Random October Pictures

 

Halloween 2020

 Halloween was a little different this year but let’s be honest so was everything this year with Covid. We just didn’t really have any parties with friends, or in the classroom but we did still have our Down’s family Halloween party at the Haunted Hallows at Grandpa and Grandma’s, and we made spider cookies and carmeled apples at Josh’s house, and we did do the pumpkin patch and a few other little Halloween activities. Tate let me know a day or two before Halloween that he wanted to be Phineas from Phineas and Ferb so somehow I threw some costumes together for the 4 kids and they were Phineas and Ferb and Vanessa and Dr. Doofenshmirz. I thought they turned out adorable!!!!! We had Halloween at our house like normal and the kids trick or treated normally too. It was a good Halloween. 

Seattle

 Josh decided to drive straight through and go home so he left at the break of dawn but Jamie’s family and us got the 9:00 am ferry so we were on that together. It was fun to get out of the car again and enjoy the water. I hated leaving that place. I knew it would be awhile before I got back there. But I hope not too long. Jamie and Jace left on to drive home but we wanted to take our kids through Seattle. We stopped at the Troll under the Fremont Bride, the Space Needle, Pike’s Place, the Gum Wall, went through the shops, and saw the Ferris Wheel and skyline etc. It was fun showing them all of those cool places. The next hour or two driving was pretty scary. There was an awful snowstorm and I was on edge the whole time but after that it was alright. A pretty long and boring drive though. I helped as much as I could. We decided to stop at a hotel in Boise and break up the trip. Tob got us some Chick fil a and we watched a fun movie then headed the rest of the way home in the morning. I can’t even describe how much I LOVED this trip. Every little bit of it was magical and stunning and incredible and I loved every second of it. And I can’t wait to go back. So grateful that we were able to experience this together. My kids did so great in the car and in sleeping in 4 different places in 6 nights. It was so easy being with Josh and his girls and Jamie’s family. There were no problems and no drama and it was just easy and fun and wonderful. I can’t wait to go back!!!! 

San Juan Island

 We had to wake up pretty early the next morning to make it to Anacortes to get on the ferry at a certain time to take us to the San Juan Island. The drive there was so dang pretty! We even drove through the little town that Goonies was filmed in. We had a little wait before we got on the ferry but it was pretty neat to have our car on this massive ferry and be on the water like that. We were able to get out of the boat and take in all the scenery. When we pulled up to Friday Harbor it was like the scenery was just getting better  and better! I felt like we were in a completely different part of the country. It was one of the cutest little places I’ve ever seen. We got off the ferry and drove to our Cabin which again blew my mind. Our cabin was right on a lake. The place was called LakeDale Resort and I felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. We got settled and then went out to do some exploring, got some incredible blackberry lavender ice cream. Then we drove out to Lime Kiln State Park and checked out the lighthouse. What an incredible place that is! We took lots of pictures and spent a lot of time just staring out at the water and onto Canada! We could see right where British Columbia was! That’s where we watched the sun go down. I’ll never forget it. Afterwards we got some yummy pizza and relaxed back at the cabin. The next morning we woke up and Josh had rented us some water bikes and canoes to play at the lake in. The kids were in heaven! Let’s be honest we all were in heaven. It was like a dream. Honestly just the whole trip had been like a dream. And it just kept getting better. The next thing we did was our whale watching tour. While we didn’t get to see Orca’s like we had hoped and hoped for we had a pretty magical time out on the water. We saw a seal feasting on a sting ray, bald eagles, deer, sea lions, and the best part of all a pod of Dall Porpoises played in our wake and swam right up to our boat for about 15 minutes. The kids screamed and laughed and we all loved it. We were disappointed to not see orcas but it really was so magical being on the water and it felt like we were in a whole different world. We got off the boat and walked around the town, got lunch at a little cafe on the sidewalk and walked to the Whale Museum and did some souvenir shopping. We then drove to the other side of the island and explored Roche Harbor. What a charming little town! The harbor was incredible and again we took a million pictures and soaked it all in! We then went and ate at the San Juan Island brewing company where we had almost ate the night before and Kemp saw this darling little stuffed fox that he had been thinking about for 24 hours. Needless to say, he go this fox. Which he named Friday. Then back to the Cabin where we all went and played games and watched some football. I could have spent 7 more nights here. Such a wonderful place!!!!