Wonderful Washington

As we were leaving Oregon Saturday morning, Xander asked where we were going next. He was not happy to hear of our boring destination: HOME. Lucky for us with the summer travel schedule we've had, our kids love to GO. But unluckily for them, summer was over and Dad had to get back for school Monday morning. Xander begged to go back to Isaac's house instead of home. He had such a good time there! Isaac was quite the train fanatic at Xander's age, and was kind enough to humor Xander with hours of trainset fun.

Isaac also taught Xander and Elodie an elaborate pretend game that he called Elephant Slayer. In case you haven't read Isaac's current favorite library book, an elephant slayer is an extinct tiger-like creature with teeth that could tear through elephant skin. Luckily, the game was more like house played on all fours in a cave than chasing and slaying elephants. In fact, it sounded like this particular family of elephant slayers actually preferred bacon to elephant. Elodie, the mom, kept retrieving pounds of pretend bacon from the toy chest to bring back to the cave. Elodie loved playing with Isaac, (I wish I had caught a picture of Isaac giving her a hug before bed; he was so sweet to her!) but she did occasionally try to play with Camryn, too, who is almost 11-months younger. Yes, they do look the same age, but the just-learning-to-talk barrier made Elodie think she was so much older than her "little" cousin. The next time they see each other, they will likely be caught up to where they seem the exact same age. And it'll be so fun to see them interact even more. Camryn has such a sweet personality!

Aaron and I had loads of fun, too. We went to a free lunch concert in a Puyallup park with some fiddle-playing Irish-dancing sisters who were actually extraordinarily talented.And afterwards, the kids had a blast splahing around in the wading pool. Xander usually remembered the only rule that the lifeguards made every kid repeat before letting them in: No Running!But I think that my favorite part of staying with Ben and Mary Ann was just sitting down after the kids were settled and talking until the wee hours of the morning. (Although I did feel a little guilty for wearing out my dear pregnant sister-in-law! We're so excited for the new addition to their darling family!) I learned so much from both of them. They are so wise and such great examples to us! Thanks again to Morgan and Ashley for the much-needed excuse to get to the Northwest and reconnect with family!