Washington Part 4: The Hike

There is a forest about a block from Kimmi and Chris' house where they love to hike. Of course we took advantage of this and went on a hike there! It was so, so green and gorgeous... Washington is absolutely beautiful!

The girls starting out

Kimmi wore Luke for me so I could take lots of pictures :o)

Seriously... as I've said before, pictures don't do it justice...

There's moss on pretty much everything which just adds this cool unexpected element... so pretty!

The girls

Check out our awesome walking sticks!
Ireland told me these were to help you walk and to smash bugs if you needed to. :o)

It literally feels like you're walking through a book. So awesome!

Gotta stop and smell the flowers!

:o)

They are just so darn cute!

EmJ's been giving me this weird cheesy smile lately - and here it is. Neato. ;)

Chloe :o)

Chris taught the girls that when you hike it's important to find landmarks (and name them so you don't forget them) to help you find your way. This is "letter rock" (there really are letters on it!). We found lots of other landmarks including "tree bridge," "painted rock," "square tree," and "land of the orange." So fun!

Picking up rocks to throw in the puddle

...and toss 'em in!

Just hikin' away...

Ireland called these "Ray Flowers" - Ray is a firefly in the Princess and the Frog :o)

Luke had lots of fun on the hike too!!!
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Well, this concludes our Washington blogs... what a fantastic trip we had!!!

Washington Part 3: Jeff's Fishing Expedition

Jeff went on a fishing trip with his friend from college, Jason, while we were in Washington. They had lots of fun and he caught an 18 pound salmon! :o)

I love this picture! I think it looks like something out of a storybook!

With the fish on the line...

Reel that sucker in!

Woo-hoo!

Not too shabby, eh?!

Of course Jeff brought it back with him (well, he let Jason take half) to eat! He grilled it up and boy, was it tasty! Yum!!!

Washington Part 2: Seattle

One day we all went to Seattle - first to lunch, then to REI, and then to Pike Place Market... it was a super fun day!

Sweet Luke hanging out at lunch

EmJ and Chloe in a tent at REI

There's a huge rock wall in REI - so fun!

Here's Ireland showing off her climbing skills...

Look how high she got! What a brave girl!



You know I climbed...

...and you know that's me way at the top! :o)

Chris getting ready to climb

Mad skills. This is where Ireland gets it.

Here's the big sign at Pike Place Market... this place was so fun!

This cracked me up - look how tiny Jeff looks next to the World's Tallest Man... hahahaaa!

You know I had to.

HA!

You may have seen this place on tv - this is the fish market where they throw the fish. It was super cool (well, Jeff, EmJ, Luke and I thought so! The Shellaby's weren't big fans of the fish smell! Hee hee) - we did get to see them throw a couple of fish too - pretty fun!

This is a monk fish - they had it attached to a string and would pull the string and freak people out who were up close looking at it. EmJ thought it was hilarious!

Taking a break - having some juice and apples... while the boys had fish and chips. Mmm!

The original Starbucks. It was crazy busy or you know Kimmi and I would have gone in and got some coffee!

So, so pretty... pictures don't do it justice :o)

...more pretty views...

Chris and Chloe... so sweet

EmJ and Daddy

:o)

Our family

(Luke doesn't look to comfy, but he sure didn't complain... he was one tired boy, though!)

Ireland watching a magic show while wearing Mom's sunglasses... totally awesome.

This is what happened pretty much as soon as we got in the car.

Luke on the way home

Washington Part 1: Just Having Fun!

We just got to spend a week in gorgeous Washington visiting Chris, Kimmi, Ireland, and Chloe. To say that we had a blast is an understatement! :o) It was fabulous... and I obviously have lots of pictures, so I'll update in parts. Here's part one - just hanging out and having fun! There is a park basically in the backyard... so we obviously played there a lot! :o)

The girlies swinging

What's not to love about the park?! Also - notice the sunshine... it does not always rain in Washington! Actually the weather is super cool... it changes every 10 minutes... seriously!

Sweet Chloe pushing Luke on the swing... she loved him! And he loved her too!

Ireland and Chloe pushing Luke on the swing together

A rock star in the making...

Candy Land!

EmJ's a little excited to be hanging out with her friends!

Luke and Parker - they had lots of fun together. Parker is just a puppy, but she knew Luke was little and she was so good with him... she loved him!

Kimmi and her new BFF, "Luke-a-roo"
(for real... I've been replaced) :o)

Chloe being her cute self

The crazy girls!

Ireland got to feed Luke... look at that concentration!

Mmm! (EmJ cracks me up in this picture!)

The day before we left the girls got to have a picnic in their room... they loved it!

Best Friends!!!