Short Trip to Vegas

Cameron had a short trip to Vegas for work and I decided to tag along with him.  We went up and it was mostly a work trip but we managed an early morning hike to red rocks.  I thought this canyon was quite beautiful.  

 We saw this donkey walking down the road...  I thought that was pretty cool.

Other than that I mostly enjoyed a day to myself while Cameron was at a trade show and that night we went to a buffet for dinner.  I realized I am not that big on buffets anymore... one of the things that comes with age and only being able to eat so much food.

bike ride to snow valley

One goal I had was riding my bike to snow valley from our house.  One day when Annika was at preschool I accomplished my goal!  

Rest of our trip to Washington

Everybody had to go back to work on Tuesday so Cameron and I went on a drive up to the ski resort up there and went to lunch.  Then we came back to the house and hung out with family all evening again.  On Wednesday we went up near Mount Rainier again... We managed a little walk and enjoyed the views before heading to the airport to go home.  

Drive to Mount Rainier

We had decided that we would go to a shooting range on Monday morning and shoot some of my dad's guns.  But when we got there it was only set up for long range shooting and so we couldn't shoot.  Without a plan my dad was thinking he would work on the boat but like all good children we begged him to take us up to Mount Rainier area so we could go on a hike.  After enough begging he relented and we began our adventure up to a lake near Rainier.

While on this drive the three kids were quite annoying... David, Stacey and I played corners... complained that we were touching each other... and in all other ways pretended we were still kids.  It was great fun.  I liked riding in my dad's truck like we did when we were kids and we tried to torture Amanda whenever we could.  

We got out and went on a hike around the lake.  It was cold up there... much more than we expected.  And it was very beautiful!

Right as we exited the National park David noticed some grouse (birds) along the road and since it was hunting season and he had a license ... he helped himself to two.  Cameron made a great retrieval of the birds and we had them the next day as dinner.  

 Later we stopped for shakes on the way home at Walleys.... and they did not ruin our appetite because Natalya made another great meal!   We ate it outside once again and then played liars dice which Amanda creamed us at!  How did the little sister become the best liar?

Weekend Trip to Seattle-I learned how to catch crab

If you have ever been on a trip with my dad you know that it starts early in the morning.  This trip was no exception and I'm pretty sure we woke before anyone should while on vacation.  We got to our launching spot while it was still early and had a pretty smooth launch into the water.  The day was beautiful and no one could ask for a better day.  It was fairly warm for seattle area even.  

 I learned that putting the bait in the crab traps involves a lot of things I'd rather not do... like hacking with an axe into frozen fish parts... for the crab to eat.... I moved to the front of the boat each time David did this... yuck!

 After the crab pots were dropped my dad treated us to a show of what the boat can do... I was seriously impressed!  I loved flying around on the water which is what his boat feels like with two huge engines on it.

 Look I am eating a twinkie... something we thought might never happen again after hostess shut down.  Dad had great treats on the boat so we didn't get too hungry.

 Cameron tried a little fishing... he didn't have any luck catching anything except weird sea items that we would rather stay down there in the ocean forever... they looked like sponges, star fish...

 After we finished fishing we had an interesting time getting the boat out of the water and then headed for home... When we got there Natalya had been busy preparing a feast for kings!  We added our crabs to the meal and it made for a very tasty afternoon and evening... we just kept on eating and talking...

I really enjoyed the time with my family which is why we went on the trip... they were fun to hang out with and we enjoyed each other a lot.