Coming home

 Saying goodbye to Victoria, Canada.  After a great time fishing on the ocean, eating some great seafood, and walking around exploring the city, we headed back to the ferry to take us back to the USA.  We had to get in line for the 7:30pm ferry at 1:00.  Because they said the 10:00 ferry was already full.  We couldn't miss the second one, we had to still drive to Seattle to catch our flight the next day.  Our flight was leaving at 12:10 in the afternoon.  We didn't have time to take the next morning ferry.  So we bought our tickets, and parked our car in line for the ferry, and walked around the rest of the day.  There was a natural history museum, that we went to, and also a lot of shops to browse around in.  We bought some more souvenirs, and had lunch. Then we  got on the boat to take us home.

 My Three boys love to be silly sometimes, well mostly all the time. And on the ferry they were a little nuts. 

 I have to laugh at this picture.  She was trying to pose for a picture, and the wind kept blowing her hair around.  She had finally gotten it under control and smiled pretty.  Then just as Bret snapped the photo, the wind decided to take her hair across her face!  So funny!

 It was a little chilly in the back of the boat. It had been a nice day and most of us had shorts on.  But we luckily had some sweatshirts.

 Keaton waving goodbye to Canada, heading for the land of the free.  A fitting picture for the end of a great family adventure.

 Okay, I have to explain these next few pictures.  We were sitting out on a covered deck, on these hard metal, and plastic chairs.  It's pretty quiet, and Ben kinda sits up in his chair a bit and just lets one rip without really meaning to.  Or he new it was coming and didn't realize the sound it would make.  This fart vibrated off of those chairs and was heard by all within a 20 foot radius. Sam started laughing his head off.  Keaton was making all kinds of noises, and laughing as well.

 Ben was just embarrassed.  Then started laughing a little too.

 Keaton wanted to take a picture so here it is.  Not bad I must say.  This was right after the fart disturbance.

 In the airport showing their ID to all the security gates.  They were very proud of their passports.  They were flashing them to everyone like they were FBI agents.  We were really bummed because Canada, wouldn't stamp their passports!  Even when we asked them to.  Kill-joys!

 This picture is  a little out of place, back on the boat.  Amber saying farewell to Canada.  She really fell in love with this city. She was sad to leave.

On the plane ready to be home!  I must say I like flying Southwest.  I highly recommend this airline.  We flew from Seattle to Chicago, then to Omaha.  We had no problems with anything, the whole trip was smooth sailing and flying.  We walked out of the airport into the 90 degree heat and humidity, and about passed out though.  It was nice to get away from that for awhile, but hey, summer heat can't last forever right?
It was a great vacation, one for the books.  It was nice to be going home though, and sleep in my own bed, and not have to get my clothes from out of a suitcase.  It was so nice to see family again too.  I sometimes wish we didn't live so far from everybody.  But I do love our home and the people in the midwest.  The weather I could do with out sometimes, but if the weather were perfect too, then EVERYONE would want to live here!  We need our space. 

Victoria, Canada!

Next stop was Port Angeles to catch the ferry to Victoria, Canada.  I was amazed that two semi's drove onto this ferry, with the trailers as well.  I mean they were huge!  What they can't do these days.  After we drove on, we parked the car and walked up to the deck, and found seats.  The kids were very excited.  Actually we were all excited!

 When we got out to the open sea it got a little wavy!  We were rocking back and forth pretty good.  I was starting to feel a little woozy.  The kids were having a great time though, because it was hard to walk strait! 

Bret and Keaton out in the front, It was a little cold and windy!  As you can tell from Amber's hair.

This was our view of Victoria as we came into the bay.  I must say this city is magic!  It was so beautiful, and had lots fun things to do, and see!  Great seafood!  Lots of boardwalk stores along the bay and friendly people.

 After we got our hotel, Bret went to the store and bought us some frozen pizza and some sandwich meat, grapes, bananas, milk, cheese, cookies, chips, and other assorted foods.  We had to bring our own lunches onto the boat in the morning. We walked to the marina were our fishing boat and guide were waiting for us at 7 am.  We got on and the first thing the boys did was explore the boats lower cabin. Adam, our guide, was very nice and seemed to really know what he was doing!  I was amazed at how fast he could get all the poles ready.  We were trolling for salmon.  Don't ask me what that means.  We drove out of the bay and out to the ocean, we drove about 40 minutes to get to where the good fishing spot was.  It was bumpy fast and rocky!  We all took a sea sickness pill before we started, so we didn't have any trouble with that. 

 Amber caught the first fish!  They were hard to real in, because you had to be soft so the hook wouldn't tear through the soft mouth of the Pink Salmon.  But you also had to be strong to pull it in.  It was quite fun. 

 Then it was my turn.  I must say it was a very slimy fish, and I was happy to have it in the boat. 

 Ben got a nice big one, and wasn't shy about picking it up for a picture. 

 On the other hand Keaton didn't like touching his when he finally got it in the boat.  He said it was yicky.

 Sam had a hard time bringing his in so we did it together.  Nice big fish!

 Riding back we all bundled up and some of them fell asleep.  We were out there about 4 hours.  We caught 7 Salmon, and just had a great time. 

But we were glad to see the marina again, and put our feet on solid ground.  I also noticed that for the rest of that day, and part of the next, I still felt like I was on the wavy ocean.
That night we went to eat at this Italian place, and walked around and looked at all he shops and buildings and things.  Everything was pretty much with in walking distance from our hotel.  The kids found some souvenirs that they wanted to bring home.  We had all day Saturday to spend in Victoria, but we had to have our car in line for the 7:00pm ferry by 11 am!  It was filling up fast.  So we just walked around again and went to the natural history museum, and had a nice lunch at McDonald's!  Yuck!  All those great places to eat, and we let the kids pick.  Couldn't believe it. About 6:15 we went back to the car and had a snack, and got ready for the return trip back to the USA.

part 3

 We made it to the mountains!  Such pretty scenery, and I love the smell of pine needles and damp wood.  We got to walk on a lot of trails and see some of the most beautiful sights there is to behold.  I wish I could put all my pictures on here.  There were so many waterfalls and rivers.  I wish I could just transplant a little piece of the forest in my back yard!

 Very tall tree isnt' it?  I wish I could climb it and see the view you'd see from up there!  You could probably see Iowa!

 Ben and Keaton walking hand in hand on the road back to he car.  How sweet is that!  Such a fun day

 The happy couple pose.  This was along a very very cold river!  It was like ice!  Ben could hardly keep his hand in it for more than 30 seconds. 

 We drove to Mt Saint Helens next.  The picture I down loaded on here of that didn't work for some reason, so I'll have to try again in the next post.  It was amazing to see all the progress the mountain and the area have made in the last 30 years since the eruption.  I recommend to anyone to go see. They have great visitor centers as well.  Also a great hiking trail that takes you all over the blast zone.

 Next we drove up to Forks.  This was Amber's part of the trip. We drove into town and Amber was so excited to see the famous sign.  I must admit, I was a little excited as well.

 They had a store there called "Dazzled by Twilight"  with all kinds of stuff from and about the movies.  Someone was pretty smart to put that there for all the group-ies coming to town.  Amber got her picture taken with Edward and Jacob!  I told you they had everything in this store!

 This is La Push.  And this is a picture of the school, on the reservation.  The one that Jacob went to :)

 This is First Beach.  Where Jacob and Belle, walked and talked about the "cold ones!"  The water was freezing as well! But is was a beautiful beach with sooo much drift wood.  Bret was drooling.  He was trying to figure out how he could get this huge piece back home with him.  He would have to buy an extra seat!  So we had to leave it. 

This is part of First Beach.  An old dock that wasn't being used any more, for obvious reasons, and I don't know what the pipe was for, but I wanted to take a picture of the rocky cliffs.  We ate at a little restaurant in La Push, and I must say I've had my share of fish and chips, but in that place I had the  BEST!!!!  So so good.  I wish I could eat that like once a week!  I know it's not all that healthy for you, but man, if It's fresh fish,  nothing better!

Part 2

 The second part of our trip was driving to Ephrata to visit my family.  My sisters, Wendy, Sandi, and Jackie, their families, and then Jaime, were there.  We woke very early Sunday morning, and drove to my parents house, changed into our church clothes, and attended Sacrament meeting.  It's always nice to see old friends at church. In Ephrata, we bonded with our new nephew, Isaac, jumped on Jackie's trampoline, rode horses, played pool, watched movies, Bret helped with some of the farm work, and we had some of moms yummy food. 

 We also had a nail polishing party.  Jackie brought her colors and sparkly polish, and all the girls had a turn.  Thanks Jackie!

 After saying good-bye to everyone, we got back into the car and headed west to visit the mountains! The boys had their DS's and Gameboys, Amber had her books, and iPod.  We were set. The scenery wasn't all that wonderful at first.  Flat sagebrush and farm land.  Pretty in it's own way, but not what we wanted to see!

Summer vacation 2011

Summer vacation of 2011 started out with us flying out of Omaha and landing in Spokane, Wa. to visit the Heileson clan. Grandma's raspberries were in full swing so we picked and picked, and Keaton would sit and eat a bucket full.  They also had just picked the big sweet cherry's off the tree right before we got there, so we had our fill of those too!  The first day we were there was a bit chilly for swimming and skiing, so we all took a boat ride across the beautiful lake to this little ice cream shop and had the biggest and best ice cream I've had in a long long time!  Soooo yummy!

Grandpa's boat is always fun to ride on!  Keaton especially loves Grandpa's boat! 

Keaton and Grandpa!  I love this picture!

The beach at the Lake House, is always fun!  Amber was so happy to be back there in the fresh air!

Bret is looking good as always, kicking back and letting some one else do the driving. Enjoying his break from all the sick people in Harlan.  Notice the sweater.  It was chilly on the boat and was a nice change from the 90+ degree weather we had just come from. 

Amber braved the cold water when the sun finally came out, and again did a brave thing by getting in the tube with Uncle Kevin!  Grandpa gave them the ride of a life time!  I wouldn't have done it.

Bret also braved the cold water to go skiing, but he did use a little help with a sexy wet suit!  The water was still pretty cold, and Bret was very funny as he was getting in!  I have a video of it.  Pretty funny.  I'll try to put that on here sometime.  :)

My boys love the beach and love making tunnels and dams and all kinds of things in the sand.  They even went swimming a little.  I usually go too but because of all the cold weather and rain they've been having the water temp was only 60 degrees.  I like my lake water a bit warmer than that. 

It's amazing to me how kids can deal with cold water so much better than adults.  This dock has been the scene of many flips and dives and jumps from our family.  Only not to much of that happened this year.

Grandpa and Grandma got some kayak's and we had to try them out!  Bret and Ben went out in them, and also Sam took a turn.  On Saturday Kevin and Jennie joined us and we had warmer weather, so a day at the lake was a must.  Lots of good food, family, a beautiful lake, a wonderful boat to take rides on, what more could you ask for. 

Amber wanted a picture near the Spokane Temple, so here it is.  She loves Temples and takes every opportunity to go visit them.  I guess Grandpa thought she could handle driving the boat for a bit as well.  She was so very excited and did an excellent job!!