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Thursday, July 16, 2009

Swimsuits and Fireworks

We got very lucky on the 4th of July. Jeremy only had to work a short opening shift! That's the closest to having the 4th of July off he's had in 14 years. As soon as he got off work, we headed out to Alder Lake to spend a little time with his buddy Brent, who's birthday was the day before. The girls and I donned our swimwear. Bear had to live with his jeans rolled up and a tank since his swim trunks were unavailable. Potato got to toddle around and get her feet wet. We had to to hold her hands to keep her from plopping down and ruining her outfit.
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The kids found some other kids to play with and they began digging holes in the sand.
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I love this shot of Potato. It's so cute!
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As the park was closing at dusk, we packed up just after 8pm to being heading back to Tacoma. We wanted to catch the fireworks at Ruston Way, and needed to find a parking spot. After driving for what seemed like forever, we found the absolute perfect spot! It was on a hill (ok, so it's all hills in that part of town) that sloped down facing the water front. Plus, we were just half a block up from the main arterial through Old Town, so our escape would be quick. It was amazing being able to see the fireworks without having to deal with the insane crowd of people down on the waterfront. Plus, we were able to see Seattle's firework show across the water and beyond islands and hills!

We all climbed on top of the van for seating. The dent popped right out. lol
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See the smaller orange burst in the lower left? That from the Seattle show. Freakin huge fireworks!
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Here is my attempt at a family self portrait. Everybody was in it. Barely. The rest of them didn't have the patience for another attempt.
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Part Three - The Camping Trip

The weekend following Jeremy's birthday, we went camping. I had never been camping before, and neither had the kids. I was kind of dissappointed because my idea of camping is tents, hiking boots, and cooking over fire. His parents loaned us the motorhome, which Jeremy was really excited about. They loaded it up with food, beverage, water, and gas. We just had to load it up with clothes, bedding, and ourselves. Jeremy went to pick the RV up, which took forever as his father had to give him a run through, despite Jeremy using it before. Mind you, Jeremy still hadn't selected a place where we were actually going to camp, and I'd been looking at places online all day. When he finally got home, it took another hour to decide, and then we still had to move things to the motorhome. Jeremy's mother swore up and down that both sides of the dining booth were fitted with seatbelts and we would all be able to ride along in the motorhome. When we started installing carseats, we found out that only one side of the dinette had belts. This meant only 4 belts for 6 people. Not cool. I ended up going ahead with the baby in the van to go retrieve MonkeyBug from her father, while Jeremy tailed behind in the RV with Pix and Bear. By the time we actually got on the road, I was incredibly agitated. I mean ready to say "Screw this, take it back, I am not freakin going anywhere!!" Do to it being so friggin late by the time we got half way across the state, we ended up just parking at Rye Grass Summit for the night, hooking up to electrical, and sleeping there.

The next day we got to where we were wanting to stay, Sun Lakes State Park. When Jeremy went and inquired about a hook up spot being available, the woman working the booth was quite rude in telling him no. I don't know why it is, but Jeremy almost always gets Terrible customer service wherever he goes. He came back to the motorhome, and I went back up to the booth to get brochures for other places in the area and told the woman she needed to find a job outside of customer service so people didn't have to deal with her attitude. She just glared and gave a harumph of sorts.

After looking through the brochures, Jeremy drove just up the road less than a quarter mile to the Sun Lakes Resort, where customer service was delightful, rates were better than the State Park, and spaces were available to choose from. It may have been Yuppie camping, but I was absolutely delighted with this place. They had boat launches, swimming areas, mini golf, gift shop, a surprisingly well stocked shopette, and short drives to fishing holes.

Once we were settled in, we packed up to head to Deep Lake just down a ways. The kids and I got in the water, and the man started casting his line.
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Bear was little scared to get in the water. MonkeyBug tried to help him, but in the end, he just wasn't going to.
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Miss Potato had to take a little time to get used to the water.
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Once she did, she was loving it with lots of splashing!
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After only catching a lil kokanee and throwing it back, we went back to the site for dinner. Jeremy grilled burgers, made some improvised barbecue beans, and something else I don't remember. He also ended up with something in his eye. When I tried to take a pic of the face he was making, he covered up, and the girls joined in.
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The next morning, Pix and MonkeyBug were the last to wake up. While they were sleeping, the babies joined Jeremy and I in bed. I took this photo of all our feet ending up near each other.
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Miss Potato decided to raise the blind, let in some light, and check out the activity going on outside. I love this shot of her.
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Later, we went back out to Deep Lake to attempt more fishing. The girls got into the water. Bear sat and played in dirt. Potato sat in her stroller with munchies. I was able to get this shot of them before the girls went in the water.
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We stayed there a lil while until we decided it was time to pack up, and head on home. I ended up pretty far ahead of them, and decided to stop right at the exit for the Rye Grass summit to make sure they made it up the hill okay. Vehicles are always overheating and dying on that hill. Turns out me stopping was a good idea. 15 min after I'd stopped, he called to see how far I was and told me to pull into the Rye Grass area. The motorhome needed a little time to cool down. I decided it was a good time to move our bedding and the kids over to the van since we would be getting home very late and had to drop the motorhome off first.

Taking everything into account, it wasn't too bad. Once we actually got on the friggin road.

Jeremy's BDay Part Two

Jeremy's Bday Part Two

We actually spent the entire week celebrating Jeremy's 30th birthday with various events. On Monday we drove up to Alder Lake past Eatonville. His best friend, Brent, met us up there. Jeremy wanted to try his hand at fishing, as he had never been before.
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Jeremy and Bear walked about the boat launch docks checking out different spots to cast a line.
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Brent arrived a lil late. He brought Jeremy some tackle, and chocolate cake with a peanut butter frosting. Jeremy is Nuts are about peanut butter and chocolate.
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On Tuesday (the actual birthday) we headed out American Lake to meet up with Rory, Dianna, and their kids.
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Pix and Bear splashed their feet down in the water to keep cool.
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Miss Potato was kept happy by ongoing chain of cheetos supplied by Dianna.
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Jeremy was determined to catch a fish before the day was out.
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Pix and Bear each got to reel in yellow perch, both of which we threw back into the water. One of which we later watched get caught up by one of the 6 bald eagles living by the lake.
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Getting toward the end of the afternoon, Jeremy caught his very first fish ever.
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Happy Birthday to my Old Man!!
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Blog Ketchup - Jeremy's Bday Party

I realized today that it's been about six weeks since my last blog. So today will be my catch up recap day. Things have been fairly busy, and my poor laptop needs a lil love.

I will start the series of recap posts with my boyfriend's 30th Birthday, which was June 16th. His mother organized a party for him at Her favorite party place... Godfather's Pizza. I beginning to really hate their red sauce. Blech. His mother made a huge cake, which almost nobody ate after all the pizza that had been eaten. All of his siblings who ever bother to show up to anything showed up to his birthday, which accounts for about half the siblings.
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A few of his friends from work also showed up, along with a gal friend he only sees maybe once a year despite her living only a couple miles away. She'd never met Miss Potato before. She asked to take her home, and I couldn't help but laugh at her. Her only daughter of about 4 years is brat, and was pushing my older kids and being quite rude. Like I would let her take my baby home with that monster.
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Miss Potato got her first taste of ice cream.
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Jeremy didn't look at his cake with joy when the candles were lit. Doesn't help that his big sister lost count and actually put 33 candles on the cake.
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This card from his sister was supposed to help wear off the shock... or put him into shock. I forget which.
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And what man doesn't love restraint straps?
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He didn't get alot of gifts. Instead, Jeremy asked his family to donate to the Beetle restoration fund. Everybody chipped in, and Jeremy was able to afford another 1967 Beetle, minus engine. Hopefully now he can actually get this project up off the ground (literally and figuratively) and have a good little car to run around.