We Live in Washington, the State and not D.C.

Please, Washingtonians, tell me you know that song. Michael says he doesn't. Maybe it was a Mesa Elementary thing, which means that there are maybe two people that even see this blog that would know it. Well, if so, thank you, Mrs. Reichert (my elementary music teacher)! :)


Well, anyhow, in case you hadn't guessed, we got to be home in Washington for about a week. In that time, we actually got to see quite a bit of our great home state.


Before Chris and Lisa (and us, too) drove to St. Louis, we got a family picture at Tami & J's in Seattle. This first one is probably not the one that will go on the wall, but it's just too funny to pass up. Check out the nephew's face! Ha. Love it. Tami had the camera on the "take-10-pictures-in-a-row" setting, so once we were all smiled-out, we took 10 goofy ones in a row and tried to change our faces quick each time the camera clicked. They are all pretty hilarious, but I think this one is my favorite. Below is the actual good one before Photoshop. (Tami is a Photoshop master and has touched one of the photos up to make the background and bluetooths disappear. :) )


Jumping on the tramp with the kiddos--if the ball hit you, you were "dead" and the nephew had to come revive you. This is Michael trying to avoid the ball.

After the drive to St. Lou-ee, we spent a day with Tami and the kids. They took us to not just one, but TWO beaches! Uncle Michael had a great time hunting for water life with the kids. The kids were trying to track down those pesky jumping fish, only to discover that the splashes from the "fish" were created by Michael throwing rocks into the lake. That crazy Uncle Michael!

Our nephew stopped whatever he was doing and made it a point to wave to all the trains that went by.

Throwing rocks into the [freezing cold] lake. Seattle was having record highs--like high 90s or something like that. Anyway, people were going all the way into the lake without hesitation, but Michael and I have been too spoiled all summer with Cali beaches--it was WAY too cold for that! (Angie says, "Oh, how you've changed." We--well, Michael, at least--used to jump right on in.)

More rock throwing--he had rocks/sand all over his face when he was done. :)

He is obsessed with Michael's goatee

The biggest reason we were still up in Washington for so long was to be at my nephew's baby blessing at home in Columbia Basin Ward. Here's the whole gang from both Rich and Am's sides. Am's sister, Shannon, hosted a family shower for her the night before (with delicious dessert from Laura and Kim--thanks to all!), so we got to see lots of family between the two days. We soaked it all in!

On a weekday afternoon, Britney, Angie, Michael, Mom D, and I played basketball at the church. This is Britney and Michael blowing on Mom to distract her. Great defense, eh? :)

Britney schooling Michael--love the facial expressions! (Britney, don't hate me--I love this pic!) :)

Ha. :)

Playing softball with Dad D at Michael's elementary school

Playing "Pass the Penny"--this game is a hoot. I think Michael saw it on "The Office" and decided it would be fun. You pass the penny under the table between teammates, then you have to slap your hands down on the table at the same time, and the other team has to decide which hand has the penny. Harder than it looks.

Changing water--all 7 pipes. :) Yeah, not quite the full experience, but that's okay with me.

Eltopia Sunset

My new nephew snoozing with Uncle Michael

Check out his "Jazz hands." :) He's a keeper!

Smiles!

So Rich and Am work with the scouts in their ward and they did water bottle rockets with them once. They brought home the launcher for it. You hook it up to an air compressor and let 'er rip. What a riot! Check out Rich's expression in this pic--I love it!

Guess it's a genetic thing--my expression is pretty intense, too.

All wet afterwards, but all smiling :)

Sluggers! We had a little "B.P." after bottle rocketing.

My fam took an overnight trip up to Leavenworth, WA. We stopped in Wenatchee at Ohme Gardens. It was pretty. My dad told us a funny story about my grandparents. I guess they were driving (along the Oregon/Washington border, I think) and Grandma Jean was snoozing a bit. Grandpa George was noticing the fields as he drove and commented, "Pretty dry." Grandma half woke-up and responeded, "Beautiful. Beautiful." (She thought he had said, "Pretty drive.") Ha. :) So at Ohme Gardens, I would say something like, "Oh, that's a pretty waterfall," and my dad would say,"Beautiful. Beautiful." (Maybe you had to be there.)

Above: Dad "acting" like he likes Mom. (It's not an act.) :)

Below: The fam at Twin Pools

Leavenworth--I didn't really take many pictures in the town itself, but we did have German food for lunch. Michael had some kind of snitzel (sp?) and I had a German Sausage. He decided snitzel is kind of like milanesa in Argentina--breaded meat. I asked Amber how to say "German Sausage" in German. (Hehehe.) :)

He sleeps with his hands up--very chill kid. :)

At the Fish Hatchery--we touched them a bit and fed them some fish food. The trout are kind of pretty when they're jumping and flipping for the food.

The fam

After our tour of the Aplets and Cotlets Factory

He did not like the hairnet look.

This was actually before Leavenworth, but I hope Ds won't mind if I borrow their letter blocks for both of our families. The "We Will Miss You" was from Mom and Dad D, Ang, and Britney the morning we were leaving Pasco.

We replied with this. (I couldn't get a V to spell "LOVE," or a U to spell "Luf," so I added the hearts block on top to help them get the idea.) :)

Miss you guys--all of you! Thanks for sharing your summertime with us!