Eastern Washington Trip!

On July 13th, Ella and I set out on a girls trip to Eastern Washington.

But first we had to coax Charlie off the roof. He's been getting up there a lot lately...I honestly thing he just likes the attention. 

To get him down all you have to do is go over to the garbage can enclosure and then shake his treats. He jumps right down. 

I swear I feel like he has us trained! 

Our way over to Pateros was exhausting! There was an accident on Hwy 18 so I got off to take back roads to go up I-90 instead, but of course so did everyone else. We left our house at 10am and didn't get to I-90 until noon! 2 hours!!! We stopped in Cle Elm...which should normally only take an hour and a half to get to, but it took us almost 3 hours! We got lunch at MCD's and just ate in the van to make up some time. 

Our plan for this trip was to visit with the Dial family in Pateros for a few days and then drive over to Spokane to spend a few days with Logan. 

That first night with the Dial's the girls all had basketball or soccer practice so we joined them and watched. After that we went to the bakery and got fruit smoothies for a snack. 

Back at the trailer Rachael made dinner and then we sat around the fire. I was terrible at taking pictures on this leg of our trip. 

The next day we packed a picnic lunch and headed over to some friends of a friends house and spent a few hours on Alta Lake.

It was hot out so the water felt amazing. 

It was so nice getting to visit with Rachael. I miss getting to see her everyday! 

The kids hung on on the water on paddle boards, or innertubes. 

We left there, went back to the trailer, cleaned up and then got ready to go help out at the Farmer's Market and with Movie in Park. We got pizza for dinner from the Bakery there in Pateros. This weekend was Apple Pie Jamboree. I didn't get apple pie, but they had strawberry / rhubarb which I love! 

The movie was the new Puss in Boots one and it was a little strange. We stayed out until way late....almost 11pm and then we had to come back to the trailer and set up a tent for the kids to sleep in. Ella didn't actually end up sleeping in the tent since the kids were making too much noise. She slept with me in the second trailer that Lance and Rachael have. The girls all had to be at their basketball tournament early the next morning. I told Rachael that Ella and I would sleep in and then join them for the parade that started at 11. 

When I woke up I did not feel very well...the heat in Eastern Washington is intense and we were basically out in it for the whole day. My body felt it. I knew that this day which was Saturday, July 15th was filled with a bunch of festivities and of course they were mainly outside...plus they were having a fireworks show that night. I talked it over with Ella and felt it would be best if we just headed for Spokane early right after the parade was over. We were planning on leaving on Sunday morning first thing anyway so we weren't heading out that much earlier just by about a half a day. 

So Ella and I packed up, went to the Pateros, watched the parade....Ella got to enjoy a white popsicle. Then we watched the last basketball game Kendra played it, we said our goodbyes and we were off. We stopped at MCD's in Brewster to get food and be on our way. Ella seemed quiet and mainly tired, but later during our drive to Spokane she threw up in the van. Thankfully she got it in the MCD's bag and not everywhere in the van. 

When we got to Jen's house, Ella threw up again and then went right to bed. Jen's family and I went over to their neighbors to hang out for a bit and a little while after that Ella came out feeling so much better.  

Logan got a new kitten....his name is Rocket although I think he looks like a Parker. He is the cutest thing! They also got a new dog Denali. Rocket and Denali are best of friends. It was so fun watching them play. 

On Sunday, July 16th we headed up to Ed & Penny's house....Logan's grandparents. We hadn't been to their house in years...I think prior to Covid. They have a great pool and a beautiful property. 

We all had a blast playing around in the pool to keep cool! 

We also ordered some of the best pizza I've ever had. It was from West Side Pizza which we actually have over by us so I will be ordering it someday. The pizza was called Tropical Heat. It has Pepperoni, Sausage, Tomatoes, Jalapenos & Pineapple. If you don't think pineapple belongs on pizza I'm not sure we can be friends....j/k! We also sat around visiting and playing games. We played Five Crowns and I ended up winning with a total score of 36!!! That's the lowest score I've ever gotten! 

On Monday, July 17th, we were supposed to go shopping and get Ella's ears pierced, but she wasn't feeling good again. She had another day of throwing up. We are in the process of trying to figure out why her body is doing this. Please keep her in your prayers as we still don't know what's going on. So instead of going out we just hunkered down. The girls mainly watched TV while Jen and I played Azul. 

Thankfully the next day Ella woke up feeling right as rain so I we got all ready and headed out for our annual trip to Silverwood. 

Boulder Beach here we come. 

Conner was going to come with us and then Papa...Jen's Dad...was going to meet us there and take him around, but he decided he didn't want to come so it was only the 4 of us ladies. 

We found out usual spot and set up our blankets and towels. 

We sat around for a bit and ate some food and then decided to go in the lazy river. 

At one point we took the girls over to one of the wave pools. We lost them in the wave pool and then found them again. We must have just missed them....poor Logan tried to duck under a wave and ended up hitting her face on the bottom of the pool. Thankfully she wasn't badly injured and her braces were okay. Her lips were red and swollen, but that was about it. Jen and her went to first aid and got some ice to put on her face. 

We ate some more lunch and then also went back in the lazy river. 

We of course had to get ice cream. Ella wanted Dippin' Dots, but the rest of us got the giant soft serve cones that have to be put in a cup they are so big. Oh my....I look forward to that ice cream all year long! 

After drying off for a bit we decided to change our clothes and go see if we could catch the train. In all the times we've come we've never been able to make it on the train. The first time we tried to get on it was too full so we decided to go shopping a bit before going back to wait in line. I bought myself a sweatshirt and a poncho. Ella got a sweatshirt and an ankle bracelet. 

Once we finished our shopping spree it was back to the train station to wait. 

This time we got on the train! 

The show was really cute and I'm glad we've finally seen it! 

Jen got a picture of these pretty girls. I just love their friendship and how they can go months on end without even talking and just pick right back up where they were. True friends are so hard to come by! 

Per tradition we always go to The Cracker Barrell for dinner. 

I was just taking a selfie of Ella and I, but Jen decided to jump in on her way back from the bathroom. :) 

We all order the same thing...the lemon pepper trout. We all just get different sides. I have to have the country beans and the fried apples. Yummy!!! 

The next morning it was time to pack up and head out. It's always hard to leave, but we had plans to possibly see Logan at the end of August so we had that to look forward too!