there food while we were still there. 

It wasn't a crazy busy trip and that's exactly what we needed. It was only 3 nights, but it was so refreshing. On our way home we dropped the kids off at Ga-Ga & Pa's since Michael and I were leaving the next day for his Water Conference in Kennewick. 

Ella was so worried that she was going to miss out on her sunflower blooming so I promised her I send her a picture. We all love sunflowers!!!

Maui Trip 2022 - Day 8

Our last morning in Maui...we got up and ate breakfast, packed up our suitcases and then headed down to sit at the beach.

 I wanted to soak in the sounds of the ocean and the feel of the sun for as long as I could!  

Lovin' that shade! :) 

The water was crashing up against the wall! 

So pretty! 

Saying goodbye to my palm trees! 

And this view! 

We said goodbye and then headed for the airport. Michael stopped at a gas station and got gas while I got some candy for the plane. We returned the rental car and then walked over to the terminal. The whole process was so streamlined it was fantastic! 

Remember how the Alaska employee said my name was fixed for the return trip as well....well it wasn't! At this point I figured if they let me on the plane with Michael name they weren't going to care if my first name was missing a D in it. That was the absolutely correct....they did not care one bit! The only hiccup we had going through security was we both had water in our water bottles and they said we'd either have to chug them or someone was going to have to go back outside and dump them. We both chugged them! 

On the plane heading home! 

This time around we didn't even pay the money for the wifi....it wasn't worth the hassle. We both just read our books and had a fine time. 

Our flight made great time. We landed at 9:15pm when we weren't supposed to land until 9:57pm. Since we were getting in so late I didn't want Papa & Ruth to come get us. I figured it was about time we take an Uber and see what that was all about. That made it so Papa & Ruth could get the kids all in bed and then head home to rest. I checked out both Lyft and Uber and Uber was less expensive. We followed the signs to the parking garage and waiting about 10 minutes for our driver to show up. Our driver didn't speak much English, but we got home just fine. 

The kids were all in bed and most of them were sleeping, but we couldn't wait to go in and kiss on them. After taking a shower and getting into jammies we came downstairs to get a bite to eat and watch a show. 

That's when I noticed this amazing sand & shell bowl. I figured Ella had made it and later I found out I was right. She had collected shells and asked Papa if they could go to the store and buy a bowl of some sort. They found this one at the Thriftstore and then they stopped at the beach so Ella could get some sand. It turned out so cute and was so fun to see a bit of the beach right inside our house! 

Maui Trip 2022 - Day 7

Day 7 was our last full day on Maui. We didn't really have any plans at all this day so we figured we'd just wing it. Robin called me up and told me they were wanting to go to Lahaina. I said we were up for going since I wanted to buy myself a tank top that matched Ella's. We took our time and didn't meet up until after 10am. 

Another one of my goals for that day was to find something for each of the boys. We couldn't come home with just something for Ella. We went to a few different stores than the ones Michael and I went to a few days before and we finally found something for each of the boys. I got Jack and Zeke these cute sparkly eyed turtle stuffies. I knew they would love them and I think I've finally figured out how to make Jack happy when it comes to buying him a surprises. You get him the exact same thing as someone else. I figured they would like to have more than one turtle just so they could play together, but knew that if I got Zeke something different he would have wanted what Zeke had so I pretty sure this was going to be a win win situation. As for Owen we bought him a surf board bookmark. I know it's small, but honestly he's at the age right now where he doesn't play with anything and he doesn't care about clothes. He does however love to read and he's always leaving his books around without marking his page so he'll just turn his book over and leave it open on the couch. I was hoping this would be something he'd actually use! 

Cousin Michael knew that I loved my hammock so he had to take me to the Hammock Store. The two Michael's and Robin headed over to Captain Jack's for drinks once I got roped into sitting in a hammock. I absolutely did not have plans to buy a hammock, but Michael said he knew the moment I sat it one I was going to buy a hammock. I bought a hammock! I got the one that's shown in that picture it's just gray. I think it will be nice to have it under the covered deck so I can sit in a hammock year round and not just in the summer time. It's the most comfortable hammock ever! I can't wait for Michael to hang it up! 

After our shopping adventures were over we headed back to The Sands of Kahana to hang out and play cards. We walked over to Miso Phat for dinner around 4pm. Since we had missed our chance to go there a few days before we wanted to make sure we got a table. 

Miso Phats was super yummy and I can see why they are so popular. Super cool vibe...they even let you bring your own drinks in. Everyone else got alcohol, but I was so excited the store we went to had Fresca. I hadn't had one of those in years. 

After the yummy sushi it was back to Michael and Robin's for our last Maui sunset! 

Breathtaking! 

We could not have asked for a better trip! I had no idea how it was all going to go not having gone on a trip like this with family before, but it was so much fun. I wasn't sure if we were going to spend much time hanging out, but once we got together we just had a blast. I think it was the perfect amount of together time with family and then just time with me and Michael alone. Hours of fun, tons of memories and we're already planning our next trip to Maui together in 2024!!! 

Life is better together! 

Aloha!