Washington trip- On the way home- Aug 13 & 14

Saturday, August 13th-

Molly at the park at Fort Vancouver

Today was a hot, fun and sad day. First, we met Josh and his kids at Fort Vancouver for a little tour. Silas and Josh remembered going there when they were young. It wasn't quite what they remembered but it was still an interesting place. It was similar to going to houses at Nauvoo, except the tours aren't quite as organized as they are at church sights. There was a blacksmith's shop with a few blacksmiths who were really fun and taught the kids some things. Elaina even got a little hook made by one of the more enthusiastic men. The kids were especially interested in the canons that were in the turret, which we visited last. Before leaving, our kids finished up some activities in a little book provided by the Fort (which is a National Park) and they were able to earn their Junior Ranger badges. The boys have gotten one from Zions before as well, but Cora hadn't gotten one yet so she was SUPER excited.

After the fort, we stopped at a local beach where the rest of the family had gotten together this morning. We decided we didn't want to get wet and sandy before driving all day so the kids were bummed to see their cousins playing in the water again but we wanted to see everyone once more. We only stayed for a few minutes and then headed for some lunch at a yummy burger place called Burgerville in Camas, WA.

Me and Molly-moo

The we were on the road...except we meandered for a few hours. We stopped lots of places that we were interested in and enjoyed some of the sites. We took Highway 14 in Washington which follows the Colombia River. There is an Interstate on the other side of the river, which is in Oregon, but Sarah suggested we take 14 if we wanted to see some sites on the way. It took a lot longer, but it was worth it.

Garden outside Fort Vancouver

Kids by cool house Fort Vancouver

Wall and turret at Fort Vancouver

Ryan and I by the turret

Fun at Fort Vancouver

Getting sworn in at Fort Vancouver as Junior Rangers

Saying goodbye

We stopped to look out at the Bridge of the Gods which is a huge, white bridge. Right before we stopped there was a MAGNIFICENT view of the bridge and the river and the hills, but the road was narrow and winding so we weren't able to stop and get a photo. I'm actually really sad because it was breathtaking and we only got to see it for a few seconds. Sometimes I am in awe at the beautiful things the Lord created for us to enjoy!

We also stopped at a place called Stonehenge. Someone has built a replica of what they assume Stonehenge in England looked like when it was originally built. This Stonehenge is a War Memorial so their are plaques with names of local men who died in combat. I only noticed ones who died during the First World War. We walked around for a few minutes before continuing.

As we drove we saw lots of LONG trains, went through at least 5 tunnels and saw TONS of para sailors. At one place there were at least 100 para sails within a few miles radius. It was amazing to see.

Molly loved her ketchup flower

The Bridge of the Gods

Stonehenge

Silas & I by the Stonehenge memorial

Kids around Stonehenge

Beautiful drive on Highway 14

Looking back at Mt. Hood in Oregon

Para saliors! 

When we got hungry we stopped at a Wal-mart and went in for lunchables and yogurt. We also bought each of the kids a travel pillow. I had gotten on during the trip to see what we thought of it and all the kids loved taking turns with it, so I decided it was worth the investment. They were much happier trying to relax with them. I wish we would have had one, at least for Cleod, during our drive to Washington when we went through the night. Cleod was miserable and couldn't get comfortable and Molly's head was floppy the whole time.

After our Wal-mart run with their travel pillows

Molly craziness: Whenever we are at a restaurant, Molly always asks for "a baby one" of whatever she wants. Like a baby ice cream or a baby hamburger. It's pretty darling.

Sunday, August 14th-

Utah!!!

This stretch of the trip we opted to spend the money to stay the night somewhere and get a good night's sleep. It really made the trip more enjoyable. We stopped right at the Oregon/Idaho border at a Quality Inn. It was a nice room and the beds were comfortable. Because the kids had slept a little in the car by the time we arrived (around midnight) the boys were wide awake and we remembered that the Olympics are going on right now. So some swimming and track and field on the TV and stayed up until 2am! Luckily we didn't have to wake up early to get home in good time. We slept in until after 9am, with a little time for the hotel breakfast and were off again!

Today we didn't stop as much, except for gas, food and potty stops. Oh, and to take a photo at the Utah sign. We didn't get any photos with the other states, which would have made more sense, but I was SOOOO happy to be back in Utah that I made Silas stop.

We got home before 9pm, unloaded the van and got right to bed. This girl was HAPPY to be home.

Cedar City sign!!!

Washington trip- Wedding Day! Aug 12

Friday, August 12th-

Pictures taken by Gid of the kids waiting while we were in the temple

Today was Emma's wedding day!! It was super exciting for us to be able to go to the wedding and spend so much time this last week with the family.

Molly was hangry while we were taking photos outside the temple.

While we were in the temple, the kids hung out with the big cousins. There were 10 weddings today so we were backed up and the poor kids were out in the warm, humid weather for a while.

Cute kiddos at the Portland Temple

In the temple, it was lovely to sit with so many of Silas's family members. It was peaceful and a good rest for my soul after such a busy week.

Outside the temple

More temple time

Our family at the Portland Temple

After the temple, we went to eat lunch at Shari's (a restaurant in the NW that is similar to Denny's but probably better quality) with Josh and his kids and Keenan and Eleanor. The food took forever but the kids were pretty good so we just enjoyed chatting. When we were almost done eating we realized that the reception was starting soon and Portland has the worst traffic. It took us an hour to get to the reception with I think was only 20 or 30 miles away.

Molly fell asleep driving from the temple to lunch

Me and Molly waiting for our lunch at Shari's

The reception was in a cool park and they had it decorated so nicely! The food and desserts were super yummy and it was great to walk around and chat with family member. Uncle Jack and Uncle Bob came up from Salt Lake to go with Grandma and Grandpa Hoyle, so it was nice to see them for a minute. It was pretty hot and humid, even as it was getting later but we stayed until the end. The kids, like the rest of the week, found cousins and were off playing the whole time.

Cora at the reception

Photo by Grant

Grant edited the photo

Edited again

Cora, photo by Grant

Edited photo

More reception fun! (Photos by Grant)

Jonah, showing off

Reception

Reception!

Cutting cake!

Grant playing with the phone
during the reception

Grant

Fun with Dad and saying bye to Miles

Jonah and Laura left right from the reception but the rest of us went back to the hotel that everyone (but us) were staying in and let the kids swim. They had a great time. I forgot that I didn't have my swimsuit and so I had to follow Molly around in my skirt and make sure she stayed on the stairs.

We finally made our way back to Brandon and Kaolee's for the night. They left for the night so we didn't disturb them with our late arrival.

Two funny Molly things today:

While Isobel was watching her at the visitor center, Molly saw the statue of Jesus and a video and Bella said at one point Molly yelled: “I have Jesus at my home!”

Later in the day, in the car we heard Molly quietly and sweetly chanting: “I am mad, I am mad…” over and over again. No idea where that came from, but it was super funny!

Late night swimming at the hotel

Washington trip- Aug 10 & 11

Wednesday, August 10th-

My one run of the trip!

We were originally planning on driving to La Push, a beach on the ocean but it's a 3 hour drive so we decided that we are going to drive to a beach on Thursday instead. That freed up today.

We all pitched in and cleaned the house. I cleaned the bathrooms after I went on a run. (It felt super amazing to exercise. I haven't since we started our trip and I was getting crabby.)

Silas and his brothers went for their “spiritual experience” at Costco that they didn't get earlier in the trip (because we gave them too many groceries to buy). Apparently it was quite a good time. Silas said they tried lots of chairs/recliners out. They also bought some making orange jackets. I was super excited about that because Silas has a hard time finding jackets that fit his gorilla arms. Apparently they wore the jackets through the store and got a lot of strange looks. Silly Aitchison boys.

Selissa’s family and Rob and Joleen went into Silverdale to do some shopping and have lunch so that left Laura and I at the house with our kids, plus Wynne and Elaina, for several hours. It was nice. Much quieter than the last few days. I kept laundry going and we fed the kids. The kids played together really well. They spend a majority of their time running around outside. Grant has even had a run in with stinging nettle.

The family at Azteca

We were super brave and went out to eat tonight. We went to Azteca, a Mexican restaurant that Silas remembers from his childhood. We had 30 people but it worked out fine. The kids were decent and the food was yummy.

Thursday, August 11th-

Which jacket is which? 

We had great intentions and meant to get out of the house by 8am but were almost 2 hours passed that. We had to get all our stuff loaded since we aren't going back to Joleen’s.

Washington highways are not meant for speed. To get anywhere, it takes forever...but it's pretty. The drive to Long Beach, WA was long and winding. Several stops too: Molly saying she was going to throw up (we ended up finding out that the heat was on in the back instead of the cool air so once we stopped and got that fixed she was fine), gas stop, unplanned lunch stop at DQ, etc.

Silas modeling his orange jacket from Costco

We finally got to the beach and it wasn't exactly what we had expected. It is a very windy area and the waves are amazing but you aren't supposed to swim. We had to keep close track of the kids and it was chilly, but fun. I didn't have the kids put on their swim stuff so we all just got super wet and sandy! Good memories though.

We headed for the Oregon boarder and found a Pizza Hut for dinner. After such a long day it was the best pizza and everyone ate a TON!

Long drive from Indianola to Long Beach, WA

Then we learned that Washington highways are not as bad at Portland, Oregon! The traffic is crazy! It took forever to get to Vancouver, WA which is actually a suburb of Portland. We got toe Brandon and Kaolee's house around 10pm, hours later than planned. Brandon was out of town for work but Kaolee stayed but and got us settled before we call turned in for the night.

Long Beach, Washington

Family photos that were photo-bombed

Me and Laura at the beach!!!

The Pacific Ocean!

Cold, wet, windy and FUN!

Driving from the beach to Oregon for dinner

Pizza Hut for dinner!

Cleod ran to go potty while we were in traffic
on the way to Vancouver, WA