Washington, Canada & Alaska!!

We have had such a busy, but totally awesome summer.  We just returned from an amazing vacation; something we've always wanted to do. First of all, who just goes to Alaska??

We flew in to Seattle on the evening of July 1.  I picked Daddy S. up from work, went straight to the airport and off we flew.  S.G. LOVED the 3 1/2 hour flight, along with a portable movie player.

After getting our rental car and finding our hotel, we snuggled up and got to sleep as soon as possible, as our next day was beginning at 4:00am.

 Did I say 4:00am.  Well, if you set your clock to AM, it will go off on time.  However, setting it for 4:00PM does you no good at all.  Thankfully, my dad returned a text to me at 5:00AM.  We had to leave at 5:30.  So we threw our clothes on, ran a brush threw our hair and took off for the 2 1/2 hour drive to get to the Ferry that took us over to Victoria, British Columbia.  S.G. absolutely loved being on the Ferry.We parked our car on the bottom portion of the boat and rode up top.  It was chilly and beautiful!

Once we arrived in Canada, we drove around the island a bit, found a tea room for lunch and continued on with the sight seeing.  We finally made our way to The Butchart Gardens.  Breathtaking is all I can say. 

Of course, our trip wouldn't be complete without a stop in Chinatown for dinner and shopping.

***Click on the pictures for a closer view.  It's worth it!!

 We crossed back over on the last ferry and drove 2 1/2 hours back to our hotel.  We were EXHAUSTED!!  We woke the next morning to take the Mt. Rainier train ride.  It was a much more relaxing day, but just as beautiful as the day before.  We ended our day back in Seattle, dinner on the boardwalk, and a breathtaking view of Mt. Rainier at sunset.  Sorry, forgot to include that picture in my collage.

July 4... off to Wrangell, Alaska.  Our friends, pictured in the upper right hand corner, have been in Wrangell for about 10 years now serving as senior pastors.  They were the youth pastors at our church where D.S. was the business administrator AND Children's Pastor.  They are dear, dear friends of ours, and I'm so glad we FINALLY got to go see them.  The family on the far left side were friends of ours at the same church.  They have been in Wrangell for 4 years now as the youth pastors.

Some of our Alaska adventures included a picnic on Mt. Nemo, climbing a random waterfall, and a walk through the Tongass National Forest. You have to click on this picture and look at the bottom left picture of me with my 2 friends.  We all wore our Chuys shirts, without planning it.  I am taking that picture to our local Chuys for them to hang on the wall.  :)

Check out these pictures of bald eagles. 
They are everywhere in Alaska!

We had been waiting for this trip for a long time.  It was really everything I hoped it would be. Thank you to the Haggards and Geralds for welcoming us and sharing your beautiful island with us!!

Freddy's

Well, instead of trying to get caught up on 4 months of activities, I'm just going to start where we are now.  SpicyGirl has completed 2nd grade.  What a year.  This little girl never ceases to amaze me.  She has her own way about everything!  And when you think you've got her figured out....she does a whammy on you and switches everything up.  She is not a "typical" girl by any means.  As a matter of fact, she pretty much "gags" at typical girl stuff...yet, every once in a while, she'll choose a doll (which she hates) to play with and asks to put a clip in her hair.  I got her looking cute and girly today....for only a few hours.  She's cute nonetheless, but every once in a while, I like to see something in her hair. 

So, to start where we are now... we met the grandparents at Freddy's for lunch today.  This is SpicyGirl's favorite place to eat; hamburgers, hot dogs, fries, rings and frozen custard.  It's been months since I've pulled out the "nice" camera.  Oh, it was fun! We have lots going on this summer.  Chinese school, a trip to Alaska, camp...  I'll do my best to keep up the posts...at least until school starts back up. 

Hello Out There.......

Is anyone still out there??

I have been fussed at by many...but I am back!

My summer has just about started, and I have a bazillion pictures to upload and edit.

Spicy Girl and I have completed another year of school. She is officially a 3rd grader now, although I'm a bit in denial. I have just completed my 12th year teaching 2nd grade, and it was a great one!

Once I've caught up on months of sleep and energy deprivation, I will get those pictures uploaded, and catch up on several months of missed posts.

Happy Chinese New Year, 2011

I think we have seriously eaten enough Chinese food in the past 4 days to last us a good long while. We started celebrating CNY on Feb. 3, the actual first day. We went to eat "yuppy" Chinese food at the wonderful Mama Fu's. While there, we were so excited to see Mrs. "N", Spicy Girl's kindergarten teacher. We spent the next few days visiting other Chinese restaurants, but nothing beats our favorite...the real deal.... The Noodle House in Chinatown. No sooner did we get seated, that the fireworks all started going off and the lion dance began. The lions made their start in our restaurant. What an appetizer!!

This one got close enough to pinch S.G.... and he did!

Right outside of our restaurant, we had a fire breathing dragon!

And what do you know??? Some school friends!

Happy Chinese New Year!!

Girl's Got Game!

Spicy Girl is playing basketball for the first time. She is having fun....and that's what counts at this age...right??? If you click on this picture to enlarge it, look at the bottom left picture. The ball is in the air. One girl is reaching up for it. The other girl (S.G.) is shielding herself from it. Need I say more???

Happy 8th Birthday Spicy Girl!!

Beary Cute Stuffables Party!!

Spicy Girl turned 8 this week. Today we had her party. S. G. just loves stuffed animals, so we celebrated with a Beary Cute Stuffables party. The kids got to choose their stuffed animals, and stuff them. It was a success!! S.G. had such a great time!!

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year!! New Year's Resolution...teach Spicy Girl to ride without training wheels.