Lovin' Tigg & Playin' with Tink

Maryn & Tigger- this is heaven... at least if you're Tig :)
Ok, that was easy, let's go for something higher

... and she brought this one down too!

How do you get your energy out?

You know how most houses have one kid that demands more attention than the others? Well, our house isn't any different, except that our most demanding kids have 4 legs and bark! See, Tigger loves to have someone rub his belly, which is fine except if Tink thinks that Tigger is getting attention, then she MUST get more attention that he is- sound familiar? So, here's Jarett playing with Tink while Maryn rubs Tig's belly. For those of you that don't believe how high Tink can jump, I have included a picture of Jarett holding a toy that she can grab with ease.

Lady Washington

Dad, Maryn, Marques, Carl & Blake onboard the Lady Washington
What an interesting crew...

The Hawaiian Chieftain- she tours with the Lady.

The two ships at Everett

...and should add, mouth as you bash your head- :)

A couple of weeks ago I learned that The Lady Washington was going to be at the Port of Everett and that we could go tour her for free. I called dad and he joined us... Let me say that going on this ship, I confirmed that there's NO WAY that I ever want to be on an old ship for very long. They are really small. She is beautiful and her crew takes great pride in her and knowing quite a few stories about this ship as well as the original Lady Washington. It would be fun one day to go on an evening cruise when they fire her cannons- maybe next year!!

Who said he could turn 16?

Ok, so who in their right mind said that a little baby could turn 16?!?!?! On Tuesday Carl turned 16... I can't believe it as it truly feels like he was just born yesterday. I can remember the doctor placing him in my arms. What an incredible feeling- then fast forward to kindergarten, first grade, middle school, high school- then driver's ed. Oh my heavens... he is growing into a great young man. Jarett and I bought him his first car. So now he is driving, I am sure that tomorrow will be his mission and the day after that he'll be getting married and having kids. I hope it takes longer than that, but at the current rate, it's all going too quickly.

I am also so grateful for the great group of friends that he has surrounding him right now. They suprised him with a 16th party that was great. So much fun (at Chuck E Cheese), who knew that teenagers would have so much fun THERE!

Lake Quinault

Hello-

So here's my first attempt at blogging... at least for my family, so we'll see.

A couple of weeks ago we decided to go on an adventure. We woke up reasonably early, loaded the 4 kids, and one of the dogs (Tinkerbelle) in the car and we drove...

After approximately a four hour drive, Jarett & I told the kids where we were going- oh, this would be because we were there and figured they might have figured it out by now :)... We had arrived at Lake Quinault, which is quite possibly one of my favorite places in Washington State! I haven't been there in years, but have wanted to go back forever and this was the perfect time to do it. After parking at one of the park trail heads, we decided to follow one of the paths, it is truly beautiful. Maryn was certain that we were going to get lost... or worse yet "mom, are we going to walk forever?"- it should be noted that the walk was only about 1/2 mile... How many other places can you drive a few hours and be in a temperate rain forest? Oh and then drive another hour and be at the ocean??? So cool...

After our walk in the rain forest we spent a few hours at the lake; Blake, Maryn, Marques and even Tinkerbelle all played in the Lake while Jarett flew his Kite. I stood by taking pictures and Carl waited on the sand to run off Tinkerbelle's energy after each encounter with the water. What a perfect day!



Blake, Carl, Maryn & Marques on this really cool stump, oh and Tink too!
These are on the trail that we went on- isn't it georgeous! Here's a rare shot of Carl- of course it's with Tink and doesn't Maryn just look tickled to be there...



Rumor has it that Schnoodle's can swim, we thought we'd test this theory- this is Carl with Tink after her first swim... she found it invigorating- time for a schnoodle 500!!

Blake was daring enough to take Tink into the lake, on the first attempt she found the fastest way out possible... second attempt she clung to his leg... third attempt she swam between Blake, Maryn & Marques- then was off for another schnoodle 500 with Carl.

After playing by the lake for a few hours, we finished the day by driving up the Washington coast, through Forks and Port Angeles and back home. What a great day. Carl, Blake, Maryn & Marques are all ready for our next one day adventure... hmmm... I wonder where we'll go next???