Our Trip to Washington

We're back! Actually we've been back for almost a week now but we didn't have the pictures yet, since we are so smart and took our camera minus the memory card on vacation, and then we had no computer for a few days. But all is well now and we are back online and adjusted to being home finally. Last week we were in Washington State with my family. It was so much fun. My brothers were there and my parents and we had a blast. My Dad is originally from Washington and we haven't had many chances to go up there and see where he lived or even get to know his family really. So it was good to go see people we haven't seen in a lot of years. I think I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen my grandparents. I'm glad we could go and let them met the kids and it was really fun to see where dad grew up.
We got there on Friday the 4th in the afternoon and mostly just hung out. Since we were coming from different places (my brothers both live in Kansas City) we had different arrival times. I am so glad we were able to fly with my parents though. It sure was helpful with 2 kids on the plane, especially since it was the first time we have flown with either of them. But they were great! Big thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for takings us and helping with the kids. :).
So anyways Friday night we drove around Seattle pretty much lost the whole time, I can't even tell you how many u-turns we made on this trip. But while we were lost looking for the ferry, we came across the stake center where my Dad was baptised. It was cool. Dad is the only member in his family and he joined the church when he was 17, Theres a story that is pretty cool to go with it, maybe he can put it on his blog and then you can read it? So we took some pics outside the church and then drove around some more. The next day we took the ferry over to Vashon (sp?) Island were Dad lived when he was in High School. It is so beautiful!! It makes it hard to come back and live in Utah. It is just covered in trees and vines and other vegetation. We saw the grocery store Dad worked at and the house he lived in. We also went to the beach. After Vashon we took the ferry back over to Tacoma and went to the zoo. By the end of that we were all pretty tired, but the kids were so good considering. We then drove about 3hrs to Wenachee, which is east of Seattle. Dads family lives in Cashmere just about 10mins form Wenachee. We went to see my Grandparents and visited for a little bit. The train tracks are right next to their house so we took the kids and put pennies on the tracks. We were going to come back the next day to find them, but as we were just about back to grandmas we heard the train and went running back to the tracks. We found all our smashed pennies. ;)
So we spent the next few days visiting there and then on Tuesday night we got to go up to a cabin on Wenachee lake. It was fun spending the night up there, although not many of us got any sleep. The next day we went back to Seattle and Mom and Dad watched the kids while we all went downtown. WE went to Pikes Market and to a fun restaurant right on the pier. It was a fun trip and too much to really write but the slide show should give you a better idea. The best part was just that we all got to be there and spend time together. I love family vacations and wish I had appreciated them as much when I was a kid. Thanks so much Dad for thinking to do this and to my brothers for making time to come. I love you guys and miss having you close by.