Mega Post: Vacation Weekend

Our special friend, Cousin Charlie, came for a visit. We were crazy-happy to meet her and were especially looking forward to spending the weekend with her and her parents. Which we did and which was great. Here are the pictures to prove it.

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WELCOME COUSIN CHARLIE!


Of course they're related, just look at these three goombahs.

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SEA RANCH!


First sight of the ocean!


The hiking trails hugged the shore and in many places ran alongside small cliffs. This caused no small amount of anxiety for mama.


Mama's wishing she had those kid backpack leashes right now.


While picturesque, fences like this did little to soothe mama's fears.


Chimpy on a cliff by the sea.


Chimpy had been throwing rocks at seals when I pointed out that sign to her. Now that she can read she has no excuse for this behavior.


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TIDEPOOLING ADVENTURE!


The next day we went shell hunting and tidepooling.


Jojo discovering mussel shells.


Beachcombing Chimpy.


The salt air was good for the kids, Chimpy grew three inches.


Jojo exploring the beaches.


Chimpy found a hermit crab...


And an abalone shell that looked like a ghost.


Jojo considers the immensity of the ocean.


It pleases him.


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BACK TO THE HOUSE!


Relaxing on the deck.

Cousin Charlie's cheeks were irresistible.


And Cousin Charlie was a great sport about all the attention. Which is good because we love her!

Vacation Wrap-Up

This is overdue, so let's get to it. We retraced our steps home, making time to play on the swings with Caitlyn:



Pilot a boat with Hayley:



And have roasted marshmallows with Auntie Tracey:



Then we drove, making excellent time, back to Seattle and caught the ferry to Bremerton:




Where we gave Uncle Joe and Auntie Betsy a crash course in parenting:




At this point we were all anxious to get home:



But still happy and wonderfully tired from a great vacation:

Vacation Days 5 & 6: The Big R

We drove up to Revelstoke for a visit with Nana and Grandpa who happened to be on a vacation of their own. The road to Revelstoke is a beautiful if narrow highway through the Selkirk Mountains in the Canadian Rockies.

Looking back at Three Valley Gap, driving to Revelstoke.

A common misconception of visitors upon arriving in Revelstoke is that they have somehow wound up in Italy. It's understandable. Our first stop was a visit with family friends, the Angelozzis, for some homemade wine.

Learning Italian with Uncle Angelo. Salute!

Playing in their garden. Not pictured, rows of tomatoes.

Quel bello bambino.

The looming mountains and ever-present rumble of coal trains began to remind us that we weren't in Italy after all, so we dropped by Grandpa Angelo's for some fuuuuutbooooollll.

Egypt 1, Italy 0. No good.

Besides visting family and friends, the biggest deal for us was getting out on the Columbia River. Chimpy was excited about fishing "in the mountains" so we took a trip above the Revelstoke Dam with Nana and Grandpa for an afternoon of fishing.

Haven't even casted yet and the fish stories have already begun.

Which way to Mayberry?

My mom told Chimpy she admired her Scooby Doo rod and reel, yet when she saw me fishing with it she broke down laughing. What gives?

Jojo, for his part, loved the mountain air and the mountain water. They both must have did him good because he had a growth spurt while we were on vacation. See for yourself:

Mountain Man.

Jojo likes trucks.

Jojo likes dogs.

It was a short visit, but we were very, very happy to see the mountains, our friends and the trains. On the way out we drove along a lake, opposite a train so we pulled over to watch it and wave 'so long' to Revelstoke.





See you next time, Revelstoke.

Vacation Day 5a: Log Barn!

We here at Lil' Chimpy Enterprises have a great fondness for roadside attractions, and nothing says Roadside America (or Canada) like teepees.



But if the teepees weren't enough (they were), the billboard that advertised "Goat Walk: Not for the Weak of Heart" would have made it mandatory to pull over. The goat walk is visible in the background here:

You had me at Goat Walk.

We played in and around the teepees:



...before it was time for breakfast.

"Pie, hon?"

We ordered their award winning (2003 Canadian and 2007 International) sausage with sauerkraut and onions.

Breakfast of champions.

Then the highly anticipated Goat Walk!

These goats knew how to work the pulleys to haul up small buckets of corn feed.

"Feed me."

Then it was back on the road!

Thank you, Log Barn!

Next stop: Revelstoke!