Monday, July 21, 2008

Lake Stevens-Spokane-Kamiah

To make things easier, I'm breaking down our vacations into separate posts.

First, a warm up picture of our three kiddies.


Our first trip (July 9-13) was to Spokane for two nights, then into Kamiah, ID for two nights. The drive in was pretty easy and done in our normal 5 hours or so. Directly after coming into town we visited with Grandma in her new location (big improvement over the last place she was living), then headed back out of Spokane to have a barbecue with Jason's friends and their children. We had a lovely time, though it was quite a long day with all the travel and then a late evening.

The next day we went to a neat store called Cabela's in Post Falls and had lunch there. Later in the afternoon, we met with Aunt Angela, Matthew, Jamie, Grandma, Aunt Christie, Uncle David and Tyler. The wind was CRAZY, but it only seemed to bother the adults. The kids played with their regular vigor!

Matthew, Ethan and Jamie


Aunt Angela trying to protect Ely from the wind... or, just taking the chance to snuggle close :)


While we were there, we saw some smoke from a fire that had just started. This turned into the Dishman Hills fire. It was only a few miles from where we were and we got the chance to see helicopters and planes dropping water. The wind kept the smoke away from us, but it was quite shocking to see how quickly the smoke turned into enormous billows.



Jamie, Ethan and Matthew


She never ever tires of the princess pose!


What? A smile from E? Couldn't be. Close enough, we'll say its a smile!


Tyler holding little Elsa. He loves babies!



Matthew taking his turn too.


All the cousins with Grandma.


The next day, Friday, we headed out for Kamiah, ID to the Lewis & Clark Resort, where we would be staying and the wedding would be taking place.

The drive seemed to take forever, but at least it was new country that we hadn't really traveled before. The kids entertained themselves by doing things like this...



Good thing we aren't superstitious because opening an umbrella in the car has to be worse than in a house ;)

Upon arrival, we checked in, ditched our stuff in the room, ate some lunch and went in the pool! Everyone enjoyed splashing around, especially because it was scorching hot.



We had a swimsuit for Elsa


and she even took a dip in the lukewarm hot-tub



Later in the day we headed over to the reception area and helped set up the room. There were some stressful moments because the room was not as had been stated (basically it was under remodel and we hadn't been told), but we did a pretty fine job of covering things up and making it look nice. The resort had just changed ownership and a wedding had never been held there before so it was quite bumpy getting things we needed. However, it all came together in the end.

Gwen helping Aaron take off stickers


The gazebo built specifically for Brynne and Kwinton.


The beautiful bride with her Mother on the left and my Mother on the right.


Goofing off before the ceremony


She hasn't changed much in three years, has she?


Ethan had not so patiently waited for this moment... the CAKE.


Yes, that is me imbibing a mildly intoxicating liquid while breastfeeding. The blurriness of the picture should not be taken to represent my level of intoxication because there was no intoxication. Even I won't get tipsy off one hard lemonade!


Ok, that is all the pictures for that trip. Our drive home took 9 hours and was grueling. Not helped by the terrible headache that struck me midway through. It made a reappearance on Monday and knocked me flat. This left me two days to plan and pack for our camping trip... which will be in my next post!

2 comments:

Becki said...

Gwen looks just like you Kris, especially the picture of her in the pool!

Anonymous said...

It was great seeing you guys even if it was a short trip. We had fun at the park in spite of the wind. I had no idea you got such a flattering picture of me though lol.