Seattle Trip

We went on a glorious trip to Seattle this summer. It was quite possibly the most relaxing vacation I've ever taken. A million thanks again to Skye and Jon for letting us crash at their house, feeding us, giving us insider driving tips, and for generally allowing us to interrupt their lives for a week! I came home feeling more refreshed than I have in a long time. 

When debating road trip vs flying, it didn't take long to decide that the flying was the way to go. The kids were just as excited about the flight as they were the destination. 

In the airport... waiting.... and more waiting..... this was Nora's first airplane trip ever!

Just landed! It was a great flight! 

The kids got their wings. So exciting! And a source of lots of creative play all week long with their cousins.

Our first evening was spent at the Museum of Flight. There was so much to see and we could have spent many more hours there. The outdoor exhibits were my favorite. 

The kids wanted to spend all night in the kid's zone. 

Friday we helped clean house (it's incredible how fast you can clean when you have 4-5 adults all working together!) and put together a puppy birthday party. So fun to share that with Alyssa. I don't think we have ever been to one of her parties before. 

Saturday was Kylie's baptism ---- the catalyst for the entire trip! Again, something we weren't sure if we would be able to share with our out-of-state family. It was so lovely. And we discovered that family selfies are hard when we are all standing up!

We also got to picnic on the beach of the Puget Sound. I wasn't expecting sandy beaches in Washington state! So beautiful and calming. Throughout the whole trip I just couldn't get over how perfect the weather was (60-70 degrees, partly cloudy the whole time!) and how beautiful the scenery was. So many very very green trees and bushes, and lots of water. So different from Utah and just as picturesque. 

We also made a trip to the Seattle temple grounds and the family discovery center there. A very educational and fun trip for everyone. 

We spent one day in downtown Seattle and did the Space Needle tour. This was at the top of the kids' must-see lists. 

Holy cow look at those bolts! They are huge! Zeke was so impressed. He said it was a good thing no one had a wrench that big to take them out or the whole Space Needle would fall over. Side note: love how the other kids are climbing on it in the background. 

We also stopped at the Science Center after the Space Needle. We were all pretty tired so we didn't stay long. We did explore the space room and the butterfly house. Again, so much to see and not much time to do it in. We will definitely plan to come again when we make it back to the area. 

The best part of the trip for everyone was simply the downtime with our family. We had a great time helping with parties and doing touristy stuff. But the time for the kids to play and the adults to talk or just chill was what everyone really wanted out of a vacation. The last day of the trip the kids had a game of Star Wars going all day long, and we were happy to just let them run all over the house exploring the galaxy without having anywhere else to go. 

It's always bittersweet to come to the end of a fabulous vacation, but having another plane ride to look forward to helped! This time the kiddos got to see the cockpit and briefly meet the co-captain. This ride was just as fun as the first and they can't wait to fly again. 

At The Lot

Dynna's in-laws have some property out away from it all, and we took the opportunity when Draper and Carrie were here to go out there and have a hot dog roast. The stream running through was so fun for the kids - both said their favorite part was the boats in the river.

Such beautiful autumn views! It was a very peaceful and relaxing place. A good chance to disconnect from outside life and reconnect with family. 

Zeke and Nora got to hold Lizzy for the first time. She is such a cuddly baby!

More beautiful, peaceful views. 

Carlile grandkids all together! The family is growing :)

Cousin Pals

We had cousins in town for 2 weeks in July and my kids were in heaven! They spent pretty much that whole two weeks at Grandma's playing. That is all they wanted to do, and they had a blast. I'm so glad that these kids love each other so much. I think they are at ages where they are creating wonderful memories and lasting relationships. 

Nora and Alyssa loved that they were twinners in fun new dresses.

We took the cousins with us to a library magic show and 3 of them ended up on stage with a variety of drinks poured from an orange juice container. Zeke really got root beer and Kylie really got strawberry milk. This wizard was pretty good, we couldn't figure out how he did his tricks!

Ashlynn's family got a puppy and all the kids were so excited to play with him. He's still a baby though - Zeke was bummed when the little guy zonked out right away.

I have no idea what game this was or why Nora thought it would be good to flop over the roof of the Cozy Coupe, but I couldn't resist taking this picture.

Everyone pile on Aunt Heather! Nora sandwich!

I love the cousin train. They're so dang cute. 

Tyler and Corinne's Open House

I have not yet posted about one of our most anticipated summer adventures - we helped Aaron's mom and dad host a wedding open house for Tyler and Corinne. 

Our major contribution was cookies. We made oh so many yummy cookies. I think I made around 40 dozen in the couple of weeks leading up to the party. We made chocolate chip, white chocolate chip macadamia, M&M, chocolate M&M, chocolate chocolate chip, and pumpkin chocolate chip.  Sadly, the white chocolate macadamia and chocolate M&M didn't make it to the open house. The white chocolate ones went to the bridal shower, and the chocolate M&M were Nora's favorite to steal. 

In addition to our cookies, we also moved a lot of tables and did a lot of setting up. It turned out beautiful. 

After all of the work was done, we went home to get ready and by some miracle got everyone shower and dressed in about 45 minutes (with only 1 bathroom). 

Then it was time to relax and enjoy. The gardens looked amazingly gorgeous, as did the bride. And we got to spend the next couple of hours chatting with friends and family and keeping the cookies and drinks refilled. 

I thought it was a perfect evening. 

Natural Curiosity

While cousins were here we took a trip to the Museum of Natural Curiosity. We had tons of fun. We certainly didn't get to see or try everything so I'm sure we will be going back!

The rainforest was a hit with the kids because it was a gigantic playground. Not a hit with the parents because it was impossible to keep track of your kids, even with a 1:1 adult:kid ratio. 

Zeke loved the rope bridges. They were a little scary for him but he was a champ about it. 

Nora started on the rope bridge, backed out, decided to try again, and almost backed out again but we struggled through it. She did awesome for being really scared and having to work really hard. [Flip flops are not the optimal footwear for this sort of thing.]

We probably spent the most time in the water room. The kids had a blast at the water tables. 

Ponchos and galoshes for everyone! My kids loved the boots. 

We almost couldn't get them away from the water physics experiment. 

Then we sampled a hurricane. 

The kid-sized city was really fun. We got to play music, drive a train, and go to the bank.  Zeke is still talking about going back to spend more time in the 'drive-thru' of the bank. 

We also put on a pirate show in the theatre.

After a yummy picnic we headed into the gardens in the evening. We walked for a bit then headed back to the fountain and the playground. This was my favorite part of the day. It was more relaxed than the museum and I could just enjoy watching the kiddos making wonderful memories. The garden closed and we had to leave long before anyone was ready to be done.

Family Reunion-ing

We always look forward to the big Loertscher reunion. This year we got to spend it with cousins from out of state, as well as the cousins and 2nd cousins that live closer. 

Nora loved the water games and practically lived in her princess swimsuit. 

Riding the train is something the kids look forward to all year. 

This year we had something new - sno-cones and cotton candy. It was a hit! I had to go get my own after Nora took over the tiger's blood cone we were supposed to be sharing. After sampling all of the options she decided she liked grape the best. 

Zeke had never had cotton candy before but was so excited to try it. He loved it.