McCall

Eric's family Goes to McCall, Idaho every year. It is always one of the highlights of the summer and this year was no exception. Here are some of the favorite activities.

Fishing

Jumping off the Dock

Isaac was doing some really cool karate kicks into the lake...this picture is pretty much awesome!

The trip to the "Gardens"

S'mores and hearing Grandpa recite the cremation of Sam McGee

Gabe opening his present from Grandma and Grandpa

Romantic Raft ride for 2

This is actually a 4 man raft Eric bought this year, and it is quite the vessel...it was able to accommodate Eric, Sterling, Spencer, Grandpa, Gabe, Isaac, Emma, Parker, Bentley and Mataya. Not Bad.

We also spent time playing on the beach, swimming in the pool, going on walks and of course reading. Breaking Dawn was released while we were there so I bought it, read it and loved it!

Family Reunion

My family had a reunion over July 4th near Wolf Mountain. My entire family was there exept one. (my sister's husband) I was impressed we got as many as we did. We stayed at a huge house-- every family got there own room. The house was really nice and it was so nice to have everyone together.

Canada in a day

We stayed at Butchart Gardens until they kicked everybody out at 10pm. We were staying at a condo with Eric's parent up north near Nanaimo. It took a couple hours to drive there so we didn't get in and settled until very late. The kids woke up and went on a really cool walk with Eric and Grandpa. There is an inlet from the ocean that was empty because of low tide and I guess it was like one big tide pool...I have to use my imagination because I stayed home and watched Meg and Elijah, and there is no documentation of the "most awesome/you really missed out on a great time" walk. A few highlights I heard about...mud...Huge purple star fish...spotting a bald eagle...mud...finding a whole sand dollar...lots of seashells...mud. They had a great time.

We then headed out for lunch by the time we got there poor Elijah was already beat...

We ate at a really great place on the shore. Someone said they had great Halibut Burgers. I was a bigger fan of the clam chowder. Good food and great view.
Our next stop was Milner Gardens...not quite Butchart Gardens but it was very pretty.
Milner Gardens was a lot less manicured then Butchart. It is a woodland by the ocean. Near the end of the trail is a beautiful cottage looking house that has the most amazing view and lawn area. Well worth checking out.

Eric's parents enjoying the view...

So the picture above is the house...gorgeous! the picture below is facing a way from the house. The setting was spectacular. Huge forest, a big yard, gorgeous house, ocean front property, what more could you ask for?


After our visit to Milner Gardens we went back to the condo, ate dinner, got the kids all cleaned up, and then walked around to enjoy the sunset.

This whole area behind Grandpa and the kids is really shallow and empties out when the tide goes out.


This is Meg in her "happy place". My friend made this sling for me. I have never used one before but I LOVE it!!! It has been a life saver, especially with all the trips we've taken.

After enjoying the sunset Grandpa took the older kids to see the fireworks, I guess July 1st is Canada Day. It was another late night. We got up early to catch a noon ferry back to the USA.

We headed straight to the Seattle airport to catch our flight to Utah for my family's reunion. I told one of our friends that we decided to go to Canada on our way to Utah and was informed that Canada was not really on the way. We still had a great time!

Butchart Gardens

Eric was in heaven.

After crossing on the ferry and driving around Victoria very briefly we headed up to Butchart Gardens...we were very impressed. It was beautiful and the roses were in full bloom!!
We met a portrait photographer as were taking photos of Emma he suggested we leave her hair messy and let the sun shine in. Well since her hair wasn't done on this particular day the "messy hair" part was easy.
The background looks fake here, this is looking over the "Sunken Garden"...it used to be a quarry but when the mine dried up someone decided to turn it into a garden. It was beautiful.


We met up with the portrait photographer again and he took this shot for us...it turned out Okay, I just wish I had done my hair and make-up.

The rose garden was the highlight for Eric. He hopes one day to have a formal garden similar to this.

Japanese Garden....


We got Gelato at the end. It was yummy and I am told a lot better for you than ice cream.

Oh Canada!!!

We went back and forth about whether to go to Canada with Eric's parents. But we finally ended up going kind of last minute. We packed up after church on Sunday and started heading north that evening. We stayed the night in Port Angeles and then caught the ferry the next day to get to Vancouver Island. This is looking toward the USA as we leave the port.
Here is our attempt to get a normal picture of our boys on the ferry. Come on guys work with me here!!


We arrived in Victoria and took the scenic road up to Butchart Gardens. We stopped along the way so I could feed Meg. Eric took the older kids on a walk along the coast while Meg ate and Elijah slept in the car. I really liked this picture of my kids.
We took a ton of pictures of Butchart Gardens and I thought it was worthy of it very own post...stay tuned...

Emerald Isle

When Eric and I were out in Philly for school, we spent time down in Myrtle beach both summers. We loved it both times. The ocean is shallow, gentle waves and warm. A kids paradise. We missed last summer because of the move and all so we were bound and determined to get out there this summer...not even a five week old or a recent surgery could stop us!! Instead of going clear down to Myrtle beach though, we decided to try out the outer banks of North Carolina. A lot of Eric's side of the family came and we had a nice house right on the beach. Sterling, Jess, Rachel, Josh, Lydia, Amy, Mom, Dad, Parker Jr., and Bentley all came.

We had a lot of fun, but it was also a lot of work with 2 babies. I think the next time we attempt a cross country trip we will wait until our youngest is 3-4ish or leave the babies with someone.

Spring Break Fun?

The week before spring break was parent teacher conferences which meant that the kids all had 1/2 days of school. So we decided to leave Thursday after the kids were done with school and Eric put in a 1/2 day of work and drive down to Utah. We managed to pull out of here at 2 pm...not a great start, but hey we were headed for Utah!! I thought it would work out so well for our little Lijah-bug to fall asleep for a nap right after we took off...yeah right! No luck in that department. So around 5 we pulled off to get some dinner for everyone. And I thought, "surely Elijah will fall asleep for the night now. I will feed him dinner and change him into his pj's and give him a nice bottle..." It worked! He fell asleep...for about 2 hours. then he stayed up the rest of the way to Utah. That's right until 2 am! He was fairly content but still 2 am, Yikes! It took us a clean 11 hours for the drive.

We spent Friday and Saturday with my family. We went out for dinner with the adults on Friday and just hung out playing games and stuff on Saturday. Sunday we were going to the Fillmore's for a big family dinner. Eric was also planning to go skiing with the kids and Grandpa on Monday. As dinner was starting Eric was feeling some gurgling in his stomach. I thought it might have been something he ate last night. By the end of dinner he was quarantined to the downstairs bedroom, puking his guts out in the toilet. He got sick right after everyone got there and missed the whole dinner and everyone cleared out pretty quickly after we realized that Eric was not just suffering from indigestion.

Eric was up all night running to the bathroom and I decided to sleep in a different room so as not to get sick. Emma and I "slept" in the room next door. At about 2 am I hear Emma throwing up right next to me (still asleep by the way). Good thing we were in a king sized bed. So I wake her up and run her to the bathroom, clean her up, get a pot for any future episodes and she goes back to sleep. I, meanwhile, am waiting to see if Eric is going to get up again, or maybe one of the boys sleeping in the room across the hall will be sick next. I couldn't sleep.

So as I am laying there next to Emma (she is sick 2 more times in a 2 hour period) trying to relax and fall asleep. I start to notice (or I am hoping imagine) that I don't feel so well. My stomach was gurgling. But that could be from lack of sleep right? By morning I am sure that I am not feeling well and that it is definitely not just in my head. And now Elijah is awake and Eric is still feeling terribly. What a day! I only threw up once, but I felt horrible all day.

Everyone was feeling at least a little better Monday night. Not great, but for sure better. I should also mention that David Earned the Grandpa of the Year award while Eric, Emma and I were sick. He took Gabe, Isaac, Parker, and Bentley sledding and then to Fat Cats for bowling, pizza and ice cream. I am glad that the boys were not sick and able to have fun with their cousins.

I was going to drive myself and the kids back on Thursday and Eric was going to fly back on Tuesday so he wouldn't miss so much work but he didn't feel good about sending me home alone since we knew there was a bug going around that could possibly make the drive home an unbearable ordeal. So we all left Tuesday. Eric cancelled his flight and afternoon patients to make the drive home with us.

Fortunately we made the drive home in about 10 hours, plus we had an earlier start. So far Gabe and Isaac have not gotten sick. I didn't think that Elijah was going to either but...that is another story.

Cruisin' in Mexico

Eric and I decided that we needed to have some fun before baby #5. So we left all the kids and went on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera. It was very relaxing and fun. Eric is usally a very enthusiastic (wants to see and do everything) vacationer, but since I was 7 months pregnant we had to take it easy. It was very fun and we had a great time just being together. We went with my family, although there were a few who couldn't make it.
We love to take pictures of the towel animals!!

At Puerta Vallerta Eric did the zip line and had a great time. I guess this is where Preditor was filmed. I stayed back and hung out with Jacki, Brian and Josh. (Jacki is pregnant too).