Pacific Northwest Trip 2026- part 6

June 23 was National Hydration Day. I reminded everyone to say hydrated.

It was also Detroit Style Pizza Day. We had regular pizza.

It was National Pink Day. We had pink jello salad.

 

The kids were put to work in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard that day. They picked up fir cones, lots of fir cones, so many fir cones.

Lucky and Jr. Jr. became so competitive that at the end after everyone else was done, they had to get just a few more picked up so they ended up with the same amount and many more than the rest of the kids. Silly boys. 

That day we also stuck with tradition and had root beer floats at Grandma and Grandpa's house. 

Usually that's Jeremy's thing. He always has a big root beer float (sometimes multiple depending on how many days he's there) when he visits but since he wasn't able to go this time, Grandpa made sure to tell him to have one in Utah. So he did. 

Pacific Northwest Trip 2026- part 5

June 22 was National Kissing Day. I didn't have my husband to kiss that day but I got this really cute picture before we headed out to visit Snoqualmie Falls.

It's been many many many years since we went to Snoqualmie Falls. I believe we went there in 2012 but I can't find anything specific on my blog about it. The two youngest weren't born yet. So here we go. Snoqualmie Falls in 2026.

Later that day, we got to make homemade ice cream. Everyone got a turn (or more) to crank the handle.

My mother-in-law said it was liquidy, more like a milkshake. She suggested we just celebrate Vanilla Milkshake Day observed since we didn't celebrate it on June 20. Clever, Mom.

Pacific Northwest Trip 2026- part 4

June 21 was the Summer Solstice.

Goodbye, Spring. Hello, Summer.

It was also Father's Day. We got to spend it with my father-in-law. I wore my bow earrings to celebrate and took a selfie. It was also National Selfie Day.

And... it was a family member's birthday so I also wore my bow earrings for that.

 

Jeremy finished up at his fair in California the night before and drove to spend the night at my brother and sister-in-law's. He went to church with them Sunday morning and made sure to wear his Father's Day tie. He also got chocolate.

I appreciate the selfies they got.

 

Jeremy drove the rest of the way home to find a card and a couple Father's Day gifts which we left for him. We weren't able to be with him (though we did call and sing "Daddy's Homecoming" to him on his trip) but we were able to let him know we were thinking of him.  

Pacific Northwest Trip 2026- part 3

June 19 was Garfield the Cat Day. We were so busy that day, we celebrated it observed the next day with lasagna.  

 

Later that evening, we made s'mores on the last day of Spring.

Goodbye, Spring. Hello, Summer.

After toasting marshmallows over coals, the fire was used to burn some other things so the flames grew. 

Jet: Whoa. There's fire in there now. 

 

Jr. and Nichole had fun taking some artistic pictures. 

Jr. calls this his Balrog picture:

Do you see it?

It's fun to see shapes in things. 

Pacific Northwest Trip 2026- part 2

It is tradition when we are in Washington to visit Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. Sometimes it's just a few of us. Sometimes it's the whole family.

This year, Grandma, Grandpa, all my kids, and I headed there. We enjoyed the wooded area.

Nichole got some awesome pictures. We left the birding camera with Jeremy so he could get some pictures in California.

I got some juggling pictures and videos.

My in-laws let us continue on to the looooong boardwalk without them. We saw some snakes along the way.

When we got to the boardwalk, Lucky wasn't feeling the best so he and I headed back to the parking lot while Nichole, Jr., Jr. Jr., and Jet continued on to the end and back.

Nichole was happy to inform me that the bald eagle from last time we made the trip was hanging out at its usual spot. 

When Lucky and I got back to the van and explained the situation to my in-laws, we got him some food and he took a nap while I started a book I needed to read for another online book club.

Lucky felt better after his nap.

Nichole took so many good pictures of so many things. I really had to limit what to put on this post. 

When she and the other boys got back, we ate lunch, chilled for a while, then headed out. Jet fell asleep on the short drive.

After Nisqually, we went to visit more in-laws: Jeremy's brother, sister-in-law, with their kids. Jeremy's sister came with one of her kids that day as well. More family time!

Jeremy's brother's family has ducks and a couple of geese. Jet had fun feeding the ducks last time we visited. This time, he did so again (and helped collect eggs) and this time he got to feed the geese. 

One of the geese is very protective of the other goose and will chase away ducks. It, however, got so comfortable with Jet that at one point, Jet was sitting on a blanket and the goose waddled up to him while making contented noises then sat right next to Jet so Jet could pet him.

So cute.

I had a good time chatting with family.   

Nature and family. I love them.

Pacific Northwest Trip 2026- part 1

Road Trip!

The kids and I went on a trip to the Pacific Northwest. Jeremy had two fairs in California with a week in between so he wasn't able to come with us like our wonderful PNW vacation we took two years ago. That was awesome.

I'm not complaining about this trip, though (except for missing Jeremy). I LOVE family and getting to visit them.

We started out on Wednesday June 17, heading to Western Washington. We got a later start than I wanted to so I didn't think I'd do any juggling videos or pictures. You know I like to juggle in different places.

However, we stopped at a rest area and I rested for a bit (it's a long drive) then got my videos and pics.

When we got to Washington, my in-laws had prepared food with veggies in it for Eat Your Vegetables Day. They like helping us celebrate. We also ate carrots on the drive.

Since it was also Apple Strudel Day...

My in-laws are great.

The night we got there, I stayed up til laaaate chatting with my mother-in-law. I love it. We had lots of other chats as well during our trip.
Have I mentioned my in-laws are great? 

 

Jet brought his bat wings on our trip. He wanted to scare Grandpa because at home he'd been playing a game with Jeremy. "Is it a giant bat or just Jet?"

I love family time.