Last Summer Fling

The Friday before school started we decided to take a little day trip with the kids.  We headed over to the coast but took the back roads to get there.  We went through Mist & Jewell.  We stopped at the elk refuge, but didn't see any elk.  Then we stopped at fishhawk falls.  We had to hike a little ways in, to see the falls.  There was a great blue heron that flew right by Tyler while we were there and scared him.  We had to cross the creek on rocks to get close enough to see the falls.  We all made it across without any mishaps and then on the way back Lauren slipped off a rock and got both her feet wet.  That was the end of the fun for her.  She was a grouch for the next little while.  Luckily something distracted her from her grumpiness, so it didn't last too long.

The lighting was really tricky at the falls with some bright sunshine and some shade spots, so the pictures didn't turn out that great.

Evan & Lauren way in the back on the left and then Shannon, Whitney and me.

 

Kirk and the kids.

 Tyler was there but he didn't cross as far as we did.  He was worried about his shoes.

After fishhawk falls we drove into Astoria and had lunch at Fultano's with Kirk's Dad.  That's the kids favorite place to eat in Astoria.  After visiting with Grandpa for awhile we decided to head to the beach.  Tyler decided to stay in Astoria with Grandpa because he doesn't like the beach.

It was a beautiful and really bright day at the beach.  It was about 64 degrees, so not super warm, but pretty typical for the Oregon coast in late August/early September.

 

 

 

 

Everyone, except me, ended up wading in the cold water.  We brought an extra pair of pants for Whitney and Lauren, but not for Shannon and Evan.  So they had to endure the drive home with wet pant legs.  

venturing out into the cold water.

Lauren and Kirk standing in the surf

Whitney on the beach

Shannon

Lauren

Evan - I really like the photo on the right of Evan with the shipwreck in the background.

New haircuts

The Thursday before school started I took Whitney and Lauren to get their haircut before school started.  I wanted them both to have shorter hair, so that it is quicker to brush in the morning.  They both hate having the snarls brushed out of their hair.  Lauren wasn't being cooperative when we got home, so I don't have a picture of her new haircut.

 

 

Seattle

From the moment we got off the ferry it was a little stressful trying to navigate all the traffic especially since we really didn't know where we were going.  There were cars and people everywhere.

First we headed to the space needle.  We were only planning on looking at it from the ground.  It is too expensive to go up it.  (It would have cost $112 for our whole family)  I have a fear of heights, so I didn't really have any desire to go up in it anyway.  Everything to do in Seattle cost too much for a big family, so we basically just wandered around.

When we were wandering around by the space needle we came across this cool fountain.  If we had known about it we would have brought the kids swimming suits.  It was a pretty warm day.  The kids had to be content with sitting on the wall watching and enjoying the mist that the wind occasionally blew our way.  The water was synchronized to music, so it was pretty fun even just to watch.

watching the fountain

Wider view of the fountain

After the space needle we drove back down by the waterfront to downtown Seattle area.  We wanted to go see Pikes Place market.  It was so crowded down there, so we didn't stay long and I didn't take any pictures because there were people everywhere.  Just keeping track of our kids was a little nerve wracking.

Picture of an alley near pikes market

Kirk & Evan looking at some produce

One of the main things the older kids wanted to see was the famous Seattle gum wall .  It's near Pikes market.  It was both intriguing and disgusting all at the same time.  It was amazing the amount of gum on that wall.

 

 

It was almost like a gum mosaic piece of art.  People had shaped it into their initials, made hearts and stuck notes in it.  I had no desire to even touch it.

It was kind of amusing because people don't follow signs vary well.  There were a couple of signs that said no gum on the windows and there was gum on the windows. 

 

The wall across the alley from the wall that is behind the kids in the above photo had a sign that said "no gum this side"  and there was lots of gum on that wall even on the sign.   The kids each wanted to add their own piece of gum to the wall, so they did.

Pointing to their piece of gum

Evan's piece of gum

Whitney's piece of gum

After the gum wall we went back to the car to head home.  We ended up sitting in bad traffic just trying to get on the freeway.  After 30 minutes of inching along we finally made it onto I-5 and then things moved along pretty good.  We stopped in Tacoma for dinner and then arrived home about 9pm that night.  We were all very tired after a long fun filled day.

Bremerton & The Ferry Ride

Driving across the Tacoma Narrows bridge

On August 15th we decided to take a little day trip up to Seattle.  The kids had never been to Seattle and wanted to go.  Originally we were going to stay the night up there, but then decided to save money and just make it a long day trip.  We wanted to ride the ferry that goes between Seattle and Bremerton.  Originally we were going to ride from Seattle to Bremerton, but upon researching the fares for the ferry we discovered that it is much cheaper to catch the ferry in Bremerton and ride to Seattle.  Not sure why, since it is the same ride just in the opposite direction.

We left our house about 8:00 in the morning.  We first made a couple of stops in Longview and then we headed to Bremerton.    We drove up I-5 to Tacoma and then took the Tacoma Narrows Bridge to head towards Bremerton.  Bremerton is a navy town.  So there were lots of sailors wandering around town and lots of navy ships to see.

Navy ships docked - as we first drove into Bremerton

Another Navy ship

 When we first got to Bremerton we stopped and ate lunch and then we headed to the ferry dock.  I think it was about a 45 minute wait until the next ferry.  We paid our fare and then parked in the line to wait for the ferry.  You are allowed to leave your vehicle and walk around as long as you are back to your vehicle by 10 minutes before boarding time.  So that is what we did.  We wandered around the waterfront area and a shopping area for a little while. 

Shannon with Kirk behind on the waterfront in Bremerton

An old navy ship you can tour for a fee - we opted not to go on it.

watching the fountain.

In the shopping area they had this cool fountain that we watched for quite a while.  It was pretty entertaining and a good way to kill some time.  Lauren was being a grouch at this point and wanted to go back to the van.  Not sure why because it was a pretty warm day - mid 80's - so the van was hot.

Shannon sticking her hand in the fountain and Kirk looking on.

Whitney enjoying the fountain

We went back to the van a few minutes before we had to be there.  We watched the ferry dock and the other cars drive off and then it was our turn to board.  We weren't very far back in the line.

Ferry pulling up to the dock.  This picture was taken from the inside of the van, so it's not the greatest photo.

Driving on to the ferry.

pulling in to our parking spot on the ferry.

Looking over the railing on the ferry. There was a jelly fish in the water right off the side of the ferry.

Evan

Kirk and Lauren on the ferry

The name of the ferry was the Kaleetan

A look at the navy shipyards in Bremerton

Looking towards the other side of the ferry.  This was the lower deck. 

 We started off on the lower deck and then we moved to the upper deck.  It was a 45 minute ride.  It was fun, even though Lauren was grumpy for the second half of the ride.

Looking over the railing on the upper deck

 

Lauren being grouchy

Our first glimpse of Seattle

Seattle

Shannon & Whitney sitting inside out of the wind

Closer view of Seattle

Space needle

Another ferry with an island in the background

We really enjoyed the ferry ride it was probably my favorite part of the trip.  I am not a big city fan, so Seattle itself was a little nerve wracking for me.