I wish I could be writing to say that this is a place I have/am visiting, but no….just excited about the summer games. For the last games in Beijing, to celebrated the opening ceremony, we had Chinese takeout for dinner. We decided to make it a tradition to eat food from the host country. Vancouver…that one didn’t pan out. As for last night, it was yummy. My dad served his mission in England and my sister-in-law (J) from Canada, her mother is an immigrant from England, so that improved our cuisine for the evening. I bought breaded cod at Costco (unfortunately not beer battered like it is in England), chips (french fries from the grocery store), malt vinegar to sprinkle on the fish and chips, and ingredients to make apple dumplings (bringing a little American to the table). M and J brought coleslaws, drinks, and a custard mix to make dessert. When my parent’s came and we began dishing up dinner, I told them about my dumplings, my dad then made a comment about how he loves “Bird’s custard.” Well, that was the exact custard the J had brought over. K loved the fish – I think she told me she ate four of them! B loved it too. L was not as much of a fan. My brother and his family came over for a little while in the middle, I broke out some glow sticks for the kids to play with. For dessert, J made some of the custard and we served it with my apple dumplings or on top of some peaches. It was delicious. We had a blast watching the opening ceremonies and enjoying some local (imitation) fare. Already wanting to plan the next games! Don’t worry, I will enjoy these games.
* A few side notes about our day: K has been our lunch lady this summer, wanting to make lunches for us at home. Today she made us a lovely lunch consisting of leftover steak, tortilla chips, a glass of milk, a banana, and peanut butter to dip our banana in. It was good, just a little out of the ordinary.
When my brother and his family came over, I was holding their 6 week old baby. B was right next to me, just staring at the baby – very excited about seeing the baby. I asked her if she wanted to hold the baby. Her eyes lit up. I put her on the couch and more or less laid the baby over B’s legs. B was bursting with excitement. I couldn’t even think about moving the baby or B flipped out. But as soon as I put the baby on her lap again the tears and cries turned into giggles. Only when the tired baby needed to go back to here mom, was B okay with not holding the baby. It was so cute!! If only I had video…maybe next time we see them.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Monday, July 9, 2012
Independence Day
July 4th….well, let’s back up a few days to June 30th. Our little family was walking out of a local grocery store. It so happens said grocery store was celebrating an anniversary and with that came great deals, as well as a few giveaways. There were 3 giveaways which included a cooler full of treats, a $25 gift card, or a package of fireworks valued at $500. We entered the hubby in the first two, then decided to enter both of us into the fireworks. That’s all for that day, fast forward to July 2nd in the afternoon. I receive a phone call and couldn’t understand what the guy was saying, but then I figured it out. I had won the $500 worth of fireworks. Later that afternoon, I drove to the grocery store and picked up my fireworks. One of the men at customer service asked if I needed help, “No, I should be fine,” was my answer. Then the lady at the desk started to move the package. She said I would need help, which was correct. The box is just over 5 feet and filled with fireworks – very heavy. Together we got it out to the car, this presented another problem. I brought a car, not our Yukon. I had to fold down seats, move car/booster seats just to get it in, but I did, and the back closed all the way. Fast forward two days. For the fourth, we invited my family and some of F’s family. My sister + family, my parents, F’s parents + his sister. We barbequed, played badminton, enjoyed cookies and homemade ice cream and definitely enjoyed F' lighting off a few fireworks! Here’s to the land of the free and home of the brave!!
I know this is a terrible picture, but it’s the only one I have with me and my fra-gee-lay prize – only moments before the fantastic display.
**please note, we did not light all the fireworks, we were careful in doing so, and no wildfires were started.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Last day on the Coast
Thursday, October 6
Today we went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport. It is not a very big aquarium, but it had Passages of the Deep, which was a shark tunnel. One of the favorite parts of this tunnel was the floor. The tank went under the floor, so you had to walk on glass and could look through the floor to see sharks swimming below you. Inside the tanks there were sharks, stingrays, halibut (really interesting to see them swim), and sea stars. The one down side was the school group that was there at the aquarium (this happened at the Lewis and Clark, too). The kids were everywhere and made it more crowded. 
The aquarium has octopuses, sea otters (loved watching them swim and hearing about them from the keeper), Japanese Crabs that are humungous!
sea lions and seals (we knew all about the differences between sea lions and seals from the day before, and could see them up close and watch them swim here), 
an aviary with my favorite: puffins, tide pools to feel sea stars, sea cucumbers, sea urchins. 
The kids loved the old metal diving mask. Their heads fit in it easily, but I could barely get my head in it. I could never have been a deep sea diver when these helmets and suits were in use!!
After the aquarium, we played at the beach again (can’t get enough!) The first time we ever took the kids to the beach, K was 4 and L was1. It was completely opposite than this time. The kids were afraid of the water and were content playing in the sand, this time they loved to run and play in the surf – even though it was cold water. So glad they enjoyed it this time! For dinner we went to a local place called the Chowder Bowl. We had read reviews about it and it lived up to all the good stuff. F loves clam chowder and loved the fresh clam chowder they served. Because we were on vacation after the tourist season had ended, it wasn’t busy. We heard from friends that had been in this area during the summer had the same weather, but with all the crowds. The next morning, we packed up and headed out towards Boise. When we reached Boise, we pulled into a free Wi-Fi spot to find a nearby hotel. After finding the hotel address, we plugged it in the GPS and set go. The directions were literally turn out of the parking lot, and turn across the street into the hotel parking lot!! We had not seen the hotel in our haste to find a Wi-Fi spot. The following day we packed up – again- and headed back on the road – again. We made it home in the early afternoon and were so glad to be home, sleeping in our own beds (K and L were excited to not share a bed), doing laundry and not living out of our bags, depending on either food we had packed or searching for a decent place to eat. We calculated we drove over 2700 miles. Too many of the nights, B was up and crying with F and I trying to keep her happy as well as trying to get enough sleep. We survived all those miles and the 10 days in small quarters, but we had fun with all the sights and experiences we had as a family!
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