Camano for the 4th

We (including the usual suspects plus mom, dad and the Issaquah Fernies) spent the fourth of July at my Aunt Lisa's house on the beach on Camano. I think it might be a new tradition, it was so much fun. It was quasi-camping, which means we were fed a feast of crab for dinner and a breakfast buffet including strawberries from the garden, and other fabulous treats. And we got to watch the end of a knock down drag out Wimbledon final that went to 15-13 in the last set. It was crazy. Quasi-camping also meant that Loren, Jam, Maisy and I spent the night in the crabshack, which totally rocks. We had a queen size mattress in a loft with an amazing water view. Also no worries about bugs, damp sleeping bags, dirty tent floors etc. etc. And the whole ceiling is covered in glow in the dark stars, which was very cool. We played in the kayak and floaty toys, looked for crabs, played swimmy fetch with Maisy, I read a fabulous book, we ate tons of yummy snacks, got a little sun, saw an amazing sunset, and then got to watch the whole coastline set of huge fireworks displays while we toasted marshmallows and ate smores. All in all it was fantastic. Looking back at these photos though, I better start taking some pictures. Poor Loren never gets in any.

O Canada

So last week we drove up to Whistler with Loren's parents and his brother's family. Whistler is amazingly beautiful, and we stayed in the most
unbelievable house, which belongs to Loren's cousin. I cannot describe it justly, but let me just say that it has 8 bathrooms and 2 hot tubs, and we had to play Marco Polo to find each other quite frequently. That should give the general picture. Anyone that has any brilliant ideas about how to get private jet rich, please send them my way, because I am now disatisfied with my regular life. I want to move in there just for the mattress/bedding. Of course all kinds of other fun was had too. Hikes were hiked, books were read, puzzles were puzzled, ice cream was eaten with reckless abandon, cows were ridden, balloon swords were brandished, gondolas were gondolaed, naps were napped with great frequency, pool was sharked, shops were browsed and balls were hurled down the stairs repeatedly. Benjamin was a grumpy little sicky for a good portion of the trip, which was unfortunate, but did have the surprise upside of a 3.5 hour nap on the trip home. He slept from Whistler to Arlington. It was a veritable nap marathon. We also celebrated Isabelle's 12th birthday, golfed for father's day (not all of us) and hot tubbed often. It was all very satisfactory.