Arlington, Moscow/Pullman, then Home!

We continued our time in Arlington last Friday, we woke up at Cama Beach and had an early morning bird walk. Nico and I got another game of chess in on the big chess board, and a friendly neighborhood cat followed us on our walk.

Part of Grandma's shell collection

After our bird walk we went to the Cafe and got breakfast, then walked back to our cabin to pack up and call the shuttle. We loaded all our stuff into the shuttle and they drove us back up to our cars. From there we drove the 30 minutes back to Arlington.

For lunch we went to La Hacienda, a favorite from our last visit. We got Nico the same thing we got him last time, the Carne Asada, and he gulped it down just like last time.

Friday afternoon Guy and I and Nico drove to Lake Stevens to visit friends of ours, Rusty and Ellen. Nico remembered being there 2 years ago and asked again for the Thomas the Tank Engine toy he remembered playing with. They still had it! So he spent time putting that together while the rest of us talked. 

Friday evening I'm pretty sure we just hung out at home, there were lots of books to be read and Grandma Russell helped us quite a bit in finding books to help fill in Nico's book bingo sheet. Before our trip I picked up a book bingo sheet from Rediscovered Books in downtown Boise. Last June they did this same thing, each square has a different kind of book listed (for example, an autobiography, or a book written by a woman, etc), and when you finish reading that type of book you write the name and author in the square. If you get a bingo you are entered into a drawing. If you get a blackout (which is what we're going for), you get to go to an after hours party at the bookstore. While in Arlington Nico read almost 12 books! Most of these were children's books for ease and speed of reading.

Grandma made another trip to the library while we were there, and you might remember that when we lived in Arlington our house was right across the street from the library, so while she was in that area she got a picture for us. Looks about the same!

Saturday morning we had considered going with the Grandparents to the Farmer's Market in Mt Vernon, but we were feeling a little homey that day so we stayed behind. I mixed up an ice cream recipe for use later in the ice cream maker, and then we attempted to put together a 3D puzzle and soon gave up. 

The Grandparents arrived home with treats and meat and veggies. They even picked us up a whole bunch of strawberries which we enjoyed eating for the remainder of our trip.

Grandpa showed us part of his knife collection.

Saturday for lunch they went to Tokyo House (I stayed home for napping purposes).  Nico enjoyed some fried rice and sushi!

Playing a game of Clue Jr.

Saturday we had pizza! Woohoo!! We watched Mr. Bean which Nico really enjoyed. For dessert we tried to make ice cream but it didn't freeze well enough, so instead we had strawberries covered in the liquid ice cream. Strawberries and cream. It was tasty. 

Sunday morning we were able to visit our old church. It used to be Marysville Church of the Nazarene, now they are Generations Community Church. We saw a lot of old friends. After church we stopped at Jimmy John's for lunch before heading to Pullman.

It was sad to leave them, we had so much fun. We will see them again in July for Nico's birthday! 

On our way to Pullman.

The drive as about 6 hours, we arrived and were welcomed by my Mom. For whatever reason, Nico was not aware or had forgotten that we would be seeing Grandma Salisbury at the hotel. He was so shocked to see her car there! Grandma took us to our room (King suite with jacuzzi tub!) and then took Nico to Taco Time, bringing back some burritos for Guy. She offered to keep Nico overnight in her room for the two nights we were there, and Guy and I were able to watch a movie late into the night. We watched Hunger Games the first night and the sequel to this the 2nd night. Apparently there are 2 more movies! They are on our list to watch.

Monday morning Guy and I ate breakfast and then drove to Moscow (10 minute drive). We did a little shopping, then picked up lunch at Paradise Cafe at the Moscow Mall and brought it back to my mom's room. Her and Nico had driven to Moscow to pick up my Grandma!!

My mom found a really good cake shop (across the street from our hotel!!), so after lunch we enjoyed a gluten free dairy free cake.

Me and Grammy

A little while after lunch, Nico, Guy, and I got into our swimsuits and went to the hotel pool! We played for about 40 minutes, then Guy and I got out and let Nico play for a while longer. He shivers after a while in the pool so he was going back and forth from pool to hot tub.

Then we said our goodbyes to Grammy. Mom took her home, bringing Nico with her. She took Nico to a park in Moscow afterward before coming back to the hotel. Guy and I went to coffee and then started watching our 2nd movie!

Tuesday morning started our trek back home! We arrived around 4pm and stopped at Taco Time to pick up food on our way into Boise. We unloaded the car and then sat down to eat. Phew!

What a great trip we had! We are almost all back to normal routine now.

Wednesday Nico got a haircut. (tried to get one before the trip but they were booked!)

In the evening Evelyn, Avery, and Nico all went to VBS at Jeff & Allicia's church. It was water night, so they all got in their swimsuits. 90 degree day!

This morning Nico and I parked our car near the library and then walked on the greenbelt to the post office where we found a key to open a package locker. Inside was a package for Nico from the Grandparents Russell, a supplement to his bird journal, a book of birds in the West plus a birding guide.

(By the way, our conversation on the way home: "When I get older I want to live in Caldwell. It has the highest crime rate but I still want to live there because, I don't know, I just do. I'm going to be an ornithologist and I'll live in Caldwell and I'll study birds.")

This evening was another VBS. He took the $20 that Grammy gave him to donate tonight. What he said: "The girls gave more than the boys. If the boys give more, then they'll win!" Allicia texted me after she dropped them off that the boys are now ahead by $10. Heehee.

Ok I think that's it for this week. Enjoy the video!!

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!