I am in the back corner of the back room of the public library in the small town of Acton. When I look up, I see no one. I hear nothing. I'm kind of tempted to do nothing but sit here and enjoy doing nothing.
James is back at the RV Park with all three girls doing mountains of laundry and giving spelling tests.
He happened to have 5 days off in a row that coincided with a short break from his classes. So I thought I would jump at the chance to have a Mom's day away....at the library. I know, very exciting stuff.
I just want to set one thing straight. This is not a perpetual vacation. I know we all like to put our best foot forward in social media and I just want to make it clear that this isn't always easy. In fact, most of the time it is very hard. There are piles of dishes, but no dishwasher, piles of laundry but no washing machine, ENERGETIC kids, but limited space to go outside and play without direct supervision. There are days when I call my Mom wanting to cry and I would give anything to run the kids over to her house for a few hours (or days). The last date night we had was when Mom flew to Washington....in January. We miss our family on a daily basis.
Having said all that, I wouldn't change a thing. We have been creating memories with our kids that will always be special to all of us. They are learning things in ways that I could have never imagined or planned for. Yes, we all make friends and then leave them but it is still worth it to have had those relationships while we did. Most of this post is going to be about our time in Washington and then some of our first thoughts about L.A.
While living in Washington we....
Went to Snoqualmie Falls
Had visits from family
Spent time with our new friends
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| Chris and Toni |
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| Scott |
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| Hugh |
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| Andersons |
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| Lucy and Alyssa |
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| Carolyn and Curtis |
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| It looks like all the other teams are distracted by Chris and Scott |
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| Tom and Patty |
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| Alyssa, Kelly and Addison |
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| Patrick and Taylor |
Every time we move we pray for good neighbors. It doesn't matter how nice a place is if you have unfriendly neighbors. The people at Lakeview were so welcoming. Many of the residents and some of the camp workers came to Taylor and Lucy's birthday party. Taylor makes friends with whomever she meets. And it doesn't necessarily have to be a kid. She bonded with Patrick over their mutual care of all the camp cats. He is probably still recovering from the experience of hearing a child talk so much. Her other friend Tom let her sit outside with him learning to make fires, whittle wood and play chess. Hugh, the camp host bought Taylor a BB gun and even gave her his 1st place medal from a national trap shooting competition. The first day we arrived at Lakeview we saw 3 little girls outside their RV checking us out to see what was going on. Our kids played with Kelly, Lucy and Zoey every chance they got. Carolyn may have cooked for my family more than I did and Chris and Toni opened their home to all of us to get together and eat. So I'd say our prayers where certainly answered. We had great neighbors there.
Found and played with various critters
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| Patrick told Taylor how mean people are to the cats during the busy Summer season so she made this sign for the office. |
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| WARNING! Did you know slug slime is EXTREMELY hard to wash off skin? |
Experienced being around Seahawk fans at a Super bowl party near Seattle
Lived in a beautiful family friendly campground on Lake Tanwax
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| our last full day in WA |
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| It didn't snow at the campground so Hugh brought a bit of snow back from Paradise for the kids to play with. |
Went to the Washington State History Museum
Flew back to Texas for a busy 10 days
Explored the Olympic Peninsula
Kalaloch Beach
Hoh Rainforest
Hurricane Ridge
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| He isn't attacking Addi he's just very into what he's teaching them. They are working on their latest Junior Ranger Badge. |
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| Elsa in her native habitat...it was soooo COLD here! |
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| HWY 101 makes a huge circle around Olympic National Park which fills up much of the Olympic Peninsula. It is one of the most beautiful drives I've been on. |
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| Why this picture matters: Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove series is based on her home town of Port Orchard. One of the places the characters go to frequently is DD's on the Cove which is based on Amy's on the Bay. And that- is why it made our list of stops during our weekend on the peninsula. But they had delicious sea food too! |
Took a trip to Victoria, British Columbia
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| Fan Tan Alley |
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| Back in the U.S. |
So....there's that...and then there is Los Angeles. It's a bit different.
First of all, I haven't been able to convince any family members to come and visit. So if anyone will be in the L.A. area let us know! We'd be happy to have visitors! Maybe we can plan a successful outing. So far we are 1 for 3. You have to be very deliberate about your plans here. Plan around the traffic and tourist activity. We ate at McDonalds on Sunset Blvd yesterday because it was on our way to the Griffith Observatory. My kids weren't allowed out of my sight. I don't care if you are 10, I'm going to the bathroom with you. Also- people drive extremely fast here. Our truck is really a pain to park in big cities but we are both getting pretty good at it. We couldn't live without a backup cam.
We do have great neighbors though. The third day we were here Taylor opened the door during a break from school and found a gift for her from our neighbor Holly. Our other neighbor is Denise who travels with her husband who is a travel nurse! in the ER!
So wish us luck. It feels like getting into L.A. and doing something with three kids is more of an exercise in determination than a nice leisurely outing.
