This week our boys left bright and early Monday morning on a high adventure trip to the San Juan Islands. Since we were very much living separate lives this week I think it makes sense for a two part blog. I'll report on the adventures of the girls and I and then I will hand the reigns to Jeremy to report on their adventures. He should have plenty of time on his hands to do that because, spoiler alert, he came home from the trip with Covid.
Ladies week in review:
We started the week with a living room fort. What summer would be complete without a living room fort? As with most forts, it was very popular for the first few days, but then stayed up way longer than necessary. By mid week I finally was the bad guy and reclaimed my living room.
On Monday, we added a girl to the girl's time and went with Nana to the End of the Oregon Trail Museum. The highlights of this visit were dressing up and the candle making. The girls were also more interested in learning more about the history of some of the people that came across the trail. We learned about the Pittock family who built the famous Pittock Mansion in Portland, which is also now a museum. Elsie is now really excited to go visit that.
Unfortunately, I had to work quite a bit this week, but for the girls, that meant they both got to have multiple play dates to keep them busy while I worked. I was terrible about taking any photos during the various playdates, but on one of C.C.'s, she went with a friend to a farm. She got to pet baby goats and hold baby chicks and bunnies. She then begged for a bunny because they were (insert begging voice here) ONLY $10 DOLLARS.
Speaking of animals, C.C. also had her weekly riding lesson. The lesson was uneventful, but following her lesson, the instructor wanted C.C. to feed the horse an apple rather than her usual treat. C.C. was under the impression that Wilson would eat the apple whole, but that was not the case. Instead, he proceed to take bites out of it and chew it over her hands, thereby covering her in freshly made apple sauce. It was pretty funny but she was definitely ready to wash off by the time Wilson was done.
We also had a girls night with some of C.C.'s friends at the pool. We had a potluck and swam. The girls convinced all the moms to go down the water slide. That was the talk of the night.
Other highlights included some shopping, sorting and organizing clothes for the new school year, and trying ways to style our hair while we were sleeping.
I did take one evening away and went and met my LONG time bff, Shaunell, for dinner. It was a much needed recharge and I'm very thankful for Aunt Emily for holding down the fort while I was gone.
Well, that pretty much does it for my week. I'll hand the reigns over to Jeremy now.
Gents week in review:
The trip to the San Juan's Island in Northwest Washington was a resounding success. It started very early Monday morning. We had to meet at my friend, Jon McLoughlin's, house at 4:45am to leave by 5am and make it to the San Juan Ferry in Anacortes, Washington in time to be in line for the 12:30 ferry. Bad news was that it rained the entire trip up there. Good news was that it rained the entire trip up there and people who had previously planned on going to the San Juan's did not go. We arrived at the ferry at about 10:30 and were able to get on the ferry earlier than expected because of the lack of ferry traffic. We boarded the ferry and took the hour long ferry to Orcas Island, where we would be camping until Friday. Unfortunately, it continued to rain throughout the day. We spent the rest of the day setting up camp and trying to stay dry.
Tuesday, we had planned to ride our bikes up Mount Constitution and then riding the bikes down some trails. However, it continued to rain in the morning and the roads and trails were too slick for the bikes. So, we audibled and went into the town to walk around and look at the various shops. We also drove up to the top of Mount Constitution, however, as you can see, we could not see anything because of the fog. Eventually, the fog cleared and the rain stopped. We spent the afternoon on the lake next to the campsite. We paddle boarded across the lake to a walking bridge that is about 15-20 feet above the water. We spent the afternoon jumping into the lake off of the bridge.
Wednesday, we took a ferry over to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. We had scheduled a guided sea kayaking tour. The tour was really fun. We rowed against the current down the coastline and then turned around and were in open water and used the current to go back to the vans. All in all, we were our sea kayaking for about 90 minutes. We saw a bald eagle, sea otters, and jelly fish. I was beat after the kayaking and just thought it was because I not in the world's greatest shape. Turns out that, unbeknownst to me, I was starting to experience Covid symptoms. While the sea kayaking was fun, we did have ferry problems on Wednesday. Our ferry out to Friday Harbor was delayed by about an hour due to fog. That delayed the rest of the ferries throughout the day. On our way back, the ferry was still delayed an hour. The boys took this time to get ice cream and walk around the shops. They had a great time just hanging out with each other. Our ferry showed up, an hour late, but our ferry was an interisland ferry. The ferry from the mainland to the islands takes priority we learned. So, after our ferry had unloaded and we were told to line up to enter the ferry, the Anacortes ferry rounded the corner. Our ferry did not load anyone, backed out, and waited at the side for the Anacortes ferry to unload and reload. So, another hour passed before we were finally able to get on the ferry. We finally made it back in time for a late dinner.
Thursday was our last full day on the island. We spent the morning riding up Mount Constitution and trying to find mountain bike trails. Half of the boys had e-bikes and the other half had regular bikes. The e-bikers lasted a lot longer and went further than the regular bikers. I was on a regular bike and we only lasted about 45 minutes before going back to camp and driving to the top of Mount Constitution. The e-bikers, including Merrick, found some fun trails and stayed on the bikes longer. At the top of Mount Constitution, with no fog, the views were amazing. From our viewpoint we could see across the entire sound. To our east we could see Bellingham and Mount Baker. To our north we could see Vancouver, B.C., with binoculars of course. In between were just spectacular views. Thursday afternoon we spent on the lake. I was probably feeling around 70%. I just thought it was exhaustion so I rallied and decided I would go out on the lake with the boys. I was glad I did. The boys had found a 50 foot cliff and decided to jump off it. All of the boys that were out there jumped at least once. It was fun watching them jump, except for Merrick. I held my breath as he jumped and didn't breathe again until his head popped up. Everyone was safe and uninjured, which was a plus. Our bishop also decided to get in on the fun. He said he would jump if the boys committed to go on a mission. After they all said they would, he jumped. After we were done with the cliff, we paddled over to a tree that looked like a giant bonsai tree that had grown out over the lake. We climbed to the top of the tree, about 15-20 feet, and jumped into the lake. That was really fun. We have video of all of this, but I have not received it yet. As soon as I get it, we will put it in a future blog.
Thursday night is when I really felt the Covid symptoms. Again, I thought I was just exhausted. I started to get the shivers and decided/was told by others that I did not need to help pack up and could go to bed. I spent the next few hours sweating out the fever. We woke up at 5:30am Friday morning, quickly packed and headed to the ferry. I was feeling better, so I figured whatever it was, I was through it. We were able to catch the first ferry out, at 7:30am. The views of the little islands that populate the sound and the cool morning breeze was amazing. We finally hit the mainland and started the long drive home. We hit traffic just outside of Centralia and finally got home around 3pm. Sarah heard how congested I was an immediately made me take a Covid test, which I tested positive for. Looks like I am in the basement until we leave on Wednesday for Idaho for Grandma Whyte's memorial.
Me again. Well, that's the story of the week...both of them. Hopefully, Jeremy rebounds quickly and we will have amazing stories to tell soon from our time in Idaho and Yellowstone.
