Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Trip to the Coast
About a month ago my family went to the coast for a day. I finally got around to posting pictures from our trip! It was very fun. We had a great tme at Newport. First we went to the lighthouse
We climbed up a couple hundred stairs, spiraling up to where lighthouse keepers had kept their lights burning.
Right after that we walked down to the tide pools, and spent about a half an hour looking at the sea animals in them.
It was a stormy day, windy and raining hard, but it was amazing to look out at the ocean from our view.
The next day we spent a wonderful morning at the coast, before we had to head home. We flew our kite, laid in the sun and had a picnic.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Pictures from the Wedding!
Well, finally I'm getting around to posting some pictures from our trip in Seattle. These are from Galen and Hannah's wedding.
Below is Emily and Ashley reenacting Galen and Hannah's ceremony.
Below is Emily and Ashley reenacting Galen and Hannah's ceremony.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Seven in Seatle part 3
Our family left the hotel, and headed downtown, to brave the streets of Seattle, Washington.
I'm sure there were over a million hilarious things that happened during our one mile walk but since I can only remember a few of them this may be short. (And then again, maybe not.)
We toured Pike's Place Market and browsed through a few shops along the way. One store in particular was a Seattle Seahawks equipment store. Now, as you may know we are 49er fans and so Cade was wearing a 49er sweatshirt. The very next day there was going to be a big game between the Niners and the Seahawks. So he went into the equipment store and walked up to the clerk and asked if they had any 49er gear in stock. Now this poor sales clerk kind of looked at him and then muttered, “Um no, but there's probably some down at the stadium.” The rest of us were laughing as well as the other people in the store and the other clerks. And the first guy still didn't really get it.
We left that store pretty quickly.
When we arrived at Pike's Place Market and we looked through the different displays until we stopped at the fish throwing thing. All I'm gonna say is that we got some pretty sweet videos. And then all of a sudden this random fish throwing guy in an apron that looked like it weighed about 50 pounds starts pointing at Cade, “We got a BIG game tomorrow!” And then he got down in a quarterback position and mimed like he was hiking the ball, “Yeah, that's right buddy! You're going down!”
We are definitely not in Albany anymore.
I'm sure there were over a million hilarious things that happened during our one mile walk but since I can only remember a few of them this may be short. (And then again, maybe not.)
We toured Pike's Place Market and browsed through a few shops along the way. One store in particular was a Seattle Seahawks equipment store. Now, as you may know we are 49er fans and so Cade was wearing a 49er sweatshirt. The very next day there was going to be a big game between the Niners and the Seahawks. So he went into the equipment store and walked up to the clerk and asked if they had any 49er gear in stock. Now this poor sales clerk kind of looked at him and then muttered, “Um no, but there's probably some down at the stadium.” The rest of us were laughing as well as the other people in the store and the other clerks. And the first guy still didn't really get it.
We left that store pretty quickly.
When we arrived at Pike's Place Market and we looked through the different displays until we stopped at the fish throwing thing. All I'm gonna say is that we got some pretty sweet videos. And then all of a sudden this random fish throwing guy in an apron that looked like it weighed about 50 pounds starts pointing at Cade, “We got a BIG game tomorrow!” And then he got down in a quarterback position and mimed like he was hiking the ball, “Yeah, that's right buddy! You're going down!”
We are definitely not in Albany anymore.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Mission: Possible
My Grandpa works with the Union Gospel Mission in Spokane, Washington. He disciples men, meets for lunch with them, works on the Mission board and goes downtown every week to feed the homeless. He has been writing a lot lately about his experiences, and my dad and I decided he needed some sort of outlet for his writing.
That's how we started Mission:Possible.
Mission Possible is a look at the homeless of Spokane through my Grandpa's eyes.
There is a link to it on the side of my blog, but if that doesn't work here is the web address if you want to visit it.
http://vbmissionpossible.blogspot.com/
That's how we started Mission:Possible.
Mission Possible is a look at the homeless of Spokane through my Grandpa's eyes.
There is a link to it on the side of my blog, but if that doesn't work here is the web address if you want to visit it.
http://vbmissionpossible.blogspot.com/
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Seven in Seattle part 2
The rehearsal dinner was held in a incredibly fancy room, at the very top of the hotel with an amazing view. Smiling waiters walked around, balancing delicate trays with appetizers on them. Soft music played. It was beautiful. As a waiter walked over near our family, he offered us an appetizer from his tray. There were about six or seven dainty bits of food resting on the tray and when we’d each taken one, it was empty. The waiter took back his tray, smiling awkwardly as he retreated from the room to fill his tray again. Although he might have tried to avoid us there wasn’t much he could do, with five hungry kids who hadn’t eaten since 11:30 (it was close to 7:30) stalking him. I think we kind of forgot the meaning of the word appetizer.
There was a small room, where you could go to get a drink made. While some people were drinking wine, our family opted for soda, (with the promise that we could drink some champagne the next night at the wedding. Everybody was dressed in fancy dresses, slacks and shirts. They walked around, chatting softly, sipping champagne. Guess where my little sisters had planted themselves? On the floor, doing pushups. “No, honey, we don’t need to be doing pushups at the rehearsal dinner.”
Dinner was delicious…rare steak, light mashed potatoes, and sautéed zucchini. No biscuits n’ gravy there. It was a very nice evening.
The next morning, we had all day before the 6:00 wedding so we decided to sightsee around downtown Seattle. We walked across the street to a small café for breakfast. After ordering, our Chinese waiter began arriving with steaming plates of food. Holding a mug of tea, he angled himself behind Cade, muttering a warning in his accent, “Hot behind!” he said to Cade.
We managed to choke down our laughter until he left…I think my dad milked that one for as long as he could. After breakfast we went back to the hotel to directions to Pike’s Place Market. The concierge unrolled a map.
“It’s a good one mile one way,” he said, “It might be too hard for your little ones to walk, but it’s pretty hard to find parking. I would take you in our car but…” he scanned the seven of us warily, “but our car only seats four.”
“Yeah…” my mom said, “We’ll walk.”
And we did.
Until next time.
There was a small room, where you could go to get a drink made. While some people were drinking wine, our family opted for soda, (with the promise that we could drink some champagne the next night at the wedding. Everybody was dressed in fancy dresses, slacks and shirts. They walked around, chatting softly, sipping champagne. Guess where my little sisters had planted themselves? On the floor, doing pushups. “No, honey, we don’t need to be doing pushups at the rehearsal dinner.”
Dinner was delicious…rare steak, light mashed potatoes, and sautéed zucchini. No biscuits n’ gravy there. It was a very nice evening.
The next morning, we had all day before the 6:00 wedding so we decided to sightsee around downtown Seattle. We walked across the street to a small café for breakfast. After ordering, our Chinese waiter began arriving with steaming plates of food. Holding a mug of tea, he angled himself behind Cade, muttering a warning in his accent, “Hot behind!” he said to Cade.
We managed to choke down our laughter until he left…I think my dad milked that one for as long as he could. After breakfast we went back to the hotel to directions to Pike’s Place Market. The concierge unrolled a map.
“It’s a good one mile one way,” he said, “It might be too hard for your little ones to walk, but it’s pretty hard to find parking. I would take you in our car but…” he scanned the seven of us warily, “but our car only seats four.”
“Yeah…” my mom said, “We’ll walk.”
And we did.
Until next time.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Seven in Seattle
Wow! After a busy December things are finally beginning to get back to normal. Where to start? Well, maybe in Seattle. My family drove to Seattle on the Thursday before Christmas so that my dad could do a wedding for some friends of ours. They put us up in a hotel for two nights.
Well, let me just say this...there are seven people in my family. For some reason we tend to be rather loud...messy...expensive...We stick with places like, well Motel 6. The kind of places that have faded signs with peeling paint, hard beds, and one room for the seven of us. Places that feature thick gray slush dumped over biscuit shaped rocks as a delicious choice for our breakfast.
The Hotel Sorrento was not Motel 6. The Hotel Sorrento was a tall building with a waterfall in the front, concierges who parked our car and opened the doors for us. The Hotel Sorrento was a place with tall ceilings, brilliant chandeliers, plush couches and crisp, uniformed receptionists. The Hotel Sorrento was exactly the opposite of most hotels we stay in.
WE got out of the car and dragged our many suitcases into one of the fanciest hotels in Seattle. Two receptionists were involved in a hurried conversation as they exchanged worried glances at our family. Now this is just a guess, but it probably went something like this:
“Oh my gosh, look at the size of that family!”
“Where did you say their room was again?”
“Floor two, but we put them the farthest back so it will decrease our chances of hearing them.”
“I know, but floor two, really, a few more floors up and we'd hardly notice they were there.”
“I doubt anybody could ignore a family that big.”
“And they have two rooms, too. The parents won't be able to control their own kids, look at those little ones, they're crawling around on the floor.”
Well, we finally managed to get to one of our rooms. We opened the door. It was dark for about five seconds and then somebody found a light switch and the whole room was flooded with light. We looked around. Then Claire asked, “Is there a reason why there is a picture of those naked ladies on the wall?”
Now, I know that it's supposed to be a form of art and all and yadayadyada but I still don't see any reason to be walking around the hotel slapping disgusting pictures of naked women on the walls for people to be having nightmares about as they drift off to sleep. Well, my dad walked over and tried to yank one of things of the wall, but what do you know? They were glued on fast. By this time it was getting late, and so, with a promise to track down some tape my parents headed out the door to the wedding rehearsal.
The five of us waited....and waited...and waited. And I began to think that it was not the most brilliant idea when I promised my mom that we could handle everything. Emily and Ashley jumped from bed to bed, then, when they got bored of that they made a pile of loose sheets, blankets and pillows and jumped off the window sill into them. Finally it was 7:00. Claire was looking out the window when she saw Galen and Hannah, (the couple that were getting married), drive up and walk up to the hotel. Well, the five of us started knocking on the window to get his attention. They waved and smiled and we moved away from the window to get ready for dinner. All of a sudden we hear this banging on the window and there is Galen, holding onto the window sill and smiling happily. Well, of course, we did the natural thing, we let him in.
When my parents came back they were thrilled to find us, with the window open, talking to a strange man who had climbed to our room via the fire escape and, oops “catch you guys later” he had to go to his wedding rehearsal dinner.
So that was the first part of our trip to Seattle, and I'm sure you'll enjoy hearing more about it later, when I get around to writing it!
Well, let me just say this...there are seven people in my family. For some reason we tend to be rather loud...messy...expensive...We stick with places like, well Motel 6. The kind of places that have faded signs with peeling paint, hard beds, and one room for the seven of us. Places that feature thick gray slush dumped over biscuit shaped rocks as a delicious choice for our breakfast.
The Hotel Sorrento was not Motel 6. The Hotel Sorrento was a tall building with a waterfall in the front, concierges who parked our car and opened the doors for us. The Hotel Sorrento was a place with tall ceilings, brilliant chandeliers, plush couches and crisp, uniformed receptionists. The Hotel Sorrento was exactly the opposite of most hotels we stay in.
WE got out of the car and dragged our many suitcases into one of the fanciest hotels in Seattle. Two receptionists were involved in a hurried conversation as they exchanged worried glances at our family. Now this is just a guess, but it probably went something like this:
“Oh my gosh, look at the size of that family!”
“Where did you say their room was again?”
“Floor two, but we put them the farthest back so it will decrease our chances of hearing them.”
“I know, but floor two, really, a few more floors up and we'd hardly notice they were there.”
“I doubt anybody could ignore a family that big.”
“And they have two rooms, too. The parents won't be able to control their own kids, look at those little ones, they're crawling around on the floor.”
Well, we finally managed to get to one of our rooms. We opened the door. It was dark for about five seconds and then somebody found a light switch and the whole room was flooded with light. We looked around. Then Claire asked, “Is there a reason why there is a picture of those naked ladies on the wall?”
Now, I know that it's supposed to be a form of art and all and yadayadyada but I still don't see any reason to be walking around the hotel slapping disgusting pictures of naked women on the walls for people to be having nightmares about as they drift off to sleep. Well, my dad walked over and tried to yank one of things of the wall, but what do you know? They were glued on fast. By this time it was getting late, and so, with a promise to track down some tape my parents headed out the door to the wedding rehearsal.
The five of us waited....and waited...and waited. And I began to think that it was not the most brilliant idea when I promised my mom that we could handle everything. Emily and Ashley jumped from bed to bed, then, when they got bored of that they made a pile of loose sheets, blankets and pillows and jumped off the window sill into them. Finally it was 7:00. Claire was looking out the window when she saw Galen and Hannah, (the couple that were getting married), drive up and walk up to the hotel. Well, the five of us started knocking on the window to get his attention. They waved and smiled and we moved away from the window to get ready for dinner. All of a sudden we hear this banging on the window and there is Galen, holding onto the window sill and smiling happily. Well, of course, we did the natural thing, we let him in.
When my parents came back they were thrilled to find us, with the window open, talking to a strange man who had climbed to our room via the fire escape and, oops “catch you guys later” he had to go to his wedding rehearsal dinner.
So that was the first part of our trip to Seattle, and I'm sure you'll enjoy hearing more about it later, when I get around to writing it!
Monday, December 19, 2011
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