Roy and I got to go to Forks, WA for our 20 year anniversary. My sister Vicki came to stay with the kids. What a lovely trip we had on the motorcycle. This is Crescent Lake, on the way to Forks. It is so beautiful, a photo doesn't do it justice!
We then went to Sol Duc Hot Springs. It is a sulfur hot springs. There were too many people and it always stinks due to the sulfur smell. We met the nicest lady, who was an attendant at the hot springs. She liked our leather jackets so much, she gave us a free locker to us for them and our other stuff. And stowed some of our personal belongings.
This is in front of the logging museum in Forks. We were too late to go inside to see it, and they were closed the next day. Roy's dad was a logger, and Roy so wanted to see the inside of the museum. I took the kids to Forks and went to the Hoh Rain Forest about an hour southeast of Forks a few years ago. We got to see the museum, and we loved it. We will need to go back again for Roy to see the museum.
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This is at Rialto Beach. It's so lovely, a photo just isn't enough to show the beauty. When the kids and I were here in September a few years ago, the fog was so thick, you could hardly see the surf. The sunset was occluded by distant clouds, so we didn't have a clear photo this time.
The cute lodge, Huckleberry Lodge, in Forks is where we stayed. We had a small cabin, and walked about 500 feet to the facilities. I could have stayed at the log cabin for days, but only had one night. Each cabin was a few hundred feet away from one another. We never saw the owners. The cabins were nestled in some trees about 5 miles from town. We stayed up until 1 in the morning talking with other residents of the cabins. I found it online. We will need to go back, it was so lovely.
Crescent Lake Lodge sign.
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In front of our cabin. Roy giving a cheeky grin! Love you honey. Happy 20th Wedding Anniversary!
The bridge going over the Puget Sound, towards the Peninsula.
Eli has known these girls for 11 years. They were in our first homeschool co-op when Eli was five or six years old. I have a photo of them 10 years ago, now if I could just find it.
Above: Tiana Blanchard, Eli Pleticha, Alina Blanchard, Camille Coy, Michaela Coy
Mike Pleticha, Daniel Blanchard, Tiana and Alina Blanchard, Eli Pleticha, Michaela and Camille Coy
We went shooting in the mountains in the summer, and saw this lovely butterfly perched on our flag.
Daisy and Mike when she was six months. She is so big now!
The kids swim a lot in the summer. So refreshing as this was the warmest summer in a long time!
Father's Day, Roy and the kids went to do ceramics. This is what they made.
Fourth of July. The favorite thing was the Chinese lanterns that went afloat in the air when you lit the candle.
My 3rd 5K, and Roy's first. Mike loves to photo-bomb our pictures, so he is doing what he loves!
Daisy meeting the guinea pigs. Eli decided to sell her pigs before we moved, with my encouragement. They were too much to work with while we moved. She sold them together, so they wouldn't be too shocked without each other.
Eli made this bow, arrows, and a quiver. She will blog about that, when we find the other photos that she took while creating the bow.
Heart leaf in nature! We love hearts in nature!
At our local fair, Eli got her hair braided to the side. Her hair is so long, thick, and curly, she was really brave while the lady put it up in the braid. There are photos with her biting her lip so she wouldn't scream in pain.
At the same fair, the Reptile Man was there with his reptiles. I think Mike and Eli have seen this alligator and petted it many times.
Eli is chopping down a diseased apple tree in our back yard.
Mike found some moving paper and decided to make a bed in my car. He is laughing out loud, because that is what you do when you are discovered making a paper bed in mom's car!
And the tree came down!
We love the Blanchards'. And Edmonds Beach!
Brr, it's about 55* in that water!
This was Mike's first year in the fair. He had a large Lego that he needed to make a platform for.His calculations show how long and wide the platform needs to be.
His Lego Ninjago fight scene got a first place. The photo below, he is showing his ribbons he got for his first place on both fair entries.
Eli got a first place for her drawing of Captain Jack Sparrow of the Pirates of the Carribean movies.
Her doll clothes got 2nd place.
This is two celebrities from the shooting world. The one on the right, Gabby Franco was a past Olympic Rifle shooter. The one on the left, Kyle Sumpter is a police officer in Kent.
We all got to be extras in a movie two hours away. It's for a small town called Enumclaw. They are making a documentary of the town and many historical things that happened in the town. We borrowed clothes from a friend for Roy and Mike. Eli and I were dressed and hair and makeup from the movie company. A good friend of ours was the hair and makeup person. She did a great job. Some other friends helped in the movie as extras and as movie set helpers. There was one lady, the main character, who had done some television and movies in her life. The rest were volunteers mostly.
Eli and Mike doing a small bit in the movie. Next to Mike is an actress that has done some movies and TV.
My lovely friends with me. Barbie Poling, Michelle Gephart, and Carlise Swet
The pin curls did their job! Whoa, that took a lot of work. I don't know how they did that back in the day!
A lovely sunset at Edmonds Beach Dog Park!
Moving day! We are now in Arlington, WA. We found a bigger house, with more space. And we are getting ready to foster children soon!
We were lucky to get to go to the UW/ BSU (University of WA and Boise State) game the last day of August. We didn't win, but it was great getting to be in the UW new stadium. It's impressive and huge!
Eli made a mural of a family tree on our wall. It's lovely with all the family photos on it.
We are close to the Puget Sound and ocean. This is a place called Kayak Point. This area had tons of salmon swimming, and lots of people caught them too.
Eli decorated her own birthday cake this year. She wanted to do ceramics. So we went to a ceramics store and did crafts. For Mike's birthday, we went to the Lego store and then to PF Changs for dinner. Both birthdays were fun, as Roy was home with us and we did what the kiddos wanted to do!
The kids wanted to go ice skating for their birthdays. They are both so tall, they both look me straight in the eyes now. They are no longer little!
Our main source of heat is a wood stove. Roy has rediscovered his chain saw. We have taken a few trips to get wood, but will need to get more. I've heard this will be a cold winter.
