Ocean Shores

This weekend we went to Ocean Shores, Washington. The kids had a half-day on Friday, so we picked them up after school and got an early start on the road. There was a fair amount of traffic, but we still made pretty good time.

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The weather was pretty good, considering it's on the coast. Mostly it was very windy.

It was the perfect place to fly kites. There were several kite shops there, so we picked out a few. Ethan picked one out which was of course.....a shark. It's a pretty cool one, actually. We also got a basic diamond kite as well.

This one was taken at sunset on the beach. The wind was really whipping around, so they were only able to fly their kites for a little bit. Ethan was nervous while he was flying his. He was afraid it would whip right out of his hand. Eric had to help him reel it in.


We ate at some fun restaurants while we were in Ocean Shores. One was Dugan's Pizza. They have a specialty on their menu called the "Gotcha." It's a monstrous 26" pizza that they said is the equivalent of four large pizzas. I was dying to see one, but no one ordered one while we were there. Finally I gave up and when I went to the counter to pay for our meal I asked to see the pan that the huge pizza is cooked on, to get a judge on its size. The guy behind the counter complied, but I could just see the thought, "These stupid tourists...." running through his mind.


We ate at a few restaurants that serve fresh oysters. Eric is a huge fan. He loves them. Especially raw, or "on the half-shell." I tried one again (I do every time, thinking maybe this time I'll like it, but I never do.)

This one is called an "oyster shooter." It's a big, raw oyster swimming in a cocktail sauce....yumm. Eric loved it.

We explored some different places up the coastline and found an area of beach that was a little more protected, so the wind wasn't so strong. It turned out to be a beautiful afternoon. Ethan flew his kite, and the girls played in the sand. It was Erica's first time playing on the beach. It was fun to watch her. She kept putting the sand and rocks in her mouth, of course, so she was a mess by the time we left!

Wow, Limber Elise!

Wish I could still do that!

Of course, I don't know if I ever could!










I love this one of Ethan and his shark. I can just hear the Duh Duh -- Jaws music.

Heidi took this one of Elise. It's a pretty cute shot.

These pictures are back on the main beach-strip. The sand is very flat. You can even drive onto it. Eric wasn't sure at first if he could, but everyone else was doing it! He kept saying, "It just feels so illegal!" What a rebel!




This is Heidi with her catch. It's a piece of driftwood that looked just like a dead fish when it was lying on the sand.

Ethan found a sink hole in the sand and had fun splashing in the freezing cold water. We'll just call him Popsickle Toes.

On our way home we stopped in Olympia and explored around a little. It was a lot warmer once we left the coast! This is at the little marina.

Most of the time we spent at the capital building.

The many Heidi's in front of the Washington Vietnam War Memorial. It was a good ending to a wonderful trip on this Memorial Day weekend!

On the Wings of Love

Okay, I know the title is hoaky-doaky, but I couldn't help singing it as I looked at these fun pictures of my sisters and shots I took from the airplane....

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My trip to Boise was definitely a great one!

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This year is a season of change for my family. All of the changes are essentially good, but sometimes it's nice to have a final little hurrah before the time is set.

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My youngest sister Diana has decided to give up her single status for good. She will be getting married at the end of the summer to a fellow she's known for several years. They were sweethearts in high school. Then while he served a two-year mission in Argentina, Diana waited patiently (well, at least she waited, anyway), writing to him every week. Now they will tie the knot and we will gladly welcome another addition to the family!

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Needless to say, things have been crazy at home. Diana and my mom have been trying to get wedding plans completed, all down to the final details, by the end of June. Diana is leaving then to do a two-month tour of Wales with a BYU study-group. It was a chance of a lifetime she couldn't pass up, so it has inevitably put wedding plans into overdrive to complete before she leaves. She will be returning home the week of the wedding. No problem, right?

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My other sister Lissa, my longtime best friend and confidante, will be moving cross-country to New Hampshire in a few short weeks. She and her family were there for several years about three years ago, while her husband Jon completed his medical residency at Dartmouth. Now he would like to complete his educational training by doing a rheumatology fellowship in the same location. We are all excited for them to begin this next leg of their journey, but will miss them terribly. My sis will no longer be a day's journey or a quick plane-ride away. I will really miss having her so close!!

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My youngest brother Mike will be graduating from high school in a few weeks. (Sorry, Dude, I don't have a picture of you to add below!) He has been accepted to BYU-Idaho, which he will attend in the fall. In January he will be turning 19, so will soon be serving a two-year mission to an as-yet-unknown location. We are very excited for all the changes in his near future. Of course, this also means that my parents will officially be empty-nesters. Who can predict what exciting adventures lay in store for them!!

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I was so happy to be able to be home and help out a little with Lissa's move (packing and transporting a household across the country is no small fete!) and Diana's planning (oh how I wish I was there everyday to help with this event!) Sometimes I feel so disconnected from the rest of the family since I live up here in Washington, so it was great to plant myself right in the middle of everything last week!

The three sisters:

ME, DIANA, AND LISSA

My lovely sis and her handsome catch, Jordan Dzubak. I teased her all week saying Diana Dzubak, Diana Dzubak! That's a mouthful!! (It's pronounced Dah-Zoo-Back, by the way, which makes it even more fun to say over and over!) :)

One of the casualties from Lissa's kitchen-packing was a huge Costco pail of chocolate chips. She didn't want to pack it with the rest of her pantry items since it would just melt and be ruined....so sad to see such waste! We therefore had a mission to use up as much of the chocolate chips as possible. So, we melted some down and started dipping whatever we could find in it. The first obvious choice was strawberries, which were very soon all eaten. Next we dipped some graham crackers, Nilla wafers, and pretzels (I know, not nearly as adventurous as I made it sound at first, but they were all really yummy!) In this photo, Diana is modeling an assortment of "Death by Chocolate" that was taken to a church function for a dessert auction fundraiser. We heard it took in a respectable amount of moolah.





All these shots were taken on my plane-ride home. I think this one could very well be a Southwest advertisement! Fly Southwest! I love the beautiful Cascades!



These were some interesting patterns of fields. I never knew how many fields are done in a circular pattern.




Just another fun pattern. I love how the trees fill in the four-leaf clover pattern!

Birthday Baby

On May 14th was Erica's first birthday. I can't believe my baby is one year old!!


I was in Boise visiting my family on her actual birthday, so we decided to celebrate it today once we were all together again. Good thing she doesn't know the difference!


Erica did pretty well ripping into her packages. Elise was a very avid observer, and couldn't help but participate a little too!

The hit of the party was Erica's new walker, that later converts to a riding car. She took right off with it!

Ahhh, even birthday girls get left out sometimes....

I made Erica a chocolate cake, decorated with safari animals....a giraffe, elephant, zebra, and rhinocerous.

Even her toes saw some action!

Mmmm, yummy rhino tail!!

Airplanes and Barf Bags

Today I boarded a plane headed to my hometown of Boise, Idaho. I thought that I had long since gotten over the excitement of actually flying. I mean, I've flown lots of times now, enough so that it doesn't seem like anything out of the ordinary. In fact, it's usually more of a hassle than anything else. But today....


Since this was a Wednesday afternoon flight it wasn't terribly busy. I was able to walk straight up to the security checkpoint (no line at all) and go straight on through. Then I had plenty of time to peruse the little shops that dot the airport with no distractions (read: whining children that were my own) to detain me. I didn't buy anything (which will be a great relief to Eric -- such enticements are way over-priced and completely unnecessary), but it was fun to wander around and look at all the cool artsy stuff the Seattle airport is full of. I was able to take the time to scope out and select anything I wanted for dinner since I didn't have anyone else but myself to please. And I was able to leisurely wait in these new comfy chairs that Southwest has set up in its terminal while the plane was preparing to be boarded.


When I boarded the plane there were plenty of seats to choose from, so I was able to sit by myself directly by the window.


Now the plane has just taken off. I have an incredible view from my window. I don't think I've ever had such a great view! No wing obstructing it, or other people in the way. I literally had my nose pressed up to the glass, fogging it up, so I could see as much as possible. I just watched as all the little cars and buildings grew smaller, to where they looked like a miniature setup in someone's basement. I kept waiting for a little tiny steam engine to chug through. The trees look so different from above, like lots of little pom-poms all clustered together. I saw several baseball fields, and a high school with big letters strewn all across the roof. I even saw several jewel-tone-blue swimming pools gleaming in the sunlight. Such brave souls to have outdoor pools in Seattle. The higher we got the slower all the tiny cars seemed to be moving. They looked like brightly-colored little ants tracing along a pathway carved in the lawn.


Then we passed through a cloud bank. Now we are high above the little wisps of white that look like frothy tendrils from a cotton-candy machine, and are surrounded by a vast expanse of beautiful blue.


I was so inspired by the view I had to start jotting down my thoughts. So I rummaged through my bag, trying to find a scrap of paper to write on. Of course there was nothing to be found. It's a new bag so I haven't had the time necessary to accumulate life's refuse yet. I didn't even have my napkin yet, the one they so thoughtfully place under your beverage cup.


So I am writing all this down on the barf bag found in the pocket of the seat in front of me....


That's how inspired I feel! I can tell this is going to be a great trip!

Today I Am....

Today I am thirty-four.


I have for the last several years been able to answer my age to be "thirty," in relatively good conscience. Now, not so much. There's something about a "four" that tips the scale more than a "three," enough so to put me dangerously into the realm of "middle-aged-dom."


When did all this occur? Why do I not feel any different than I did at twenty-four?


I distinctly remember thinking how old thirty sounded when I was still a teenager. But then I crept slowly toward that innocuous-sounding age, and tried to silently squeeze past it, hoping to not get "caught." True, I am always told how young I look. At work I am constantly bombarded with open-mouth stares when I reveal the fact that I have a thirteen-year-old daughter. I must always reassure them, saying, "Trust me, I'm older than I look...."


What can I say? I have excellent genes....


But now thirty-four is sounding so, well, old.


It wasn't old when Eric embraced that age (3 1/2 years ago, tee hee).


It just sounds old for me. It sounds like the age that one would assume you know what you are doing. Like you're a bonified adult. Like you've got your life together, or at least have some kind of plan that is unfolding beautifully before you.


I guess the true thirty-four is quite different than the imagined one from sixteen years ago.


So for now I will hold this crazy, shift-changing, identity-formulating number close to me and wear it like a badge. I will not be ashamed.


And I still feel like I'm twenty-four no matter what anyone else says! :)

Trip to Tulip Town: The Movie

I had so many great pictures from our trip to Tulip Town that I decided to make a movie of them. I also posted it onto YouTube so all of you, my friends, could see it. This is my first time posting a movie onto YouTube, or rather, the first time it has worked! After much trial and error, and after a three hour download for a three minute movie, it is finally up and running!

The video is not nearly as clear as I would have liked, but at least it's there to see! I hope you all enjoy it!

Tiptoe (or Trample) Through the Tulips

We finally did it! Every year we have lived in Washington we have wanted to go see the Tulip Festival in La Conner, but somehow it never seems to happen. Well, this year we took the plunge and just did it. Eric's Aunt Patty came for a visit this weekend and that gave us the excuse we needed. What an amazing experience!


The farm we explored was called Tulip Town, and it was awesome! Just rows and rows of brilliant, full color blooms! I took nearly one hundred pictures. It was difficult to select which ones to post! There were so many great ones!

These bright orange ones were my favorite. They looked like they had a yellow outline painted around the edges and they seemed to just glow. They were called "American Favorite." It seemed like a perfect name to me!

We tramped through row after row of flowers, trying not to mow any over, but I'm sure there were some that sustained some damage! Erica was pretty intrigued by the blooms. She kept trying to touch them. By the time we left the farm all of us were covered in dusty dirt from the mounds that the flowers were planted in. We were filthy!

Mormon Synchronized Swimming

I'm sure a lot of you have seen this video clip on You Tube before, but I thought it was so funny I just had to share. I keep laughing just thinking about it!