Keaton goes to the hospital

It's hard to see your child in a hospital bed, I don't care if it was just to get some teeth removed and a couple of cavities filled, It just isn't the sight you want to see. Keaton as some teeth problems even at this early age.  He was grinding his front teeth down to nothing, and the dentist said he wanted to take them out before they caused him problems.  Also his back teeth are so tightly packed together that he had developed cavities in between a couple of his back teeth because we weren't flossing.  I thought I was doing good at just making sure they brushed good.  I didn't floss my other kids teeth when they were this age. None of them have had any cavities!  So because of his age and what they had to do, he had to be put in the hospital and be put to sleep so they could work on his teeth.  He was able to bring his giraffe and blanket for comfort, and they gave him some nice hospital pj's.

After a long time of waiting and many nurses later, they put him in a big red wagon and took him into surgery.  I wasn't to much of a wreck. After all it was just dental work.  I couldn't help but feel it was all my fault though.  I must say we are ALL avid flossers now!

I met with the Doctor who performed the surgery and he said everything went fine and gave me his two front teeth in a little plastic cup.  The tooth fairy will do double duty for these teeth!  They brought him back to his room and layed him in this bed to rest and to wake up from the anethesia.  He did not want to wake up. His mouth was sore for a couple of days after and he said it felt weird to not have his front teeth.  He said "How am I going to eat apples now?"  I told him as soon as his grown up teeth grew in he'd have no trouble eating apples. As I said before I don't like seeing my children in hospital beds, and I hope the next time I do it will be to visit Amber after she's had her first baby!

On to other things.  This summer we've decided that our pond wasn't big enough.  So we had Bobby come out again and dig some more.  We had to drain the pond about 4 feet so he could dig another big section, and we wanted him to leave an island in the middle.  The little part with the grass will be that island when the water level returns to normal.  I wanted a little place for the geese and ducks to nest and be safe from the dogs!  We had geese last spring but the dogs kept chasing them off. It was making me mad.  I love geese and ducks on our pond.  We also discovered that we have about a thousand gold fish in it as well.  Last fall a friend of ours had about 5 gold fish that were in his mothers little pond and they wanted to get rid of them, so he asked if we wanted them.  Apparently they have the right conditions for spawning because we have lots of them now!  Guess it's time for the bass to go in.  Hope they like to eat gold fish. 

This is Bobby and his big machine, tapering the edges.  It's amazing how he works that shovel.  It's so smooth it looks alive.  So lots of stuff going on at our house, with the landscaping.  Lots more to do as well.  But it's fun to see things take shape and look nicer as each project gets done. 

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!