Washington Part 2

So Erik go ta huge scrape on his fave just before Lindsay came to join us unexectedly on this trip.....and it was all my fault! I was pulling him on that fun scooter and he face planted as I was trying to pull him up over the lip of the curb, whoops. Poor kid-I gave him a bloody nose and all. 

Good thing Grandpa Pooper has cool things like BB guns to distract from owies. 

 Erik loved loved loved that he was able to shoot a real gun and took all of the advice very seriously. He did pretty well at safety too. We had to remind a couple of times of different things but he was so excited to be shooting targets in the back yard!

 Getting great advice from Grandpa about how to aim. Love these pics. I grew up with guns in the house. My dad was very serious about talking about safety of them, and where they were, what purpose they served, how they were put together. He let us touch them and handle them while they were taken apart for cleaning and we were very much aware of the courtesies of talking about them. It was great to start passing that on to Erik. WHile in Australia (where guns are illegal) we cant help him learn those types of things so this was a big thing for our entire family.

 We shot the lid of a plastic take away container. That small thing on the first tier of the garden bed.

 And I had to take a crack at it. I tell you. I am ok with a pistol but I am horrible aiming with a big gun. I just dont get the whole aiming mechanics. I am sure Erik will be better than me by the time he is 10.

 WHile spending time with my parents we took a weekend and went camping and it was so so sooooooo amazing to be back at the lake, on my parents boat, and just back to where I was familiar being in the summer time.  I love the ocean and the beach but I think my heart belongs to lakes. It was the first time I had been to the lake and boat since before Erik was born since we normally have travelled home in the winter for the holidays. It was lovely!

 Once we got to the campground, we immediately went to the lake beach and Erik and Grandpa went exploring.

 My parents brought up some canoes and so that was a fun activity to do.

 And we met up with other people who camped in a site with their RV and brought this amazingly nice and sweet dog that Erik was obsessed with.

 Their little girl cuddle with me one morning while she was waking up and it was fun. She let me do her hair as well which was super fun!

 We fed ducks off the boat..

 did some fishing

 And acted like super cool cats..

....It was such a nice weekend. A perfect rejuvenation from or typical day to day lives and since the lake has been such a part of my life since I can remember it fed my soul. It really just gave me a good push and helped fill my cup. Its amazing how small things like that can do it. Just basking in such a familiar and beautiful place, watching the sun set, my senses were not overstimulated by newness they were revived by tradition. I do think it feel great to get out and explore new things, take risks, and get newness around you but I love having that home base. And I am so glad that Lin was there to share it with!

Washington part 1

So in May we realized that Lindsay was supposed to be out of town for 7 straight weeks. I was having a little bit of a hard time and that time seemed daunting so we decided very last minute to fly back to Washington to spend those long weeks with family. In the end, Lin's work all got changed and he desperately needed a break from it all and ended up joining us last second for a few of the weeks. So fun!

 

One of the first things we did upon our arrival was Erik helped Papa mow his lawn. With Erik's asthma symptoms and allergies we put a bunch of protective gear on him.

 this picture came on out of order and I didn't want to mess with changing it all up. But Papa had an awesome scooter that the kids loved getting pulled on and riding on their own down small inclines.

 Some of the things that Erik loved when we got to Washington was that he was not confined to our 800 sq. ft. apartment (that includes our balcony). He could be on an entire different level than me, outside while I was in, etc. He thoroughly enjoyed the space and freedom to roam. It really made me excited for the time that we get to live in a neighborhood again. But I have absolutely no regrets about living in our little flat in the city. I have loved every bit of it.

 We had a weeny roast in Nana and Papa's back yard for dinner.

 Nana wasn't grumpy but she was mesmerized by the flames!

 An American hot dog! It had been a long time since we had indulged in one of those. Hot dogs in Oz are longer and a bright orangey pink color, or you get a sausage. Even when you find one that says "American Hot Dog" on it, it's not quite the same. So this was a great treat.

 Then cousins came for the long Memorial day weekend...

 Erik shows off his newly acquired skill of rolling his eyes.

 one of the favorite play spots at the house is the old fashioned mail slot that goes into the house. Before Church the kids were delivering goods to one another. THey loved to pass things through and ring the door bell.

 We had to get some cute pics of them all dressed up for church.

 On Memorial day we attended a traditional bbq at the park with members of Nana and Papa's ward at church. And that evening he held a special family night lesson about the meaning of Memorial Day

 He spoke about the members of the family who had served and why its important to be patriotic. We said the pledge of allegiance and sang some patriotic songs. It was lovely!

 Loved the look on Erik's face on this one! We had fun singing some old school songs like Yankee Doodle Dandy and waving flags.

 The kids tried on Lindsay's grandpa's uniform from World War II

 Then we held a small parade. That part was lots of fun too!

It was a great end to a great weekend. Just writing this makes me miss family....and it's only going to get a bit worse while I document the rest of our trip. I absolutely love it here in Oz, I really and truly will miss my friends and so much of this place. But family is where it is at my friends. There is something so fulfilling about being around family. One day we will live closer (and that's not too far away)

Reunited!

A week after we got back from Hawaii we had the fortunate event of having Alex and Haley come out with their kiddos to visit. Unfortunately this post is not going to serve the trip well as all the pics are on our iPad which is currently on a trip with Lindsay but there are a couple here from the trip. I picked them up on my own, so that we could all fit in our one car (plus Lindsay was out of town the first couple of days they were here).

 These two silly goofballs pick up right where they left off which was so nice and Little Landon even just fit into it all. It was such a great time and creative with sleeping but it was like one big slumber party basically for the time they were here.

 We exchanged Christmas gifts when they came so you can see Zoey with her Bon Bon hat on.

 And I think this bottom picture is one of my favorite random pics from the trip. We were headed to the beach and the kids were ready and we were finishing getting everything packed that we needed. I love it because Zoey's hair is all done nice and uniform-similar to her personality, and Eriks is absolutely crazy (we had put a bunch of sunscreen through it to protect his scalp)- also like his fun loving personality. They both are similar in a lot of ways and so different by the same token.

We packed in so much while they were here, we were all completely exhausted each and every night. Alex and Haley tried their hardest to stay up to 10 pm each night, but unless I am mistaken -- I don't think they ever made it. We had lots of sushi, made a couple of different beach runs, had a yum-cha dinner in China town where 200+ young adults came in for a birthday party that turned the place into an eabsolute mad house. Seriously almost every person who walked in had a bottle of alcohol in their arms and the drinking age here is 18, it was so crazy! The look on the staff's face was priceless. I am so glad that I didn't work there that night. We also went to the Koala sanctuary, went to New Farm park for the markets, the playground, and for Lindsay and Haley to do a 5k run. We rode on the city cat, did a little shopping, went down to our favorite fish market, and spent a day at South Bank among other things. It was so fun to share our life with some of our family. I took Haley grocery shopping with me to show her how different it was here and we all just had a blast. We are so happy they came!

North Shore with Nana and Papa

For the week with the Moon's we spent the morning getting breakfast in the harbor and then headed up to the North Shore where we rented a home.

 Erik had already been a fish since we came to Hawaii while in the midst of our Aussie summer. While Grandpa Pooper was in town he really worked a lot with Erik in the pool and actually pretty much taught him to swim with no float aids and on his own. Thank you Grandpa! So then the last week we found Erik a snorkel and mask and he loved practicing in the bath tub before trying it in the ocean!

 Playing pretend with Nana on the back veranda. This home was awesome! It was a home split into apartments and on the side of the house was a half pipe. All the apartments had small kids and so when we were around Erik had kids his age to play with which he was sorely missing by that point. They would ride their scooters up and down and slide from the top to the bottom. It was awesome.

 One day we went to walk and enjoy the beach without swimming. And there was this young man selling raw coconuts that would cut up with his machete for you. First he would cut it so you could drink the water, then he would cut it open and give you spoon to eat the raw flesh. 

 Erik really liked it, and this was him explaining, what you do, and how good it is...

 Playing with papa in the sand

 this is Erik having a think about something. Trying to decide if he likes it.

Sadly those were some of the few pictures we got with Nana and papa. Our time spent with them was so relaxing and more on the low key side of things. I think by the end of the trip we were over pulling out the camera for every detail and just went into complete holiday mode. We went to turtle bay, a Budhist temple (if I remember right) and had many a long discussions and enjoyed each others company. The whole trip in general, although stressful in some ways, was so rejuvenating and great. And without realizing it, it started off the year full of adventures for us. This year has been jam packed with trips where we have traveled, people have come to us and it's not over. I think it will go down in the record books as biggest travel adventures!