Day Three, Cape Disappointment Charter Fishing

Knowing my eldest son has a deep love for fishing, I worked extra this summer to give him an early Birthday present. James took Wes charter fishing on the ocean. They had to wake up super early to board the boat at 5:15 am. As soon as that alarm clock went off, I gave Wes a gentle shake, "Do you know what time it is?" He popped up out of bed ready in 30 sec. Wes caught 6 altogether. The boat had 12 people aboard, and the limit is two fish per person. It doesn't matter who pulls them in, once the boat catches 24, the trip is done. The boys brought back 4 beautiful fish. 3 Silvers, and one Chinook.   

The best part! 

Fish on Wes! Look at your pole!

James spent a good part of his morning researching how to use the whole salmon. We got fillets, fish cakes, smoked, fish steaks, and even saving the fish heads for fish head soup. Yum yum! Bet you cant guess what we are having for dinner ;-)

Day Two at Cape Disappointment

This day wasn't so bright an sunny, but that didn't stop us. From our camp, we hiked out onto the North Jetty. Its this long narrow stretch of rocks an sand extending into the ocean. Along the sides there are many fishermen casting and reeling in their live bated hooks waiting to catch the "Big One" That's where we lost Wes. He wanted to watch them all day. James an Tim ventured out a little further then I could with the little ones. At the end of the Jetty, it becomes pretty dangerous with deep pits, sharp rocks, and huge waves. James an Tim saw a sea lion swimming near the Jetty. Tim thought that was pretty cool.

Those cargo ships are huge. Kids enjoyed pointing them out as the fog lifted.

It was nap time for half our crew, so James, Wes and a couple of our friends headed down the beach.

Love this boy. He is so adventurous. Taking in all the elements, using all his senses. Rain or shine, Wes would rather be outside. 

Saw this guy as they headed back to camp.

Day One Continued

The weather was so nice, we headed for the beach. There was a little walking trail that led us to the great little beach with massive rocks to explore, large pieces of drift wood to build forts, and water as far as the eye could see. 

My children. It doesn't matter if the water feels like it just melted off a glacier, they will still play in it. 

There were actually some good waves forming out there. We saw a guy with his paddle board catching the surf, having a great time too. 

The sand was so warm. It was a nice contrast from the frigid water. Ocean sand makes great castles.   

Rowan found a warm puddle of ocean water to play in. 

Weston the mighty castle maker.

James helped Alli dig a deep hole. He then convinced her to get in it. Hehhee, then he buried her once she hopped in. Turkey daddy

I wanted to bury one of my kids. Tim volunteered. He said he felt like he was receiving a spa treatment the sands warmth felt so good.

Weston the Merman. 

There were some moments I wasn't able to capture that I wish I could have. Like when James swooped me up and ran me into the waves.  I was fully dressed, screaming, begging him not to throw me in. It's in those unforgettable moments, as my kids come running towards the water to join us in our play, that I remind myself how awesome life is. Thankful my family is health, happy, and overflowing with joy. 

Cape Disappointment, Day one

I have had a huge craving for some beach adventure with my family. This year, after doing a little research  on cool places to camp on the WA coast, we set up camp at Cape Disappointment. Our neighbors, who have young children of their own, also thought that was a great idea, so they came along for the adventure. 

We arrived Sunday night, and began our exploration early Monday morning. We set foot on a 2 mile hike to one of Cape Disappointment's Light Houses. Didn't take Wes long to notice there were many creatures to pet an hold along the way.

This was a beautiful path. With thick green foliage, and vegetation growing on the trees, it made you feel like you where in the movie Avatar. The trail was well maintained with wooden walkways that hovered above water so you didn't have to swim across. 

The view from the light house.

The weather was beautiful for sight seeing.

So you had to be at least seven to enter into the light house. James took the kids up, since I'm not one for heights, and Rowan needed someone to keep him company. 

Saw this guy looking for some lunch by our camp.

Clover and Eddies Wedding

 September 2013, we headed north to attend Clover and Eddie's 2 day wedding extravaganza. They held the ceremony and festivities on a cute little farm just north of Bellingham WA. Their theme was Circus like, with professional circus performers, a tent of lights, and even a french fry stand. Most of the guests stayed in tents assembled on a field full of grass, making it a weekend full of wonderful socializing activities.  

 Weston, my wonderfully curious-big hearted-helper son, LOVED the french fry stand. And the guy who ran it, River, thought it was awesome Wes wanted to get involved. Wes is a natural giver. Making these french fries for others, watching people enjoy what he made, was priceless. I kid you not, Wes made french fries till the last potato was gone. He would go around the crowd asking people, "Can I make some fries for you?" and when he found a customer, he would race back to make it for them. Ask Wes what the best part of the weekend was, hands down, it was making fries.

 Whats nice about being with lots of people? It's the variety of friends and cousins to play with. And, the aunties who give free wagon rides.

 Nothing like an outdoor movie, especially when its The Princess Bride. My favorite is hearing people mimic the voices, and repeat the famous quotes along with the movie. "Inconceivable!" and "My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, now prepare to die."

 ...love is in the air

 What a beautiful day for a wedding. And the big red barn, that was gorgeous.

 Eddie made their arbor. It was beautifully decorated with big vibrant flowers.

 Wouldn't be a circus without the face painting, right? Love my little Timmy the tiger.

 And no wedding is complete without some death defying tricks to terrify the audience. See that crate full of eggs under the guy on the table? Yeah, that's what he was trying not to break. Forget about the board full of nails on his chest, and the two people who are about to stand on it, that's cake, pffft.

And now for a hair raising experience, lets put the bride an groom in the middle of some flame trowing jugglers. Whew, that was crazy close! So much fun! The people were great, the food was outstanding, and the entertainment priceless. We ended the night with a large bonfire and dancing to some awesome music provided by the DJ. We loved it all, and thank Clover an Eddie for letting us take part on their journey as Mr an Mrs Happily Ever After.

Tim's 9th Birthday Party! The Crood's Theme

Like my saber tooth tiger? It took me a while to figure out what kind of cake I was gonna make for Tim. I saw a step by step plan for a shark head cake and thought I could take those ideas and convert it into the Crood's saber tooth tiger. He is 3D. Hard to tell in the picture, but his mouth is wide open, =) I also spent the night before, sowing leopard and zebra print bandannas for the teams. Hahahha, made me feel so domestic.

This group was a hard one to please. We had lots of games planned, but some didn't want to participate, or were not great in supporting their teammates. So, we played, but it was more of a free for all then organized games. We just rolled with it, and all was good.

 They went for the food challenges, well, all accept for one who told me, "I don't like gummy worms." Wow, that was a first for me. Never met a kid who doesn't like gummy worms topped with whip cream!

Tim loved his cake. He was proud of me, =) Even though this party didn't go as smooth as I had planned, we all had a great time. Tim made out like a bandit. 9 Lego sets, huge Nerf gun, books, and almost $100 in cash! He deserved it though. I am proud of you Tim, you are a fabulous kid!

Weston's 10th Birthday! Survivor Theme

 What a great group of kids! This was one of the best birthday parties James and I have done for the kids. We decided to throw Wes a party with a Survivor theme.  James put together challenges with elimination, although, even if you were eliminated, you still participated in every event. The above photo is our two teams getting ready to kick it off with a classic three legged race!

Tim loved the lemon relay race!

 In this challenge, I hid some squares of bubble gum in a mound of whipped cream.  With hands tied behind their backs, we had them search for the gum with their face. The first person to blow a bubble won immunity!

What would survivor be without the nasty food challenge?  On the menu we have smoked mussels, sardines, and canned spinach!

Jacobs face tells it all!

But it paid off! Jacob won the game, and was voted the best survivor player!

The best part...Wes telling me that was the BEST birthday party ever! Not only him, but all  the parents and kids thought so too. We played Kickball, 3 crazy food challenges, 2 different relay races, rubber band shooting, in your neighbors yard game, and ended in a fantastic scavenger hunt.  For the cake, I bought some candy rocks and worms, and tried to make it look like the worms where digging holes through out the  cake. Love you Wes! It's kids like you that make me love being a parent!