Drum roll....SURPRISE TRIP 2018!!

All year long our annual Kick-off the Summer Trip is quietly planned and prepared for by mom and dad.  It seems like the last month of school is a killer for all of us - big projects and tests, tons of concerts and programs, finals, and late nights.  We were all so ready to have some time with just our family!

So where did we go?  Anderson Island!!!  Where is that you ask?  We had no idea either until we discovered it this past year.  Basically I did a vrbo search for a place to rent that was around $200/night and was within three hours of our home.  Anderson Island popped up and after doing some research it seemed like the perfect spot for our 2018 Surprise Trip.  Anderson Island is the southernmost island in Puget Sound.  You get there by taking a twenty minute ferry ride from Steilacoom, WA.  There are only about 1000 residents and we found the roads to be sleepy and the parks to be plentiful and so nicely kept up.  It was the perfect place for our family to unwind.  There is one little general store and a cafe so we packed in all our food and rented a nice little house in the trees.

But our adventure started before we arrived to Anderson Island.  We drove up Hwy 12 and made a pit stop at Mount Rainier.  Sadly, it had been probably fifteen years since we last went with the kids (meaning we only had two at the time).  Only an hour and half from us and we find ourselves so busy that we haven't carved time to experience the beauty of Mount Rainier.  Chloe had a free 4th grade pass into any National Park and it is just about to expire so we decided we should take advantage of some hiking.

Our first hike was to the Grove of the Patriarchs.  The trails were well-maintained and we had a great time even though it was a bit chilly.

After that hike we decided to go on another hike to Silver Falls.  It was beautiful as well.

Just missing one awesome Elder!

Chloe was sure to capture EVERYTHING!!  Between Alysee, Tyler, and Chloe taking loads of pictures -- I'm not sure why Birch and I even bring our camera anymore.

We were FAMISHED after our hikes so we snarfed down our sack lunch while we finished our drive to Steilacoom.

Getting ready to load the ferry.

We rented a little house in the forest on Anderson Island.  We saw deer everywhere but this site was especially sweet to see right out the kitchen window.

Saturday morning we headed to Andy's Marine Park.

It was about a mile hike to the beach...really I should say it was a mile walk.  The trail was so well maintained with markings naming the tree types.  The trail was through a forested area that lead straight to the beach.  I kid you not -- we only saw one other person while were there.  This marine refuge was full of crabs of all sizes, millions of sand dollars, starfish, tons of shell fish, shrimp, little eel looking fish, etc...

Hours squealing with delight when finding a new creature.

Check out the size of that crab -- sure would have been fun if we were allowed to take one home to cook up.

Tiny shrimp

Chloe carried around that starfish like her pet.

Not sure why Tyler is making the nasty face - we learned that the black sand dollars are still alive and the white ones dead.

The kids loved digging down and trying to pull out or squeeze these slimy clams - geoduck and razor clams.

Coop looking for a treasure.

Handsome Lover

 After our morning at Andy's Marine Park we went to Ol' Swimming Hole at Johnson Park.  It had a great sand volleyball court where several spikeball games were played.

After spikeball everyone (minus me that needs the water temperature to be at least 80 degrees) jumped into the fresh water lake.  They had a couple of fun docks to swim to and even a high jump and slide.

The boys showing off.

Nate

Birch

Coop

Chloe

Coop going down the slide.

Boys

Swan dive by my Lover

I pumped up a raft that everyone had fun in as well.

Me basking in the sun.

Chloe going down the cute little baby slide.

That night after dinner we watched the newer version of "Cinderella" and then the boys stayed up way too late watching "Lord of the Rings 2."  The mornings found us all sleeping in and then lounging around.  Birch, Tyler, and Nate went on a tough six mile run to keep in shape for XC in the fall. Our meals were simple - pancake mix, yogurt, canned mangos, chicken pasta from Costco, breaded chicken sandwiches, caesar salad, and treats at night while watching movies.

Saturday we hiked out to James Point.  This hike goes through the forest and along a little peninsula.  It wasn't as exciting as Andy's Marine Park but it was still beautiful and a lovely walk.

Ditto Family as James Point

Our last stop before loading up the car was Pine Park.  This small park was immaculately maintained and had a great frisbee golf course and little fish stocked pond.  Everyone was sad when it was time to pack up to catch the ferry.

These boys LOVE frisbee golf!

After we bid farewell to Anderson Island we drove to the Seattle Temple.  I had arranged for the kids to do baptisms.  Cooper just turned twelve year's old so this was his first time being able to go inside the temple.  Nathan is our ward Youth Family History Specialist and had found many family names to do baptisms for.

Coop said it was a really neat experience.

While Chloe and I were waiting for Birch and the older kids she conned me to look on google maps for a Humane Society.  As fate would have it there was one four minutes away.  I'll spare you all the pictures she took of all the dogs and cats but I was amazed at how many pit bulls were there.  Chloe loved every minute and didn't beg too much to touch all the animals.  I found a cute little bakery close by which I knew Chloe would love as she is an extreme delicatent treat baker.  She chose a cream puff to try and loved every bite.

So yummy!

Chloe and I headed back to the temple and picked up the rest of the family and we surprised them with a hole in the wall burger joint that had great reviews.  It was way greasy but we all muscled down our onion rings, fries, and chicken or hamburgers.  We all went away thinking we should have shared and then stopped for salads at Trader Joes.

Boiler Bay in Bellevue, WA

Packin' in the grease

2018 Kick-off the Summer Surprise Trip did not disappoint!!  Anderson Island was such a great find and we loved how it felt like we owned the island as we rarely saw anyone else.  Some of my favorite moments was opening a bag of Twix fun size candy bars from my mom and finding a dollar wrapped around each candy bar with instructions to give a compliment to a family member prior to eating the chocolate.  It was great hearing everyone's praise and we all loved our stop at the Country Store to spend our dollar on treats.  Thanks Ami and Poppi!!!

I'm already excited to start thinking of next year's trip!!  Sure do love my family!

A Renewal

I know everyone is dying to see our remodel work in the mudroom/laundry room and the basement bathroom. These were both items that we had wanted to spruce up but hadn't quite saved up enough pennies to do so. Thanks to a split washer hose and some great house insurance we are now enjoying two beautiful remodeled rooms! I was wishing that I had a wide angel lens so I could better capture the rooms.

Basement Bathroom:

Here is a shot when we first moved into the house:
Right after moving in I ripped down the wall paper and went a little "yellow" crazy -- hey, I wanted to hide all the boy potty:

After the remodel:

Birch and I spent a late night painting the walls and ceiling before the tile was laid. The new Mystic Blue give the bathroom a whole new look.
Front face of the new maple cabinet Laminate countertop w/ maple edge trimming and tile backsplash Love how this tile floor came out -- we purchased all the tile from Home Depot The new sink and faucet were bought on a great deal from a plumbing appliance store that was getting rid of it's overstock. Love the old school metal plaques that I got at a fun little store in Spokane.

Mudroom/Laundry Room:

Mudroom/Laundry Room when we bought the house:
We didn't change too much to the mud room after we moved in. We did paint over the blue paint with a nice taupe color but we left the wallpaper up.

As a result of the water damage the floor was taken up to the sub flooring in order for everything to dry thoroughly.
We tore down all the wall paper (some was greatly damaged by the water) and then painted this really nice wheat color. We also added the great cabinets above the washer and dryer. I love having the extra storage. I was surprised how relatively "cheap" of an addition the cabinets were.
We put in these great lockers (purchased from IKEA) when we first moved into our house. They sure make a great spot to put all the kids coats and backpacks.
LOVE how this floor turned out! Again, the tile was purchased at Home Depot.

We were able to reuse the cabinet in the mudroom, though it did require a new toe kick to be built and some touch up work on the door faces still need to be done. After installing a new countertop and backsplash we put in a new sink and faucet. I found these fun prints while I was on my Girls' weekend in Spokane. I still need to add some vinyl something...Annie and Deena, do you have any ideas for me?

Thankfully Birch just finished all the dry wall repair in the shop. It was a disaster in there until just this past weekend. Birch also repaired the mud and tape on the ceiling so we are good as new.

I must put a disclaimer that most of the time when I said "we" did blaa blaa it was really our great sub-contractor guy that has done the other remodel work in the two upstairs bathrooms. In reality "we" painted the rooms and did all the shopping (and let me tell you it takes a long time to save money and go to a ton of different stores). If anyone in my town is needing any remodel work in their house we know the man!

The hardwood floors will be refinished Thanksgiving week and then the carpets will be cleaned the following week. After that we will be as good a new (really better than we were a couple of months ago). This whole experience has reminded me that God knows best and wants to bless us even if it doesn't always feel that way. I'm thankful for a beautiful home!