...and hit the road for our Spring Break Road Trip 2010. Of course, no road trip can truly begin without a little Dutch Brothers coffee.
Our first stop was in Maple Valley to visit my parents and brother. We had a little impromptu birthday party for Toby (who will be three tomorrow!) and he got to open some great gifts--an inflatable tee ball set and a big box of Duplo blocks. But I think Toby's favorite part was the ice cream!
It was really nice to just hang out with my family. My mom and I got to go shopping and my brother cooked up some delicious food. We got to see the progress my dad has made on the GT-40 he's building and everyone had a chance to cuddle Miles.
On Sunday afternoon we drove a short way up the freeway to Geary's sister's house to surprise our niece for her 8th birthday. We parked across the street from her house and then called Analia from our cell phone. I said something like, "I'm so sorry I forgot to call you yesterday on your birthday. But I sent a present, did you get it? Go outside and see if it's been delivered yet." When she opened her door Noah was standing there with a little gift. She was so excited she said, "Noah's here! Um...can I hang up now?" And then she gave Noah a giant hug and dragged him inside. It was so fun to be able to surprise her like that and I hope we created a lasting memory.
Sunday night we joined in on the family birthday celebration for Analia with pizza and cake and presents. And then we had a giant family slumber party. Too bad the birthday girl had to go to school in the morning. But it was just as well because it was time for the Linharts to hit the road again.
Monday morning we packed up and drove down to Astoria where Geary's cousins live. We got to have a cookout on their new fire pit complete with s'mores! We couldn't believe how gorgeous the weather was--it felt like summer! I slept in Debra and Hank's beautiful guest room with the two little boys and Geary and Noah slept on the couch bed downstairs. Let me tell you, there is nothing as nice as waking up to this sweet sight:
Sweet brothers all cuddled up. I nearly melted from the cuteness overload. Are you not melting, yet? Okay, try it from this angle:
It's the baby yawn that really does you in, huh? Anyway....back to the road trip.
On Tuesday we visited the Maritime Museum. They had this great room where kids (and adults) could try on rescue gear and climb into life rafts and learn about Morse code and flag signals. Noah and Toby had a good time in there.
Then we went to explore the rest of the museum. There were sections on lighthouses, salmon canning, pirates, the coast guard, naval weapons, tug boats and tow boats and lots more. Noah was pretty excited by all of it....
...but poor Toby must have been tired out because we couldn't get him to get out of his stroller!
Another part of the Maritime Museum was an actual boat that we got to explore. It's called the Columbia and it used to be a lighthouse boat.
Here we are in the ship's galley. Noah liked how there were handles to hang onto everywhere.
I liked all the vintage appliances. How cute are those coffee pots?
Checking out the very cramped sleeping quarters.
We had fun on deck, too. There were all sorts of wheels and
pipes and tons of thick rope that none of us could fully wrap our fingers around.
The favorite Toby quote was, "I found the water!"
After seeing all those boats he must have known something was missing!
Could those eyelashes get any longer?
I realize this post is very skimpy on the Miles pictures. The truth is that he was just a super happy baby playing peek-a-boo from his stroller most of the time.
After the museum we had lunch with Hank and Debra at Pig 'n' Pancake and I got to recount to Noah the story of when we were there last. I was very pregnant with Toby at the time and Noah had go potty but he wanted to go all by himself. I let him go into a stall by himself and he locked the door. But then he needed help wiping (he was only 4 at the time) and neither of us could get the stall door unlocked! So I had crawl with my pregnant belly under the stall door to let him out. I barely fit but obviously we all lived to tell the tale!
Noah, Toby, and Geary all went with Debra and Hank to the beach for sandcastle building but I decided to stay at the house for some quiet time with Miles. This introvert desperately needed some recharging time! It was so nice to just relax and veg out and just when I was ready for some company again, the troops came home with tales of their four foot castle building adventures. I need to email Debra and see if she'll send me the pictures of everything they did.
Wednesday afternoon we loaded up in the van again and headed home singing along to our Sailor Songs CD that we picked up at the Maritime museum. Everyone was happy to see our little yellow house again and excited to sleep in our own beds.
Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who hosted us. We were blessed by your hospitality and the time we got to spend with you. And we can't wait to do it again!
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