Ashley Hipwell Visits {September 6-10}

As mentioned in our Ketchikan post, my niece Ashley was working up in Alaska this summer.  When she was making arrangements to head back home to Utah she asked if we’d be up for having her plan her flights so she could have a long layover with us in Seattle.  Of course!  I picked her up from the airport on Friday afternoon and we stopped at MOD pizza before heading to our house.  Jason and Katie had piano lessons that afternoon, but afterward we decided to pack everyone up and head to Lake Sammamish.  Abigail had a few friends join us and we enjoyed some snacks and the kids enjoyed some time playing in the water.

Carly didn’t join us at the beach because she was participating in a 50/20 – attempting to walk 50 miles in a 20 hour period.  I ended up joining up with the 50/20 on Saturday morning and was gone most of Saturday. More on the 50/20 to come…  I think Ashley worked on her online classes that morning and then Abigail took Ashley to the Falls in the afternoon and then we all went to our annual HOA BBQ that evening.  Unfortunately, the HOA failed to book the Schwan’s ice-cream truck in time so the all-you-can-eat ice-cream was missing from the event and we felt it DEEPLY.

Abigail took work off on Monday so that she could join Ashley and I in Seattle for the day.  Ashley visited the MoPop Museum when she was here with her sisters and Dad a few years ago and she wanted to revisit.  I think I’ve only been there once and it was pre-blogging years, possibly even pre-children years and back then it was called the EMP (Experience Music Project).  Anyhow, turns out it is a pretty cool museum.  There’s a fun room full of instruments and recording rooms where you can try out your musical skills (or in my case be reminded that you have no musical skills).

There are several areas dedicated to certain artists and lots of musical (and non-musical) memorabilia throughout the museum.  

Next up was Pikes Place where we checked out the gumwall, the donut stand, purchased some flowers and walked around all the shops.  

Ashley wanted to visit the Three Sisters restaurant where Kaitlyn, Lexy and her took a picture when they were here.  This picture was included at Lexy’s funeral and Tyrone has a tattoo of it as well.  

Ashley spoke to the owner a bit about her story, but I think there was too much of a language barrier for him to grasp it.  Ashley bought a tee shirt as a memento.

We had so much fun having Ashley in our home and getting to know her better!

Back to School

We only had one day between camping and heading back to school.  Which wasn’t nearly enough time to catch up on sleep, but we tried…

I cut Katie’s hair the night before…

Posting the above picture now, over three months later, reminds me I still haven’t straightened out a section of her hair in the back that is clearly longer than the rest.  

Carly, Jason, Katie and Drew’s first day of school was on Wednesday, September 4.  I woke up in time to see Carly off to her first day of TENTH grade – first day of school tradition and likely the only day I ever see her in the morning all year.

Jason had a delayed start so that the new incoming sixth graders could have the school to themselves for a couple hours.  So Katie and Drew were up next.  FOURTH & FIRST grade!  

I walked them to school today – again likely only a once per school year thing.  Our neighbor is Drew’s best little buddy and he walked with us.  These boys are in the same class this year which is so fun.

I should have had them standing side by side because Cooper looks so much bigger than Drew here which isn’t really the case

And then finally Jason was off to SEVENTH grade.

Abigail didn’t have her first day of school until a few weeks later – September 16.  She left for seminary that morning in the 5 o’clock hour and then went straight to Bellevue College for class so for the second year in a row her “first day of school” photo is a bathroom selfie at the college.  Our SENIOR in high school (and technically also a SOPHOMORE in college)

So apparently it’s a thing for the seniors to dress ridiculous in their senior photos. These are photos used for their ID cards – not the yearbook.  Yearbook photos are submitted by the students and are usually taken by a professional photographer of their choosing.  Anyhow, Abigail put her hair up into little buns and was wearing some funky glasses, but because the glasses were reflecting too much they made her take them off so her photo isn’t as funny as she’d intended – I actually think it’s pretty cute.

Labor Day Weekend @ Orcas Island

We were up this morning at 6am to finish packing up the car and were on the road by 7am. We were making good time and decided we had enough time to pop in to the Lynnwood Chick-fil-A to pick up some breakfast sandwiches and get back into their system for future coupons.

Orcas Island is only accessible by ferry and this was our first time there.  There were 11 families this year and instead of tent camping we had several cabins and a big lodge with a full kitchen.  So in actuality we weren’t really camping at all. Getting ferry reservations over a holiday weekend is an absolute must and it’s tough to get convenient times – there were a few families on the same ferry over with us.  I didn’t do a great job journaling and since my camera was busted I only have phone pictures, but in summary the weekend was an absolute blast and Orcas Island is so beautiful.  All of the kids had an amazing time, the cabins were nice, the food amazing and plentiful, the lake was picturesque, SO MUCH FUN!

This was our private beach and dock

Most of us brought paddleboards (the one we brought had a hole) and the facility also had several canoes available for us to use.

Carly ended up on canoe that filled up with water and overturned so a rescue crew ended up helping her and Kesley push it back to shore.

There aren’t any predators on the island so the deer are absolutely fearless and walked around our camp day and night.  Some of the kids even got close enough to pet and feed them (a no-no).

Our campsite was near several lakes and several of us ladies went on a long hike Saturday afternoon. It was so beautiful.

It is always a special experience to attend church during this weekend and today was no exception. The members on Orcas Island actually meet in a Methodist church and we more than tripled their attendance. Being fast Sunday it was neat to hear so many of our teens share their testimonies.  Per tradition there’s always a crew of kids (and an adult or two) who don socks with their sandals for church.

We hiked up to the top of Mount Constitution for some amazing views!  Lush green islands as far as the eye can see!

I really love the PNW!

Of course lots of games were played…

Not as much gaming for the adults this year, but we did spend several hours playing a sort of “name that tune” activity on evening.  Also, lots of fun conversations and storytelling over the campfire at night. 

We had a horrible situation occur on Sunday night.  I went into our cabin around 12-1am to go to bed.  Drew was the only one sleeping in the cabin with Justin and I since all the other kids joined up with friends in “kid cabins” – a first for Jason and Katie.  Anyhow, it reeked when I stepped inside and it didn’t take long to figure out that Drew had gotten sick on his top bunk and puked off the bed to the left and off the bed to the right and plenty of puke on the top of the bed as well. And Drew was sound asleep laying in it.  So, so gross. The kid had been eating licorice all night and I guess his stomach couldn’t take it. Drew was fine and after cleaning him up we relocated him to the others side of the cabin so we could clean everything up.  It took Justin and I probably an hour to clean up the mess – it was everywhere. 

Love these kids!

We tried to take an earlier ferry home on Monday afternoon, but everything was full so we headed back to the lake for a few hours to wait for our 8:30pm ferry home.  We got home super late – all the kids were out cold by the time we got home, but it was SO worth it.  Love this tradition!

Abigail put together a video of the weekend and I loved it so much I asked her if I could share it with the other families.  She was hesitant because the video was about her experience and didn’t represent everyone, but they loved it.   I love the connections these kids have made over the years and it was touching to see the memories made – especially since this was likely the last Labor Day camping weekend for Abigail and several others.

Summer 2019 {Week 11 : Partial - August 27 – August 29}

Tuesday, August 27

Today was so busy! First item on the agenda was to take Jason to his school for the back-to-school barbecue and give him the opportunity to find his classrooms and his locker. After which I dropped him off at home and headed to Costco and Fred Meyer to get some groceries for the family and start preparing meals that we need to bring to Labor Day camping. We are feeding 60 people this year! I got home in time to take Carly to cross country practice.  I had a very tight schedule to prepare dinner for my family and for another family in the ward who just had a baby before having to return to pick Carly up. Thankfully Jason and Katie were willing to help. Then I had to rush Jason off to his soccer practice while Carly finished cooking dinner for our family. By the time dinner was done and cleaned up I was exhausted and opted to change into my PJs and work on some things in the office instead of going to book club as I had planned. I hadn’t touched my inbox since returning home from vacation and had several things I needed to get done for a primary as well. It was a late night.

Wednesday, August 28

I slept terribly last night. I think it’s a combination of coming down with a bit of a cold as well as not getting much sleep last week and still getting over my sea legs. For the most part I was at home today aside from taking kids to sports practices. I spent most of the day in the office trying to figure out what to do about my broken camera, working on some finances, ordering Jason a few clothes to replace the ones stolen, etc.… This afternoon the kids broke out this summer boredom buster jar again. It’s been a couple weeks since we’ve been able to do that and it has not lost its appeal for the three youngest.

Thursday, August 29

Today was a packing, cleaning, shopping, kind of day. Thankfully I was able to catch an opening for a 10:20am ferry tomorrow instead of a 7:20am ferry tomorrow. Which means we can leave the house at 7am instead of 4am. Such a relief! Carly went with me into Issaquah to buy the rest of our groceries. We had $10 worth of credits at Baskin-Robbins thanks to T-Mobile Tuesdays so we split a triple scoop waffle cone and a cookie. She’s getting better behind the wheel, but still needs practice. Thankfully she still has six months before she turns 16. Justin got home late today from work and then worked until after 9pm so we didn’t get as much done tonight as I would’ve liked to which means we’ll need to wake up even earlier to make sure we have the car packed and ready to go.

Disney Alaska Cruise Video

Abigail just finished putting together a video of our Alaskan cruise and it is awesome (minus a few not so flattering videos of me – haha)  I gotta include it here so that we can rewatch it when we look back on our fun week exploring the Last Frontier.  Thanks Abigail!

Alaska Cruise {Day 7} – Day at Sea & Disembarkation Day

This morning was an opportunity to sleep in a little bit. Everyone opted to skip the 10am tickets that we had for the Princess Gathering. I spent some time relaxing in my room this morning after showering. Justin and I had brunch reservations at Palo at 11am. It was delicious! I liked location of Palo better on this ship - the Disney Wonder versus the Disney Fantasy. The views were pretty fantastic.  We enjoyed the variety of food and particularly liked the chicken parmesan. 

After brunch Justin went down to the pool with Katie and Drew. I was surprised how warm and beautiful today was and I wished that I had a swimsuit to enjoy the sunshine (another item stolen from the van). Instead I joined them on deck with a book and relaxed.  Dinner came too soon but gave us an opportunity to catch up with the big kids - I hadn’t seen Abigail, Carly or Jason all day.  After dinner we attended the Disney Dream show with the three younger kids. 

I was so tired and certainly not hungry at all but since it was the last night of the cruise and I hadn’t yet ordered room service I couldn’t resist placing an order at midnight for Mickey bars, french fries, and a cheese platter. It is a sad thing when you get to the point that you are forcing yourself to eat.  I made Abigail come to the room to eat a Mickey bar with me.

Disembarkation day is always a depressing day. What makes it worse is that we have to wake up super early and get out of our stateroom by 7am to go to breakfast. During breakfast I looked at the girls activity rings from their apple watches and noticed that they already had five stand hours at 7am. I asked Abigail what time they went to bed last night and she told me that they went back to their stateroom around 5:30am – 5:30am! No wonder they were conked out when I went in to wake them up around 6:45am – they’d only gotten about an hour of sleep.

After we got off the ship Justin took a few of the kids in a taxi to go pick up the van from getting the window repaired. Turns out that Toyota didn’t vacuum up the glass very well so they had to get that cleaned up before they could come back and pick up the rest of us waiting at the port.  It took us much longer than expected to make our way home. We had to wait at the border for about an hour or so to get back into the states. 

The girls weren’t the only kiddos who were tired.

We picked up some Little Caesars to eat in the car and dropped off Justin at work around 2:30pm. Once home we kicked into gear and got all the suitcases unpacked and started cycling through laundry.  Carly went to her first cross country practice today as she decided to pursue that instead of volleyball and Katie jumped right back into her soccer practices as well. This begins the craziness of the fall.