Sammamish Christmas, Part 5 (Final Fun and Heading Home)

Our trip this Christmas was all about family. Normally there are so many activities that we try to squeeze in (the gingerbread house display, garden of lights, tickets to the theater, holiday carousel, ward party, etc...), but thanks to covid, none of those were happening this year. Sometimes the togetherness was a bit loud and messy, but most of the time it was wonderful. So many great memories with family were made and we enjoyed it to the fullest!!

Reading books, and more books, and more books with GG Grandma

Charlie and Grandmari ready to cheer on the Seahawks

We did at least six puzzles over the break

One more trip up to the cabin for some skiing, snow cones, and fun

Griffin was in a bad habit of going to bed for just an hour or so, and then waking up once the games started. He thought it was so fun to party with the grown ups after all the other kids were in bed.

We had just one ski day on our trip. The snow was very heavy and I felt like I could barely power through it all, but was still so happy to be back on the slopes. Now that we are exiting the baby years, this will hopefully happen more often!

Building a lincoln log village while mom and dad ski

One more round of snow play before packing up to return to Texas

Dave helped the kids build a tunnel slide in the snow bank

We made a lineup of snowmen in the road for the plow to destroy when it came back down the street

Griffin loved all the extra attention he got during our stay

Goodbye snuggles with GG. She was an unexpected guest for our trip, but we were so, so glad to see her.

Video Clips from our Christmas Trip

Sammamish Christmas, Part 2 (Christmas Eve & Day)

Christmas Eve and Christmas are always such exciting days with kids. Luckily we had lots of activities to help pass the time as we counted down the hours until Santa arrived. We also had the Fish fam, Derek's family, and GG grandma arrive, which added to the fun (and noise)! It was so good to be together, even if it meant running the dishwasher three times a day.

On Christmas Day we went down to get the kids from the playroom, and found that they had already snuck upstairs to check out what Santa had brought. Stinkers! I guess that's Santa's fault though, because he gave them headlamps in their stocking which was basically an invitation to go snooping around in the early morning hours. They were thrilled with the gifts and each received a letter from Santa about their main present that was waiting at home because Santa knew it would be too big to fit in our suitcases. Maybe he is a smart guy after all!

Decorating gingerbread houses. Check out Davey in that top photo - he just couldn't help himself!

Making cookies for Santa - It's always a tricky getting the spritz dough gun to work properly, but Uncle Brodie had the magic touch that day!

Playing Christmas bingo before bedtime

The cookies the kids made earlier were very popular. It's good Grandmari remembered to set some aside for Santa or there wouldn't have been any left!

Reading the Night Before Christmas

GG Grandma arrived with Paco just before bed and the kids snuck in a few snuggles before saying goodnight. Davey especially loves her and jumped right in her lap.

After the kids were in bed, the adults played a new game the Fish Fam taught everyone. You put bills down all over the table and then roll a soda can at the targets. If it stops on a bill, you get to keep it. The girls were clearly superior at this game!

Santa came! His bag must have been much lighter after leaving these full stockings and extra surprises for our family.

Four very happy kids on Christmas morning

After Santa gifts we had breakfast, and then opened the family presents under the tree. These kids sure were spoiled this year, and loved every minute of it.

Our code names theme for the year was breakfast cereals. I had a fun time helping to make all the name labels. This year I was Honey Bunches of Oats :)

Mel & Boys Trip to the Pacific Coast!

On our summer trip to Seattle the boys had a layover in San Jose, where my Lambert grandparents live. It seemed a shame to be so close and not be able to visit, so in September I planned another trip to Seattle via San Jose, but this time we stopped and stayed with them for a few days! We had a great time visiting with them, and then we continued up to Seattle to see my parents, with a quick side trip to also meet up with my sisters in Camas, WA. We were gone for a total of 10 days and had so much fun!

Thanks to our Southwest companion pass, the boys and I were all able to fly on a single ticket (paid for myself, Davey was my companion, and Charlie is still a lap child).

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA: the boys had so much fun visiting with GG Grandma and Gray. Highlights from this visit including spending lots of time in their beautiful backyard, and a day trip to Monterrey to enjoy the aquarium and the coast. 

I had told Davey that GG Grandma was going to take us swimming in her community pool after we arrived, but the weather never warmed up that day. It was cloudy and 65 degrees, but he wanted to go anyway so we watched from the side in jackets while he splashed around in the cool water. 

Coloring and eating lots of spaghetti - he requested this for lunch every day because I guess GG Grandma makes the best spaghetti noodles. 

Helping make dinner

Charlie exploing the front yard with GG Grandma

We walked the boys over to the school park on Sunday to burn off some energy

Davey helping Gray in the garden. He picked lots of tomatoes and dug up a little onion

My grandparents were able to borrow enough guest passes from ward friends for all of us to go to the aquarium for free!

The kelp forests and giant pacific octopus were pretty amazing

Checking out the rays

Out of the pier overlooking the ocean

They had lots of binoculars available for spotting wildlife. We were able to watch a family of otters floating out in the bay!

Jellyfish are always mesmerizing to watch

Two kids in a clamshell

Watching the penguin feeding

After the aqarium we drove along the coast to visit Carmel, since I have never been there. They boys were both exhausted and slept the whole way home. 

One last night of bedtime stories with GG Grandma before leaving the next morning

BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON: The flight from San Jose to Seattle is nice and quick, which is great because our travel days this year have normally been marathons. We arrived on a nice day and were able to spend time at the State Park and down at the lake. 

Weather in Seattle in September can be all over the place so we used a cooler day to visit Kelsey Creek Farm. The kids loved seeing the animals, and the playground had been remodeled and was decorated like a farm - so cute!!

Eating dinner at Sahalee so we could "play Paco's golf" was one item on Davey's bucket list

There are so many great parks near Grandmari's park and we had fun exploring a few of them. Amarillo doesn't have the best park so it was nice to get outside and take advantage of some free fun!

We had one day that was warm enough for lake activities! We took out the kayaks, rode the wave runner, swam and ate watermelon. We love the lake!

CAMAS, WASHINGTON & PORTLAND, OREGON: My sister lives in Camas, which is a few hours south of Seattle. My mom and I drove down with the boys one morning so we could see her new house, spend time with her family, and meet Luna's litter of puppies! My sister and her daughter also drove over from Oregon so we got to see them too!

Luna had 4 puppies a week before we arrived. They were so tiny and cute!!

Charlie and cousin Briggen in the bath

We went to the OMSI in Portland, OR during our stay. It's on our museum pass so we got free admission and the boys had fun exploring and trying new things. 

Testing out static electricity!

All the girls

Poor Charlie took a tumble down the front steps and got a little banged up, but luckily it looked worse than it was and he healed up in just a couple days.

We took the boys for a walk before driving back to Seattle and they had a great time throwing rocks in the water.

A farewell rainbow on our last day in Washington

Ready for the trek home. It's always a long day going from Seattle back to Amarillo, but these boys have been good little travel companions this year!