Brief interruption of posts

Since, I cast my *cough* written journal aside to blog on the net, I have been missing out on the therapeutic(ness) healing of an actual private (yes...can you imagine?), journal.

If I had a private journal again( which I will be purchasing first thing tomorrow) I would be pouring out words of longing. Longing to have my little boy back again and not entering *gasp* high school. I didn't/couldn't imagine what an emotion day this was. Here we were in the same high school that I went to not even 20 years ago. Okay...maybe 20 years ago, but I don't feel it!

Does that count? The first building, of course is a new build and it didn't hit me then, but coming into the building that is reserved for the arts, hit me like a ton of bricks. It just didn't feel like it had been that long since I had walked the same halls. The same smells hit me. I remembered the anxiousness, excitement, rejection....longing to be grown up. While experiencing this nostalgia, I looked over at my son. Excited, anxious, growing up in front of my very eyes. How did this happen so fast? I became overwhelmed at the thought of just 4 more years together. Sometimes, don't you wish to be young and back at home? Every need of yours taken care of and carefully watched over? I want to shelter my children so badly. I want to take them all to some remote town/country and spend the rest of our lives together, just us.

Do you feel this way? I want to hold on to every moment, second....etc. because in an instant...it is gone. This is everything I would write in my journal, if I had one..that and a little more.

I just adore my children. They are everything to me. As I wrote notes to them tonight, I couldn't help but ponder on how amazing they truly are. How truly blessed we are to have the opportunity to hold on to these sweet spirits, however short our time may be together.

Goodnight.

Camping trip - Day 3- La Push

Since we moved back to Washington (11 years ago) I have wanted to take the kids and Shane to the coast. Shane hails from California, so he is used to some fantastic beaches, so I knew he'd love La Push. I, myself, have only been once as a child with my own family. Seeing as we were just 45 minutes from La Push, we decided to spend our third day there.

It was a perfect day for the beach. Sunny, clear and a soft breeze. On the way to La Push, we stopped to get gas. For those of you that do not know the Forks area, it is in the sticks. Heaven knows why Stephanie Meyer chose this little town for her Twilight series saga. I grew up visiting Forks for church events. Less than 5, but I remember. Hicks to the extreme. So..back to the gas station. It was as back woods as you can get. I walked in to the owner/teller giving fellow customer ( Bart) a hard time for not quitting smoking. Another customer came in and said hello to them both and then joined in. Everyone knows everyone. After paying for our gas, I asked for directions to La Push. All three gave us the most confusing directions I have ever heard, BUT....love that they ALL followed us out to the gas pump to show us how it works if you jiggle the pump cord and push the red start button a certain way. Definitely made my day. I love people like that. So full of character and sense of themselves.
We were advised by the three men to stop at a little cafe on the way to the beach. I can't remember the name of it, but it was spotted quickly and then collective groans were heard all around. It was a Twilight themed cafe. Ugh. My kids can't stand Twilight or anything to do with it. I enjoyed the films, but not the books. Anyhow....the food was INCREDIBLE and very cheap.

Nevermind that the entire place was filled with Twilight paraphernalia and weird blood type menu concoctions. I loved it. Not enough to take a photo, but it was great.
We hit the beach and had a great time. As you can see in the photos, Shane was right at home.
Fat and happy....that's us!

Watch the video to get a little taste of La Push. Make sure you watch until the end, there is a funny little something in there for ya!

Lake Crescent Camping Trip Day Two

Above photo- Vietnamese friends

So we woke up bright and early in our last minute camp spot on Saturday morning. We immediately went scouting for a closer to the water spot. Within minutes, we landed a prime spot right on the water. We moved our tent (without taking it down) to our new spot and finished setting up. Then, we headed into Port Angeles.

We had a boat on our minds. We hit the thrift shops first so we could find some water shoes, lifejackets and extra plates and cutlery. Done, done and done.

We found a great hardware shop called "Swains" in Port Angeles and purchased an inflatable boat that holds 600lbs and an oar. We wanted to buy two, but at the end of summer, we were SOL.

After stopping at a few more thrift stores and Albertsons to get groceries,...we headed back to the lake. How we ever camped without a water spot and a boat is beyond me. It was glorious.

We all took turns on the boat and had a lovely time. We swam and boated the entire day and at the end of the day, enjoyed a dutch oven stew and smores. A little down the way, another group of campers were being pretty loud. I, of course, went down to talk to them. They ended up inviting us over and served us the most AMAZING vietnamese dishes I have ever eaten.

The first....Bahn Bot Loc.....shrimp and pork dumplings with chili oil and onions

and chicken bbq'd in vietnamese spices. YUM!

Then...full of the amazing food and lively conversation, I took a night boating and swim.

So much fun, albeit a little creepy. Stay tuned for tomorrows post. La Push!

Summer Camp Trip 2010 DAY ONE

With summer not making much of an appearance and Shane not getting much of a vacation, we decided to take off for 5 days on a camping adventure.

You may remember our last trip to Lake Crescent on our moms trip, where Mae unexpectedly fell ill and we had to leave early. Well, we just didn't have camping out of our system and decided to head up after work on Friday.

We had planned to leave Sat. morning, but when I get something in my head...well....read on.

We got home at 6pm and gave ourselves 30 minutes to get our entire van packed for a 5 day adventure.

We left the house at 7pm. We arrived at Lake Crescent around 10:20 stopping briefly at Taco Bell and the gas station.

Wouldn't you know it....we couldn't find a camp site and it was dark. After spending 20+ minutes looking around, we approached the park ranger on his nightly rounds. He let us know that there were NO sites available. I put on my best sad face and let him know how very far we had just driven and that all 5 of my kids were fast asleep inside our van. What did he expect us to do? Well...he expected us to drive up a secluded road (his suggestion), 10 miles up the road and park at the bottom. There we would be able to sleep in our van legally.

WHAT?!

Well.....those of you that know me know that I am a world class pray-er. I have faith that can move mountains. I said a very heartfelt, sincere, 30 second prayer and asked Shane to pull around one more time through the first loop. Wouldn't you know it.....the second spot up was open. Prayer answered. We set up within 20 minutes and were out (zzzz)within 30.

Stay tuned for day #2. It gets much better!

Beautiful wonderful trip

I am still too tired to blog about our incredible 5 day camping trip. Until I feel up to it...enjoy these photos.

Point No Point

For the first time this summer, we were able to join our friends like we do every year,( 9 years now for us!) at Point No Point. I remember my own mom, taking all of us to meet our close friends. It would be fun to find a picture of my mom, Denise G, Karen K, Rehders...etc. Anyhow...It was a beautiful day and the Knights brought their boat and inner tubish...4 seater floaty/death ride mobile.

All the kids clamored for their turns. When it finally came to my turn (with Rylan, Julia and Sophie), large waves appeared as if from no where. They were taller than I was and knocked me over once. I had just put Rylan on the inner tube when they started and didn't have a chance to get his lifejacket on. I was panic stricken as each large wave nearly knocked him into the water. It was horrifying. I may be a bit dramatic, but Rylan can't swim and I feared that each wave could have potentially sucked him under, to be lost forever if he fell....
Yes, this is how I think and yes...this is precisely the reason I have panic attacks.
Anyhow...thanks to Grace's smart and quick "pulling in" techniques..she rescued the very scared Rylan and pulled him into the boat.
The rest of the day, Rylan was heard to be saying " That was like a tsunami"!!!
We had a great boat ride though, even though I wimped out half way through and claimed that "Rylan" was scared.

It was a great day and we stayed well into the evening. It's great to hang with friends, but even greater to enjoy it with just my little "brood".

Happy Summer everyone!

Have you seen this??