Day 2: Victoria

Day two started out early in the morning so we could catch the morning ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria.

As a side note:  Could Hilary be any cuter and trendier?  I am inspired.

Could this town be any cuter?  Answer is a definite "no!".

I really love aquariums, and had fun learning about the sea creatures common to this coast.  Fascinating!

We walked over a mile to tour the Craigdarroch castle, and it was a highlight for me.  It was so beautiful.  When I told Bronwyn and Magdalen about it they kept asking if it was a real story, or if I was making it up.  :)  Hopefully I will be able to take them there someday.  I really think I would have LOVED being a privileged young woman of the early 1900s.  Apparently they were encouraged to pursue music and play billiards all day.  I'll take it!

We capped off the day driving up the mountains of Olympic National Park to watch the meteor shower.  I have always been a pretty big, night-sky enthusiast.  I have always loved getting up watch meteor showers and just star gaze in general.  Somehow we lucked out and had a completely cloudless sky.  The stars were amazing, and totally worth the drive even without the meteor shower.  We didn't see as many meteors as I thought/hoped we would, but I'm estimating we saw at least 30.  Not too shabby.

Day 3: Forks and La Push

Have you ever thought that it would be really fun to go to Forks because of your obsession with the Twilight series?  Well, I have!  I was kind of wrong....  Actually, it was really fun, for the 30 minutes it took to see the town.  So unless you have other reasons to head to that part of Washington, I'd suggest counting this blogpost as your trip to Forks.  :) 

No lie, there is a reserved parking space at the Forks hospital for Dr. Cullen!  The entire town is Twilight crazy.  I think my favorite thing to do while there (other than shopping of course!) was take pictures of all the businesses using Twilight to get customers.  Here are some of my faves...

I have no idea how they can offer a THREE hour tour!  But honestly, Forks is pretty ghetto; so I'm glad to see that Twilight mania is bringing a little more cashflow to the town. 

I was really curious to see if La Push would be as into all the Twilight stuff as well.  Part of me wondered if they would find it offensive, so I was pretty darn excited to see this sign as we drove onto the reservation:

It totally made my day!  I know it's silly, but I just loved that they put up a treaty line!  What a sense of humor! 

Despite the high quantity of Forks pictures, we actually spent 90% of our day along the La Push coastline.  And it was truly amazing!  We walked for miles on the black rocks/sand, and had the most wonderful day.

The coast was definitely my favorite part of the entire vacation.  Who wouldn't want to skip rocks all day?

Day 4: The Hoh Rain Forest

By day 4 of our trip, I was more tired than I was when we left on our trip!  You would think that traveling without kids would help you feel rested, but not so much in this case.  :)  But we still had one day left of hiking to do at the Hoh Rain Forest.  "Hoh" is an Indian word for "rain" or "water".  And this forest sees more rain than most places in America, and it creates and amazingly beautiful and unique corner of the world.

The heavy rain causes moss to grow on almost everything.  The forest floor is also covered with fern.

The trees average 220 to 300 feet tall.  When they fall over, other trees begin to grow on top.  You see their roots winding around the fallen trees.  When the fallen trees decay away, large empty spaces are left underneath the living trees.  I did not explain that very well, but it was pretty neat to see.  :)

The perfect final destination for an awesome trip!  Thanks for everything, Hil and C!  We had a blast!

New job and a trip to McCall

When we moved to Boise Todd had a job at the imaging department of Micron.  Less than a year into it, they moved the imaging department to San Jose.  Well, Todd's wife (cough cough) was REALLY unsupportive of the move, and Todd ended up taking a job at Plexus in Nampa.  It was a longer commute, lower pay, worse benefits, and not really what Todd wanted to do, but hey, it kept us in Boise!

Early this summer though Todd came home and told me that he was really unhappy with his job.  I felt bad for two reasons....The first being I just felt bad that he didn't like his job.  That can't be fun.  And the second is because I didn't really know he was so unhappy.  Sure, I knew it wasn't his dream job; but I figured he was happy enough there.  Wrong. 

I figured he would start looking for other opportunities to apply for, when all of the sudden his old boss from Micron called and offered him a job.  True Story.  It was still a hard decision though.  Obviously the whole San Jose thing didn't work out with the crashing economy and all, and the company separated from Micron and moved back to Boise.  So Todd and I decided to take a risk, and take this new job.  To celebrate this new chapter in our life, Todd cashed out his time off at Plexus and took the 5 of us to a fun filled weekend in McCall!

The girls were beyond thrilled, and got right into the water.  They were shivering after an hour or so, but still wouldn't get out.  They just love the "beach"!

Ty really didn't like the beach at first, but as you can see below, he changed his mind and ended up loving it!

We also hiked...

and rode our bikes, of course....

and swung at the park...

Sadly though, Bronwyn joined a gang.  I was unaware of this life decision until I saw this picture.  But it pretty much confirms any fears I had.  :)

We really had a great time.  And I think it is the first time we have gone on a trip without my mom or Todd's parents!  Guess it was about time!

A Summer Fit For A Queen

Raising two young girls, my house is often filled with every kind of princess paraphernalia you can imagine.  

But looking through some recent pictures, I have come to realize that my life is actually quite magical; 

and I am one spoiled queen.  :)

My children are spoiled with rides on white horses.  (aka: a carousel at Liberty Land).

We travel by train to exotic locations.  (aka:  The Heber Creeper)

Could they be any cuter in their train hats?!  Seriously!

I am constantly pleasured with live music.

Again with the cuteness...

Our home is filled with royal guests, and decorated with original artwork.

We cool off at the palace pool. 

If this is the life of royalty... I'll take it!

I can finally upload videos on my blog again!  I am so happy about this new arrangement.  First of all, I will share a short clip of Emily and I doing toe-touches into the pool today.  We are so in sync with eachother.  And let's be honest, between the two of us we have 7 kids....and

WE'VE TOTALLY STILL GOT IT!

Here is Ty running on my in-law's treadmill.  I love his little run!