Wenatchee

One of my bestest (yeah, I know it's not a word) friends, Sarah, and her family moved back to Washington and have settled in Wenatchee.  Needless to say, we are thrilled!  Wenatchee is so much closer than North Pole - so we've already taken the opportunity to go visit twice.  This last time, it was just me and Samantha, since Ed was out of town at a conference (can you believe he went to Nashville without me?!?!?).

Anyway, Samantha and I set out on our very first road trip together...that was more than 2 hours.  I had goldfish crackers, M&M's, movies, sippy cups - everything I would need to keep her entertained for the 2.5 hour drive.  She did really well!!  We did stop a couple of times when she either dropped a toy that she just had to have and another time for a bio break but in general, it was a pretty smooth trip.

While there, we splashed and played at a sprinkler park, went swimming, Samantha was thoroughly entertained by my friend's kids (and their toys), I helped Sarah can peaches, finally finished reading, "The Hunger Games," so we could buy the movie and watch it!  Sarah said I had to finish the book first though...  We finally "convinced" Sarah's husband to learn pinochle.  He was less than thrilled about it and I think was only a good sport about it because of the evil eye he was getting from his wife if he didn't cooperate!  Ha ha - it was fun though!  Oh, and Samantha slept in a toddler bed all night long - without falling out of it!

Here's a short video of Samantha playing at a water park.  Yes, the water is clean (chlorinated) - it's just the run off from the park.  It was also upwards of 90 degrees, so she is not cold by any means! :)

 

The temperature, per my car, as we rolled into town.

At the water park in Cashmere

Worked up an appetite after all that swimming!

At a sprinkler park in Wenatchee

Samantha's first time sleeping in a toddler bed

All in all, it was a very fun, very relaxing few days and we are looking forward to our next trip to visit.

Remlinger Farms and Tommy's Birthday

Today was a busy day!  We started out the morning heading off to Remlinger Farms in Carnation for a work-sponsored event.  It was a lot of fun - quite a drive, but a lot of fun.  They had a whole spread of food available and gave us each wrist bands that allowed us to ride any of the rides we wanted.

After visiting with some of Ed's co-workers, we rode the train over to the more "amusement park" section of the farm.  There, Samantha and I walked through one of the animal barns and then met up with Ed to let Samantha ride her first-ever amusement park ride.  She loved it!  Ed went with her and she had a blast!

Not so sure at first...she slid closer to daddy as the ride got into full swing.

One of the cute cutouts they had there

 

After the morning and early afternoon at Remlinger Farms, we high-tailed it back to my mom's house to celebrate our nephew, Tommy's, first birthday.  My sister rented a bouncy house.  Samantha wasn't so sure about it at first, but after some of the kids left and it was just her and Tommy with me and my sister inside, she warmed right up to it!

 

Finally having fun in the bouncy house

Ready to party

Samantha "helping" Tommy open his presents



Back Yard Camping

Believe it or not, we do like to camp.  We haven't done it in a while though because...well, I'm not quite sure why.  Anyway, we decided to get a new tent so that when the occasion for camping arises, we'd be ready. 

Of course with any new tent, you have to practice setting it up, make sure all the pieces are there, know how much room it takes, how long it takes to set up, etc.  So that's what we did!

Side view - supposedly sleeps EIGHT!  I don't know about that though,
I thought it was just right for the three of us!

 Samantha was so excited.  To her, this was a playhouse!  If nothing else, I think back yard camping is in our future!

Smiles all around!

New Car!!

Let me clarify - a new car for Samantha!

Yesterday was the annual clothing/household item swap at church.  It's like a big swap meet/garage sale...without money.  You bring items, you take items.  Simple.  I took some clothes and several household items and ended up bringing home some clothes for Samantha, new car booster seats, and a Samantha's very first own set of wheels!

Look out world - new driver coming through!

She hasn't quite got the hang of moving this little car under her own power.  She relies on someone else's foot power to push her along.  How can you resist that beautiful little face though?  Only problem, she never wants to get out of the car!  Looks like we just got a new workout machine for mommy!

Beep, beep!

Still Missing You, Dad!

I can't believe it's been 5 years since my dad passed away; since I received that call from my brother that my dad was being transported to the hospital; since I last saw him alive being lowered from the back of an ambulance and through the doors of the ER.

I was going through some of my grandparents' things a few weeks ago and stumbled upon some cassette tapes.  One of them was just labeled "T.A.S." - my father's initials.  Feeling strong enough, I popped it into the cassette player and heard my dad's voice again.  It's funny, though it was my dad's voice, it was before he was married so it was my dad, but not my dad.  I'm so glad though that I have these tapes and can listen to him and remember his voice. 

Samantha was downstairs with me at the time playing with her toys.  I told her that the voice on the tape was grandpa.  She sat and listened to his ramblings intently.  Every time she sees that CD/cassette player downstairs now, she asks to listen to grandpa.  It makes me smile every time!

Dad, I still miss you every day. I wish so badly that you could have known your granddaughter in this life. I know we'll meet again. I have faith in that promise.  Until then...

Tongs

I'm not quite sure why, but Samantha has developed a fascination with TONGS.  She goes and digs them out of the kitchen drawers and proceeds to use them to pick up her toys, blankets, shoes, whatever.  I'm not sure what's driving the sudden attachment to tongs, but it sure is cute.

Deciding which toy to pick up next!
(btw, that's a shadow on her back...)

Looks like the lion is the lucky winner!