Bowman Bay, Cart Rides

Thursday of our trip, August 13: We went down to Anacortes to meet up with my cousin Andy and his kids to go on a hike. It was raining when we got to their house, so we ate our picnic lunch in his kitchen. :) The kids all got to play, which was fun too. The rain stopped, so we could still do the hike. We went to Bowman Bay, on the Anacortes side of Deception Pass Park. It was a good hike, though I was a little freaked out about the kids falling off the trail, down the cliff into the water below! Funny how they don't get scared a bit! Andy and his wife, Shelly have 4 kids, too, but 3 boys and one girl. Both our babies aren't in this picture (in fact his baby stayed home with his grandpa). The big kids: Austin, Luke, Kyle, Lauren, Julia and Kaitlyn. The settings on the camera obviously weren't changed to take pictures in bright sunlight. OOoops! A little overexposed...


My aunt, Andy's mom, had thought to bring snacks, which of course the kids devoured. Funny how that hike made them so ravenous not too long after eating lunch! We played on the beach for awhile, looked for rocks, etc. The kids had fun on this fort some other group had made out of drift wood. It seemed pretty sturdy, though we told the kids not to climb on top if other kids were inside. I could just imagine the whole thing falling in on someone. Yikes! It was a neat fort, though.


Caroline really liked looking in the rocks with Grandma. She tried to put several in her mouth...

No pictures, but Friday we went to visit my grandpa (dad's dad) in the rest home, and saw my grandma too. Grandma doesn't recognize any of us anymore, but she does like seeing the little kids. She kept smiling at Caroline and caressing her feet and hands, touching her cheeks and chin. Great Grandma wanted Lauren to come see her too, but Lauren was scared silly and wouldn't go near her! :( Caroline liked the attention and tolerated it just fine. Friday night we went to my brother and his wife's house for dinner. Scott BBQed. My girls played with Auntie Kim's My Little Ponies and Barbies she'd saved from when she was a little girl. Austin played with Uncle Scott's Domino Ralley sets that he'd saved from when he was a little boy. Funny, but I don't even remember those Domino Ralley sets being in our house!

My dad saw Neil Diamond in concert while Scott flipped through TV channels and told Scott to stop on that one! Caroline got a big smile when she heard 'her' song: Sweet Caroline. LOL It cracks me up that she's only a year old and recognizes that song!! Part of the chorus has been sung to her many many times. It's not like anyone knows it; my dad knows the most words, but nowhere close to the whole song. Everyone else just sings, "Sweet Caroline, duh duh duh, duh, duh duh duh, duh duh. Sweet Caroline... (and repeat the duhs)" :D Crazy!

Saturday we went to visit Randy and Judy, and Abby, at their house. They fed us lunch and the kids got to play with different toys there. And pick carrots out of Judy's garden. Brian took Julia, Austin, and Lauren to pick wild blackberries by the railroad tracks near my mom and dad's house. That afternoon Julia and Grandma made blackberry crisp together. We had a family BBQ that night, and Brian's uncle and his wife came too. I had to pack up part of the time.

Also Saturday, my dad gave the kids a long, long ride around his property in his cart. They love Grandpa's tractor rides! Even Julia! I'm glad she enjoys them still.

I was thinking about the tractor rides and how many years the kids have gone on them: this is the 6th year, if I'm remembering right. I had these scanned pictures saved from October 2004: Julia, Austin and cousin Alyssa. Cute!! Grandpa gave them a tractor ride, and the grown-ups walked, out to the woods in the back of their property and we roasted hot dogs and had a picnic. Grandpa set up the plywood for their table!

Austin that same Fall, getting a ride. I don't know why Julia wasn't in it with him. ?? Look how little he was! Only just barely two years old.