We spent almost a full month in Washington. After being stuck home because of Covid it was so fun to see family and have activities to do! Since we were there so long and I have so many photos, I divided my posts up into chunks to make it more manageable. During our first week we had just a couple days to ourselves before cousins showed up, and then the party began!
Grandmari had some fun new puzzles she got from the Little Free Puzzle box and the kids made quick work of them. They are turning into puzzle masters!
I don't even remember what snack Charlie was eating to get this messy, but it was clearly delicious!
Most parks were still taped off and closed for covid, but the Tam O'Shanter playground was open and the kids had a fun time playing
Tubing was maybe the activity the kids were most looking forward to. They had very good memories of tubing last summer and couldn't wait to go again! I’m glad they’re old enough to by themselves now because I’ve found that tubing is one thing I do not enjoy as an adult. It was fun when I was a kid, but now I prefer to sit and watch. Davey and Sophie had a long, wild ride together and loved every minute of it.
Charlie was supposed to take a turn with me, but fell asleep on the boat. Poor kid.
Aunt Nat and Briggen were the first to arrive and we had a wonderful morning picking raspberries with them! Faye and William were also able to meet us in Carnation to help. Sophie finally was brave enough to try eating a berry and discovered she loves them! The boys are still not sure, but had a good time picking them off the bushes.
We had four boxes of berries that weighed just under 15 pounds to process this year. First up was sorting them all into trays for eating, while setting the squishier ones aside for jam. It's a messy job!
Next up was jam making. The family has grown large and everyone wants some so we had lots of containers to fill this year. I think we made close to 30!
After the Hindman crew arrived we took a hike to Coal Creek Falls. It was raining when we got to the trailhead, but that didn't deter us and soon things let up and it turned into a good day. We moved at a snail's pace, but made it there and back with only one epic meltdown (Charlie decided he was DONE about a half mile from the car). Coming from Texas it sure felt good to be surrounded by so much green.
A family friend's brother gave us a neat presentation on bee keeping. The weather was actually nice, but we are all wearing hoods to keep the bees out of our hair. He explained all about his honey collecting process and pulled several honeycombs from the hive to show us the bees at work. Paco also gifted us all a jar of honey afterward and it was delicious!
We had a swim session at the neighbor's pool one afternoon. They heat their pool so it's nice and warm and the view of the lake is incredible. Our kids look forward to this every year.
Griffin turned 100 days old while we were traveling!
The Bateman's let us come swim at their beach one afternoon so the kids could play in the sand
Recreating a picture - Davey in 2016 vs. Griffin in 2020
Another recreation - they are clearly related, but Davey was a brick and Griffin is more long and lean
After all the excitement these cousin buddies enjoyed unwinding on the bed with a show. Having them together this week was a glimpse into what it would be like having twins, since they are only 9 days apart. One would do something and then they other would copy it and then they would just laugh at each other. Once we heard laughing from the bathroom and found them pumping shampoo all over themselves and the floor. They smelled very good after we got them all cleaned up!
