Pacific Northwest part 2: Special Visitors, Deception Pass, and Fire pit Fun!

I've fallen way behind on our vacation blogging, so I'll try to get caught up. Our second day Jenn took us all to a beautiful place close to their home called Deception Pass, which is a bridge over the strait that connects Whidbey Island and Fidalgo Island.

We took a nice wooded hike down the to beach.

And here's our special visitors...Uncle Aaron and Sunnie! We were so glad they could fly in from California to meet us for a couple of days, and all had a great time together :).

Pure beauty!

The kids enjoyed throwing rocks into the water.

Big rocks!

The rocks on the shore were so pretty.

Caleb found a dead crab.

And then we all got brave and put our feet in the 48 degree water. It was chilly!

But the cold water did not bother these boys.

We saw some F-18 fighter jets overhead.

Amazed at the jets flying overhead.

Uncle Aaron!!!

Benjamin practicing his battle poses

And yoga with Catherine.

He still likes to be thrown high in the air...but he's getting a bit heavy and can't go quite as high as he used to.

Ladies shots :).

Michael enjoyed climbing all around the driftwood.

It was a fun afternoon exploring their beautiful surroundings!

That afternoon, we played outside in their great yard! Nathan, Michael, and Benjamin had batting practice.

 Then we had some races.

 And as the sun went down, we had some fire pit fun! Joe knows how to make a good fire :).

We ate dinner and then came dessert...

And the kiddos enjoyed making smores!

 And we all enjoyed sitting around talking late into the night.

 The kiddos went strong until almost midnight!

It was such a fun time with the Bobrowski's and introducing them to Aaron and Sunnie. Love the time we got to spend together, and hope to do it again in their beautiful neck of the woods! We love you guys :).

Kids galore!

On Wednesday it was Jordanian Independence Day, so we had the day off. We met up with a few friends for a playground playdate, and then had a pizza party picnic at our house. All the kids waiting patiently for the pizza :).

Here it is!

A couple of the girls stayed at our house to watch a movie afterwards.

 Later that afternoon, Nathan came home with a huge bag of lava rocks......

 Because we got new grass! Nathan did a little landscaping and the boys were his helpers, and it looks great. He likes to do work in the yard and is now scoping out a place in the back to build a clubhouse for the boys

We have lots of flowers blooming still, and I like cutting fresh flowers and herbs for decoration in the kitchen.

Today Caleb and I played with more friends, then went to one of their houses to pick apricots. They have 3 huge apricot trees ,and we filled a couple of bags to go. 

Benjamin has a tummy bug that is going around, so he and Nathan stayed home to work on a couple of projects around the house. He seems to be on the mend, and heres to hoping we stay healthy. Nathan hung their school pictures above their dressers. They look great. Excuse the flash, Benjamin is napping and the room was dark.

Happy Friday...next blog will continue the Pacific NW series :).

Sports Day and Birthday Parties

It's been a fun past few days. Late last week, Benjamin's class had Sports Day at school, Caleb had a birthday party this weekend and Sports Day today. First is Benjamin's sports day videos. I went alone so I took lots of videos for Nathan. Benjamin was on the blue team and it was fun to watch all the kids. Benjamin was last in line to go for each activity, and he was such a good sport and had lots of fun!

 Benjamin and one of his BFFs Mary Claire...true love!

 On Thursday evening, Caleb was invited to a friend for class's birthday, and it was held at the school. the kids ran around on the playground, played games, enjoyed good food, cake, and a piñata!

 And today was Caleb's sports day. I don't have as many videos because Nathan came today, and was a good sport being only 1 of 2 dads there :). Caleb was on the red team with a couple of his good friends in class, Leila and Tank. They did different activities than Benjamin's class, except for the parachute, and everyone had a good time!

 Afterwards, there was a breakfast, everyone brought in food. I had to use the bathroom, and I think this is the smallest toilet I ever used (as an adult)! See the scale to the small trashcan. It was a fun few days with the boys!

Back to Jordan

We are so thankful for the time we had to visit with family and friends, and to enjoy some America. It was such a wonderful and relaxing time, and now it is good to be back in  Jordan. Everything went smoothly on the way back, despite the 2.5 hour security lines in Chicago, and we are thankful for good little traveling boys. Tes had a wonderful visit with her family in the Philippines, and we enjoyed seeing pictures of her family and home. And she surprised us with some Philippine mangos that she knows we love. The ones on the left are from her tree at home and we can't wait until they ripen!

For now, getting settled back in and on schedule (we all woke up at noon yesterday and I'm the only one up at 9:30am now). Back to work and maybe school, tomorrow.

And time to catch up on the blog too, stay tuned!