She's got the gene...

A self-taught "Taco Tongue".

We're so proud.

Wordless Wednesday

How I Spent My Summer Vacation, part 5: The final installment

We've been home from the never-ending vacation for 4 days now, and my motivation to tell you every detail is waning. Be grateful.

Instead, here are slide shows that capture the gist of it.

After Oregon, we spent a week in Kirkwood (right next to Lake Tahoe, CA) with my dad.
A busy and fun filled week. Lots of hiking, swimming, and taking in the beauty of God's creation. Too many pictures for just ONE slide show....

Hiking in Kirkwood...

Carson City, NV/ Hike to waterfalls/ Silver Lake...

At Lake Tahoe...

How I Spent My Summer Vacation, part 4

Here goes with the rest of our Oregon adventures (because God bless you if you're still reading this vacation recap-- you might as well have taken the trip yourself in the amount of time it's taken to read about it. Admittedly, this version has a lot less screaming children as background noise, but hey, who's counting?).

So, we were "winging it" down the Oregon coast and based on the recommendation of the Raneys, we stopped in Pacific City, Oregon for the night. Cute little town. Great little beach.

Fast forward a few hundred miles, and we arrived at Crater Lake National Park. As I've said before, we love National Parks, and Bill specifically requested that Crater Lake be a stop on our summertime peregrination. It was breathtakingly beautiful. We enjoyed taking in the perfectly-blue lake and ended our visit with a peaceful hike through a meadow filled with wildflowers and babbling brooks. Picturesque.

After our fun-filled day at Crater Lake, we headed to Klamath Falls, OR, for the night. At the suggestion of our hotel personnel, we had the most delicious dinner at Red's Backwoods BBQ. Bill said they had the best BBQ sauce he'd ever tasted-- this from a Texan who knows his BBQ. So good, in fact, that we will be re-routing all future road-trips through Klamath Falls, no matter how out of the way it may be.

And one last cute one of the girls getting ready for the pool... They found a little nook in our hotel room just their size....

On to Lake Tahoe we go.....

The Capitols

We are self-proclaimed nerds, so any chance to LEARN something while on vacation is like icing on the cake.

Bill has now seen all of the western Capitols in the U.S.A.
This is how it all went down....
On his drive up to Seattle, he passed through Sacramento, and due to construction, traffic was diverted two blocks away from the Capitol. Why not stop by and see who's picketing Arnold's policies today, right???

Sacramento, CA-- LOTS of security
I mean, who do you think you're gonna see, a Movie Star???

As his drive continued up I-5, he passed through Olympia, WA.... And if he's already been to one, why not go to another?

Olympia, WA-- very unique bathroom door locks.
BIG building. LOTS of pretty flowers. TONS of marble. (literally)

Then we headed down south through Salem as a family, and, killing two birds with one stone, Bill saw his third Capitol AND kept little Tori quarantined while Lexy & I hung out at The Sanders' house.

Salem, OR-- Don't let Salem residents talk you out of visiting...

Just quit burning your Capitol down, alright?

And then, our route into the Lake Tahoe area took us through Carson City, NV, and would you believe it, our opportunity to take in a FOURTH State Capitol. (Did anyone know Carson City was the capital of Nevada??!?) Now tell me, who could pass that up? :)

Carson City, NV-- The understated and simple Capitol
Why bother even TRYING to compete with buildings like The Bellagio and The Venetian?

And as an added bonus, Bill decided to make sure the plumbing worked in each of the buildings by... how does the saying go, "If it's brown, flush it down...?" :)
Yes, my husband: Leaving his mark on the world one poop at a time.

We Heart Tillamook: How I Spent My Summer Vacation, part 3

Alright, seriously... start planning your own Oregon journey now.
We had SO MUCH FUN at the Tillamook plant in Tillamook, Oregon.

HUGE--like 2 ft by 2 ft-- blocks of cheese being cut into the famous 2 lb "loaves" right before our eyes. The medium cheddar (orange wrapper) is on the far right conveyor line, the sharp cheddar (red wrapper) is in the middle, and the far line was being cut into the small half-pound size that they sell for millions of dollars at a typical grocery store. (Who buys that size, by the way???)

The cheese goes down the conveyor belt and is slid into the sleeve of the wrapper, then it goes into some sort of heat contraption that makes the wrapper seal the cheese. Both girls enjoyed watching the process (and waving at the very gracious employees!)

After watching the cheese be made, you can sample all the varieties downstairs... Even some they don't sell, like cheese curds, which we all kind of liked (even though they sound gross!).

And the cu de gras of the whole trip was a DELICIOUS bowl of ice cream-- Oregon Strawberry and Mountain Blackberry. YUM.

Yes, they make Ice Cream and Yogurt, too. Lucky Oregonians and Washingtonians can eat them all the time-- they are sold at all the grocery stores. Poor us.... have to drive all the way to Tillamook to enjoy them.

Up next.... a break from the family vacation posts to bring you some of Bill's adventures.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation, part 2

Continuing where I left off....

A great week up in the Seattle area-- perfect weather, fun activities, and GREAT company.

We took the girls into downtown Seattle one day and spent the morning at the Seattle Children's Museum. Fun times had by all...

both girls loved the "ball area"-- for lack of a better description.

playing with the "recycled material" craft supplies

working on a masterpiece

The following day, Pam joined us on a trip to Olympic National Park. It was a LONG scenic drive-- made even longer by the road construction in the park that narrowed the road down to one lane. We spent so much time waiting for the "Stop" sign to be swiveled to "Slow" we started taking pictures of the road construction signs. I'm serious.
But we made it, and arrived at Hurricane Ridge only to feel the freezing Hurricane-force winds from which it derives its name. It was pretty overcast, but the beauty of the area was still evident....

The next morning, we said our goodbyes and headed down to Oregon. We were scheduled to visit our dear friends The Sanders in Salem that evening, but their daughter was REALLY SICK-- possibly Kawasaki's disease (which, although very rare, our cousin Jack had last year!) -- and is still recovering. (check out their blog for the full story) Suffice it to say, she is starting to feel better 10 days out. Still praying that her heart is unaffected.

Since we were close, we did stop by their house for about an hour--- I couldn't be in Salem and not see my dear Libby!! Lexy and Henry got to play while Libby and I chatted. Bill headed to the Oregon State Capital with Tori-- that will be another post. :) We wish we could have stayed longer!!!

So, we sort of "winged it" down the Oregon coast and took our time taking in the sights....

Coming up, the highlight of the Oregon coast (Hint: our children's main sustenance provider)!

How I Spent My Summer Vacation, part 1

To celebrate the end of summer school, we went to San Diego. My mom decided that she wanted to go to Sea World for her birthday, so off we went! Here are some pics... (More to follow from Grandma's camera.)

It was a long day (up till 11pm without a nap!), but the girls loved it, and Lexy is still shouting "Shamu! Shamu!" periodically throughout the day. And now every whale she sees is Shamu. :)

Immediately upon our return, Bill left to drive to Seattle!!
He took many scenic pictures along the way, which will eventually be posted in The Hughes Family Photo Album. The girls and I flew up to meet him the following day, and we spent a WONDERFUL week with our dear friends the Raneys.

Highlights of the trip: Fishing with Devon, BERRIES, BERRIES, BERRIES!, Fish & Chips on the water, black licorice ice cream (!), Expanding our vocabulary with Quiddler and a Scrabble dictionary, church and BBQ with Blake & family, throwing fish, Hurricane Ridge , Downtown Tacoma, and just hanging out with ALL of the Raneys.

Here are just a few of the pictures....

Lexy, Pam & Madrona in downtown Gig Harbor

Devon, Madrona & Sampson

Dave, Bill & Tori on Devon & Becca's boat

Showing off our ice cream-stained tongues!

The whole gang in front of the Chihuly Bridge of Glass in Tacoma, WA.

More vacation fun to follow soon.....