Arlington!

Last Friday was Nico's last day of school. It was a half day, and when he got home we ran some errands. We went over the Natatorium to sign him up for swimming lessons first. It was the first day the pool was open this summer! Nico kept telling me he didn't want swimming lessons, but after being inside and seeing all the kids having fun in the pool, we left there with him saying "Ok I think I'm excited now." He's going to get one-on-one swimming lessons instead of the group lessons he had last year.

After our other errands, I took him to Blue Cow Frozen Yogurt for a last-day-of-school treat. If we remember, we will do this same thing next year, Nico liked that idea. You get to choose your own flavor (or flavors) and add it to your own bowl, then add toppings, then they weigh the bowl and charge you based on weight. He chose cotton candy, vanilla, and chocolate. Toppings were sprinkles and nerds. Crunch crunch!

Saturday morning was Nico's race day for the Capitol Classic Children's Race. We dropped him off at the Train Depot and then parked downtown and walked over to meet Papa. We found a place to hang out along 8th street until the race started. Last year the girls got to go first, this year, the boys! 

On the way to the Train Depot. #285

The first sighting!

After finishing, trying to avoid getting his picture taken.

Free TCBY yogurt for all racers!

His time this year was 14:43. His time LAST year was 14:33. I told Papa this over text and he said that maybe it took an extra 10 seconds when he turned to say "Say hi to Grandma"! Hehe. Grandma was home with some of my older cousins who were staying at their house overnight.

We asked him if he wanted to do it next year and he said no. He said he wanted to skip a year. Okie dokie! We'll ask him again later. I think he got a really bad side ache during the run :)

Sunday we had a graduation party to attend after church, for someone in the church. It was at Baggley Park (aka Picka Park). Nico found a very climbable tree.

Monday was a day of preparation for our TRIP to Arlington and Moscow! Allicia took all the kids including Nico to the park in the morning to give me some time to focus. It was great! We got everything ready that we needed to and woke up Tuesday morning and set off for Yakima a little before 8AM. 

I drove us to Yakima, and Guy and Nico spent most of the trip playing trip Bingo! Allicia let us borrow 4 bingo cards. Guy said he loved playing trip bingo times 2 million. I guess that's a lot! We learned that Nico needed to take Dramamine an hour before travel like the box says, instead of taking it right when we get in the car. He was nauseated for the first part of the trip but was fine after it kicked in.

Gummy worms from our stop in Pendleton.

First things first after arriving in Yakima after checking into our hotel. We went straight to Miner Burger.

After swimming Nico took a bath and then we watched some softball on TV. Then, to bed!

In the morning we made our way to Seattle. Guy drove this time. We arrived at the Seattle Center around 9:30am where we were meeting Grandpa and Grandma Russell!! We got there a bit early so we stopped and played at the park nearby for a few.

Grandma!

Grandpa! Same table we sat at last year when we met here!

Playing hygeine bingo.

Space shuttle

Waiting for his opponent to make his move.

After we were done at the Science Center, the boys went up to the Space Needle!

They got a SpaceBook picture taken you can set it to a variety of different Seattle skyline backdrops.

After they came back down we went to the fountain! The water is set to music. Nico was resistant at first to getting wet, he said he wanted his swimsuit. But we dared him to go touch the fountain without getting wet. He got wet.

After wrapping up at the Seattle Center, we went to Spuds near Green Lake for Fish and Chips!

The next morning we packed up the cars and drove to Cama Beach on Camano Island. We rented a cabin on the beach that had 2 rooms and a bathroom, plus a little kitchenette and dining table.

Nico wore his new binocular bag over his shoulder, with his new bird journal in it. He wore the actual binoculars around his neck on top of that. We spent some time searching for birds so he could enter them into his journal. He would record the date, the location, and notes about the sighting.

Cama Beach also had a large chess board. We played several games of chess while there!

Filling out the workbook we picked up for free at the gift store.

Nico found a piece of a shell that looks like Montana, and one that looks like a face. Nico and Grandma Russell both made a collection of shells and interesting things found on the beach. We weren't able to take anything with us because it was the rules. Grandpa found a certain type of rock that when striking two of them together produces a spark. We took 2 back to our cabin and tried it with all the lights off.

Writing a bird sighting in his journal.

On our second bird outing we didn't stop to record any birds, but they kept them in their heads and recorded them when we got back to the cabin.

Reading books before bed Thursday night.

We are having so much fun in Arlington spending time with the Grandparents!! We get to stay through Saturday and then will be going on to Moscow!

Here's a video from the race and Nico climbing the tree! Instead of splitting up the trip video, I will post the entire video from our vacation next week :D See you then!