Melissa comes to visit

Most of the time when we go see my family we get to see a lot of everyone who lives there, except Melissa who  lives in town but works. So it was so nice when she asked if she could come up and visit us on one of her two weeks off she gets in the whole year! We of course were thrilled to have her.

We picked her up late Saturday night, went to church Sunday then went over to John and Debbie's to walk on the trails up through Whatcom Falls. We went by the Derby pond, stopped and played at the park, saw the falls, went to the fish hatchery, and had a great time walking and catching up with each other.

On Monday we drove up to Mt. Baker. We stopped at picture lake on the way up hoping for an amazing shot, there was a little wind so the water wasn't perfect but it was pretty just the same.

We drove the rest of the way to Artist Point where we ate our picnic lunch with one of the best views around.  Luckily we weren't right by a sheer cliff so Mason was able to walk around just a little bit without me having a heart attack.

After lunch we decided to hike Table Top mountain, we thought we would go as far as we could and if we needed to turn back we would.  Despite the vertigo and terror Melissa and I got from the height, we decided to just go all the way to the top. We were glad once we made it because the view was spectacular and we even got to play in a small patch of snow that hadn't melted.

Mason loved being in the pack with Christopher and did a great job sitting still and not complaining. He loved walking in the snow, even though it was a little hard for him and he slipped a lot.

We stopped off at Nooksack Falls on our way down the mountain and walked around there for only a few minutes before Mason was too tired and we had to get back in the car, but overall the day was great!

On Tuesday we took the boat out and did some wake boarding. Christopher's cousin Dave was able to come which was nice so Christopher would have someone to drive while he wake boarded.  Melissa said it had been a few years since she had gone, but it only took a few tries and she got up, then fell attempting to go outside the wake, but got back up a couple more times.

 Christopher was hoping he would get some good pictures of her crashing, she did crash a few times but mostly on her butt, one of her crashes was a face plant but Christopher didn't really get a shot he was so disappointed.

We drove the boat around and down the lake for a little bit before heading back in. We had a good time on the lake and the water wasn't even too cold.

Wednesday the weather wasn't that great but we did get a round of frisbee golf in and of course Mason had to play on the playground, which consisted of him going down the slide a couple times but mostly hitting a tree with a stick.

Thrusday was another gloomy day but Mason wanted to go to the "wady" so we walked down to Squalicum Beach where we threw rocks until I was too cold.  We hung out at home and played cards, which Melissa helped me out giving me the card I needed in Phase 10, and Christopher yelled at us telling us that's not how we should play cards, it was pretty hilarious.

That night we went to Coconut Kenny's with his parents for dinner, Melissa got our favorite sandwich the King Mahalo. Usually when we get it we eat half and bring the other half home for lunch the next day but she liked it so much she finished it.

Friday we took a ferry out to Friday Harbor, it wasn't perfectly clear but you could see the islands well enough.  We ate lunch at the Hungry Clam, which was delicious, then walked around the island a little.

Saturday was Mason's birthday(I'll have a post of this soon) so we went to breakfast at Rocket donuts then walked along Boulevard to the park where Mason played for a little bit before we had to go drop Melissa off at the airport.

We had so much fun with Melissa, and Mason will definitely miss his back seat car buddy during rides. Thanks or coming we had a blast!

5 years...Birch Bay...Semi-Camping trip...Lynden Fair

5 Years

Last weekend was our 5 year anniversary. We were lucky enough to have some sweet connections to get tickets to go on a day whale watching, island cruise, boat trip through the San Juans.

 We did the same trip a few years ago and didn't see any whales, but this time we did. I had seen them before, but only at Sea World.

 It was really cool to see them swimming in something not shaped like a bowl, and in fairly big groups. Our boat pulled up to them just as they finished doing jumps and playing around lots, so we mostly saw them swimming.

The fins on the males were huge, around 6 feet tall. We had a fun time just the two of us, enjoying the boat ride, food, and time without Mason.

Birch Bay

Christopher's sister Brianne and her three girls came up for a weekend to visit and we got to go with them to Birch Bay. Mason loves it there, running in the water and playing in the sand.

 It was fun that Christopher got to come with us this time.  Mason loved racing him through the water, finding shells, and using his feet to make really big splashes.

It was fun to watch all the kids play in their own way in the sand and water. Mason loved playing in the water and getting to see his cousins.

Camping

When I took that trip to see my family and go camping, Mason slept in his own bag. We took advantage of Christopher being home with us while job hunting and planned a camping trip. It has been so nice this summer with temperature in upper 70's and sunny skies. So we packed up and drove over to West Port to camp a couple nights, we get to the campground a little after 3, set up our site and headed over to the beach. Mason loved being in the water, he would stand and let the waves come to him until he got knocked down. After that he would only stand for half of them and run away the other half.

We headed back to the campsite to eat dinner and avoid the darker looking clouds that were rolling in.
It was pretty chilly and a burn ban had just been put into effect so we huddled outside while Mason was in the tent trying to sleep. We could hear him jumping on our bed and rummaging through all the stuff. When we knew he was asleep we headed for bed and when we opened up the tent Mason was passed out face first in the middle of our bed, lying on a flashlight, with all the cards from Christopher's wallet thrown about the tent. He definitely had a good time "going to sleep".

 Remember it had been perfect weather, well of course that night it pours! It rained a few inches and continued through the next morning. We saw that it was supposed to rain for the next couple days, so we packed up all of our wet stuff and drove home.

It was sad to leave so soon and we would have stayed if we didn't have a kid that had to be confined to a tent most of the day.  It was still a fun trip, we were of course sad to leave and drive all the way there and back for only one short night, but Mason was good in the car so it wasn't too bad.  We'll just have to try again next year.

Lynden Fair

JB worked the Northwest Washington Fair this past week and got us tickets so we headed down on Friday afternoon to check it out. Mason was so excited when we told him he was going to see cows he mooed the whole car ride over. He loved seeing all the animals, especially the baby animal exhibit. the piglets were going crazy running around, Mason was nervous a couple times when they ran by his legs, but he loved it otherwise.

Mason also got to see a ninja turtle at the fair. It was there for a karate booth and Mason has been really into the classic turtle cartoons lately and got so exited when he saw Raphael and wanted to give him a high five. He usually gets scared when we get close to things that are new, but he was so excited and was smiling non-stop.

The fair was great and we had so much fun with Nana and Pop Pop looking at exhibits, eating food, and seeing all the animals.

4th- Reid Reunion-Orcas Isand

This year for the 4th of July we had a family reunion  with the Reids. Almost all his cousins came with their kids. Mason had a great time with his cousins and got so excited whenever we asked him if he wanted to go see them.  We had a fun 4th at John and Debbie's where we ate food, had a baby shower, and played tons of games. They had bocce ball, bad miton, croquet, a special bean bag game I don't remember the name of, water balloons, a little kid pool, slip n' slide, and washer toss. Mason had a blast with the water, and running around playing with everyone.

Mason loved this little bike, I think we have another idea to add to his birthday list!

At the end of the day we put a movie on for the kids, who were all exhausted, giving the adults time to clean everything up.

The next day our plan was to go to Birch Bay, but the weather didn't cooperate, so we ended up going to the touch tank in the morning. Mason liked playing in the water, but didn't want to actually touch anything. Later in the day we met up at the Institute building with everyone and walked to Western Washington University while we waited for our pizza to be delivered. The kids did tricks while jumping, and played games like line tag, red light green light, and mother may I.

After we ate we played games, we split into families and played some minute-to-win-it games. Some of them included balancing ding dongs on your forehead, eating a banana through pantyhose( they looked awesome), keeping three balloons in the air, making a pyramid out of cups then stacking them the fastest, emptying a tissue box the fastest, using only your mouth to move paper bags, and seeing who could drink the most out of a bottle(Crew was so excited he was crying for it and marching in anticipation).

On Sunday after Sacrament meeting, we went to Cornwall park and took a family picture, then met up for Ruby's baby blessing.  We spent the rest of the day relaxing, and roasted s'mores in the evening.

On Monday we took the boat out and went to the lake. Mason had a blast riding on the GTX, he wouldn't let us take him off , but being in the boat was the next best thing. He loved seeing his dad behind the boat and was really concerned when he fell.

 He had fun playing with his cousins in the water and sitting in his super adorable towel that Gi Gi got all the grand kids for early Christmas presents.

After the reunion the Burley family went out to the San Juan Islands to some cabins for a couple days, Christopher wasn't able to go since he had to study for the bar.  We stayed on Orcas Island, the cabins were really nice and had amazing views over the water toward Mt. Baker.

We had our own stretch of beach where the kids played a ton. They threw rocks, found crabs, starfish, and other animals. Mason mostly threw rocks, and swung a stick he found. Pop Pop was his rock supplier one morning and threw rocks with him for least a half hour.

We drove up to Mt. Constitution and took pictures from the view point there, and then went on a short hike to some water falls. Mason was a great hiker, he climbed up all the stairs and walked almost the whole way.

The beach cabins were so much fun. Mason loved spending time with the cousins, him and Crew were really cute when they would jabber to each other then laugh. I can only imagine the trouble these two will get in when they get older.

 It was so good to see all the family and meet baby Ruby.  We were sad that Christopher wasn't able to come with us to the islands but we still had a ton of fun, thanks guys for a great trip!