West Coast trip: Olympic Peninsula

The first two days of our trip to Washington, Eloise and I tagged along with my parents, sister, and brother and his family to the Olympic Peninsula. We had fun hiking and exploring the BEAUTIFUL parts of this mostly uninhabited part of the coast. We saw 'rainforests,' Crescent Lake (which is SO clear, due to a natural chemical that makes algae not grow here or something), Sol Duc Falls (a triple waterfall), and Hurricane Ridge (a ridge on top of a mountain where they've built a visitors center and walking trails so you can see views off all sides of the mountain range). It was chilly and cloudy, then sunny and warm, and everything in between on this trip, but we had so much fun, and loved being able to be out in nature and experience this gorgeous part of the country that I haven't had a chance to explore much. I would love to go back some day, and bring my hubby, too :) If you want to see my more 'artsy' pictures from this trip, see my photography blog post.

Boy cousins playing in the snow on top of Hurricane Ridge

The view from Hurricane Ridge, with Eloise's aunt and cousin

Auntie Karen and one side of Hurricane Ridge

Cousin P showing off for the camera

Grandpa and Wheezy

Grandma and Wheezy

Hanging out at one end of Crescent Lake

Mama and baby!!!

Cousins checking each other out (little M)

All the boys cousins we explored with these two days, and Eloise

Cousin K and Crescent Lake

West Coast Trip: Grandma Duke's Memorial Service at Kayak Point

The reason why we went up to Seattle in the first place was for my Grandma Duke's memorial service. She died a couple months back, but was cremated, and wanted her ashes scattered at the same place as my Grandpa's, at Kayak Point. We held it the weekend after her birthday, and lots of my cousins and my aunts and uncles on that side came, as well. When most of my siblings decided to come, we figured we might as well call it a reunion and make it longer than a weekend. Most of us stayed about a week, a few days on either end of the memorial service.
It was a cool and drizzly day when we met up with family (it IS Seattle, after all - what did we expect?), but it was great to see cousins again. Most I hadn't seen in a decade or more, so we had to re-introduce ourselves to each other, and catch up on our entire teen and adult lives thus far.
The service itself was really beautiful, with my dad leading a conversation about our memories of my grandma (and grandpa). We had a potluck lunch, and then called it a day.

The whole group of us!

My immediate family

Uncle Ron and family

Aunt Carolyn and family

Aunt Linda and family

My brother and family (flew in from Texas)

My sister, her husband, and her 'baby' Winnie (live in Seattle)

My brother and his family (flew in from China!)

My beautiful niece and 'magnet'

Abigail took this of me :)

Isn't my nephew the CUTEST?

My mom and Eloise :) I love them together

Eloise is not claustrophobic. And she loves her Dadda

Old pictures, but I wanted to make sure and share the.

I took pictures of Eloise for Dylan's Fathers' Day present.

Unfortunately, she was not in the best mood that day...haha. Grumpy face

And...she loves rolling under things, like this futon or our bed. She does get stuck sometimes, which makes her less than happy, but she is so cute when she explores the underside of things.

Isn't that little leg and gripped toes so cute?

Eloise Jayden: 8 Months Old

I have a million posts to do about our 2 1/2-week adventures on the West coast, but before that, I thought I would share her 8-month-old photos (before I get THAT far behind and she turns 9 months old). She turned 8 months old on July 2nd.
I just can't believe how FUN she is getting! This is such a great age (yes, people really do say that about EVERY age, and it really is true). She is so interactive, is perfecting her beautiful laugh, chatters all the time, and is getting so mobile.
During her 8th month, Eloise:
- cut her bottom two teeth
- flew across the country to Seattle, then down to California, and back to North Carolina
- met (most of) her aunts, uncles, cousins, and lots of extended family on both sides
- learned how to scoot (on her 8-month-birthday), army-crawl-style
- started squealing with delight at things she loves
- started "waving" - even though she's not sure what it means yet
- started self-feeding (on her 8-month-birthday), beginning with pieces of bread and Cheerios
- met Mickey Mouse!!!! while at Disneyland for the first time

In honor of meeting Mickey for the first time, and going to Disneyland, we did Minnie Mouse polka dots for her background

My favorite

waving!!

Action shot! crazy excited face :) -- and check out those teeth!!

Those thighs KILL me. So happy to be standing up, too

Back shot for Auntie Karen (she is obsessed with Eloise's cute little back and shoulder blades), AND -- look at that hair!!!

Fun at Disneyland!

The last time I went to Disneyland, I spent a lot of money to go on rides such as Peter Pan's Adventure and Finding Nemo. This would have been fun...if I had a small child with me. Instead, we went on these rides because Julie had a small child still growing in her stomach. This time around, that small child was on the outside of Julie's stomach and so we thought going to Disneyland would be much more memorable. And it was, but not for the reasons I was expecting. With the aide of helpful uncles and friends, Julie and I were able to go on some of the classic fun rides at Disneyland--Indiana Jones, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain (my first time. I was so brave...just don't ask Julie if that statement is true or not), Big Thunder, etc. Those rides were a good time, as always, but for some reason they didn't feel as fast, as long, or as thrilling as they used to. About halfway through our visit I thought, "I'm just getting older and the "magic" of Disneyland is gone."

At least the lovely Cannon girls were thrilled to be at the "happiest place on earth."

When Julie suggested that we go on "It's A Small World" with Eloise, I was less than excited to hear squeaky voices of mannequins from all over the world singing at the top of their lungs the same 10 or so words over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over. It was beastly hot (though not as hot as North Carolina) in line and we figured out after about 30 minutes that we were in the handicapped line (where each wheelchair took a considerable amount of time to be safely fastened to the ride). Julie and I both moaned in the heat and would have paid good money to have sound proof ear plugs to stop the theme song from sucking our will to live out of us.

Me: Please, Heavenly Father, make the music end. I can't take it, anymore! Wheeze: Bah-bah-goo-bah.

Finally, we got on the ride...and Eloise loved it. The whole time she looked in awe and amazement and was bouncing up and down looking at the various stereotypes of people around the world in mannequin form. While I saw every string holding the characters in place, it was wonderful to Eloise. Although that stupid (I mean silly; we're trying not to use the "s word" in our house) song was stuck in my head for days, I was really glad that I was able to share this experience with my baby girl and capture the "magic" that is Disneyland, again. It's nice having someone make you step back and realize how interesting and exciting this world is; or in other words, make you feel like a kid again.

This picture was taken many months ago when it was possible to find a hat too big for Wheeze.

 

The three of us with the mouse that started it all.