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!

The Howes Adventures in Wonderland

Wonderland is a small theme park near our house. We bought tickets in advance through Sophie's school as part of a fundraiser, but then never got around using them during the summer because it was either too hot, or too late, or we were traveling. Labor Day was the last before closing for the season though, so we finally made an effort to get there and the kids had so much fun! 

Wonderland has a mix of little kid rides, small roller coasters and thrill rides, and water rides. I spent the first half with the two boys while Dave took Sophie on the bigger rides that had height restrictions, then later we met up and did a few rides together, and then I took the big kids while Dave hung out with Charlie. In hindsight, we should have gotten a babysitter and left Charlie behind because there was so little he could do, but it all worked out with a little bit of shuffling. 

The favorite ride of the day was the swinging pirate ship. We rode it at least 5 or 6 times. It was big enough to give them a thrill and make your stomach drop, but not so big or rough that the kids were scared. I am glad to see they all have an appetite for rides since I love roller coasters!

The boys and I riding the train around little kid land

The carousel is always fun and Davey was so excited to get the only dragon among the horses

We were worried it would be crowded since it was a holiday and the last day of their season, but lines were short and sometimes there was no wait at all.

One happy boy and one stunned boy on the firetruck ride

Sophie riding Avalanche by herself because Davey was too short and I had to stay back with him, and Dave was off with Charlie. She is so brave!

I took the bigger kids on a log flume ride that turned out to be more intense than expected. The wave at the bottom of the drop was HUGE and completely soaked us from head to toe. Sophie handled it ok, but Davey was not very excited and told me to never take him on that ride again.

This jet stream racer ride was a favorite of both kids. You just sit in a raft and then jets of water blast you through a tunnel. Quick and simple, but it made them smile every time!

 Headed home after a hot, fun day

August Roundup

August is a transitional month for us. We spent the first half having fun in North Carolina and Dallas, and then the second half starting school and putting our routine back together. Here are a few mother moments from our month:

We got back from our summer travels to a few problems at home. Our AC had gone out amd the house could barely stay below 80 degrees, the battery on Dave's car had corroded and needed replacing, one of our garage doors had a fried circuit board, and our internet cable had been severed - yikes! I guess that's what happens when you go on vacation and neglect real life for a month.

Sophie lost her other top tooth! She has such a cute smile and was excited to be able to drink a smoothie without opening her mouth.

Our pools close the second week of August, even though it's still 90-100 degrees here until the end of September. Since we can't swim, we often hit the splash pad to beat the heat. 

Charlie loves to say "CHEESE!" and pose for the camera. He has the cutest little smile. 

I brought Charlie into the front seat with me to ride through the carwash because it scares him. While he didn't cry sitting with me, he was still slightly terrified!

Family bowling night at WT! I almost rolled a turkey on the last frame to beat out Dave.

Chalk fun at the library

These two hardly ever get along (Davey loves to push Charlie around and take everything away from him) but every now and then they have sweet moments together. 

August 2019 Video Clips

Sophie starts 1st grade and Davey starts Letter Group!

Sophie started 1st Grade on August 13th, which seemed really early, but she was ready! We had a full summer of swimming, friends, and travel and it was time to get back to the regular routine. Sophie had a great kindergarten year and was excited to be a 1st grader now. She has made great progress with reading (starting 1st grade at a 2nd grade level), is a math wizard, and loves everything art and science. She was also excited to find out that a friend from church was in her same class! 

Looking way too grown up for a first grader

We missed Back to School night since we were in Dallas, so the day before school started we went and got registration finalized, found her classroom and met her teacher. 

All ready for her first day! Dave dropped her off out front this year and she walked in all by herself to find Ms. Gammon's class.

The boys played well together while Sophie was gone, but were very excited when it was time to go pick her up at 3:00. Charlie loves Sophie and can't wait to see her each afternoon.

We got some after-school slushies at Sonic to celebrate completing her first day!

A week later Davey had his first day of Letter Group, a joy school with 6 other families from our stake. He was so excited to do something "grown up" and carry a back pack just like Sophie. Each Wednesday he goes to a different house from 10:00-11:30 to learn about a different letter. We get to host Letter Group at our house every 7th week. It will be a good warm up for preschool next year!