Goodbye Washington, Hello Idaho

Our time in Washington was great, but as all vacations, it went quickly. All too soon, we were packing our stuff and saying our goodbyes. But first, let's look at some of the other things we did.

Tyler, as you know, was working while on break. Sometimes he would take a phone call and go walk about. He ran across this deer on his travels. Oh deer. Coming through.

The girls, when not on some previously planned expedition, spent almost all their time down in Miranda's lair room. She introduced them to Pokemon. They haven't had much exposure to Pokemon...maybe because they are all girls? Or because Tyler doesn't really like Anime? But for whatever reason, they have been missing the joys of Bulbasaur, Charizard, and the favorite Pikachu. Tyler calculated when we got home and said, "16 HOURS!! They watched 16 HOURS of Pokemon!!" Who cares. It was a vacation. Speaking of Pikachu. How many can you spot in this picture?

When they weren't watching Pokemon, they would vie for time on Grandma's tablet or computer. Garden Rescue is still a favorite.

You would think that Grandma would be short on company since she was up in her room. Don't you worry. She found the perfect lure, and we took shifts coming up to her room to sit and bask in her creativity. (Let's backtrack a little.) Grandma had surgery a couple weeks before we came to visit. (For the record, her surgery went well--thank goodness.) Shortly before her surgery, Grandma decided to start writing another story. Do you remember when she was writing the Fairy stories for the kids? Well this story is completely different, and possibly even more riveting. It's about a mermaid. She sent me a chapter or two before the surgery and I had let Robyn read one on a day her mouth was particularly sore. Then we would read them together as they arrived.

By the time we got to Washington, I think we were up to chapter six or eight. The other girls were lagging behind, but by the end of the trip, we were all caught up. Not at the same time, mind you. We came in shifts and Grandma probably had to reread chapters multiple times. (She didn't seem to mind.) But you could often find people piled on her bed listening to tales of Ellie and Azura. (By the way, the Fairy stories might be a book soon. Can't wait. I promise to put pictures on here.)

With all the excitement going on, you would think that you would never see this face...

But alas, it can't all be fun and games. Sometimes there is waiting. Dr. Seuss knows all about that.

I spent my vacation being sick. Not terribly sick, but a runny nose and a general feeling of yuckiness. Tyler would tuck me in at night and put Moxy on the bed to snuggle with me. I took to calling her 'Therapy Dog' and I think it helped with our overall relationship.

When Tyler is in town, my parents will often give him an odd job or two. This time, he found his job. A box in the kitchen had been there unopened for years. (I'm not kidding...years.) He figured it was time to extract the object. And so he assembled one record player for the Dargan's. It is pretty cool, and trust me, my parents have plenty of records to play on that thing.

We don't have pictures, but the huge tub was well loved and used often while we were there. I am amazed that my parents' awesome jetted tub is so infrequently used. I guess you are a bath person, or you aren't.

One of my favorite things from the trip was going to see my Dad teach. He was called as an institute instructor some time ago. He sends me all his lessons, but I admit that I don't have time to read them all. Plus, it is not the same as listening to a lecture. In the very recent past, he was also hired as a BYU institute instructor. People can come to his class (a second one) and get religion credit. I'm not sure how that all works, but it is pretty cool. Because of that, he teaches twice a week and it was great to go and listen to both his lessons. He really is a spiritual giant. I am always very impressed by his knowledge base, but more importantly, his desire to learn more and seek out truth. Love you Dad.

Mom got me an early Mother's Day gift, which seems odd because I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be the other way around. She has been collecting nativities and had one specially made with mermaids. (Possibly her inspiration for the story.) Then she saw something that she wanted to get for me. It is a lamp with a mother mermaid holding up her baby mermaid. She had it specially made with dark hair for the mother and light hair for the baby, much like me and my Pearly P. I love it. It is truly gorgeous.

When we unwrapped the lamp, it was sufficiently secured with three thousand pounds of bubble wrap, or something close to that. It took us half an hour to find the treasure inside. But the girls were more than happy to take care of some of the popping of said wrap. All my girls are still delighted to burst my bubble.

I think that about covers our time in Washington. It was great as always. Thank you all for making us feel so welcome. Early Saturday morning we loaded up our vehicle, gave Robyn a bag with strict instructions to look out the window and away we went.

Two hours later, June threw up.

Seriously.

She was in the back, and I think she choked on some water and that was all it took. She did not make it out of the car, sadly, but she managed to puke all over the back of the car...just inches from a trash bag. Nevertheless, we made the best of our situation...all the while cursing whatever car sickness genes we have obviously passed on.

Then it was a blast from my past. Growing up, Miranda had car sickness and that meant that she had to sit in front whenever possible. That means I was always in the back. I was more than happy to grow up and drive the car so I was guaranteed a seat in the front. Fast forward to a highway just outside Kennewick. We know Robyn needs to be towards the front. June likewise. And Daisy is borderline queasy. So you-know-who is relegated to the back...in the puke seat no less. It was a great drive. In the back I obstinately broke the 'NO READING' rule because I was bored and guess what?? I don't get car sick.

We passed the time with a car packed to the hilt with plastic bags and luckily, no need to use them. And we naturally went to look for strange things.

First we found an old Steam Plant that had been renovated to now house a restaurant and other retail stores. There wasn't much to do since we got there early in the day, but it was still fun to see the inside which had plenty of the old structure remaining.

Also things like these signs. (The picture is sideways.)

And other pipe/gauge looking things.

My favorite was this metal spider web. Attention to detail folks.

In the same city, we saw this awesome Radio Flyer slide. I didn't see any close parking, so the party pooper mom took a picture from the car and we drove on. (This is possibly when I was being grumpy in the back seat.)

I did let Tyler drive us to a ghost town that wasn't a ghost town at all. I think it was actually a fort of some kind, but it did give us a chance to stretch our legs.

And find this sign. (I thought it said Shatluck at first. Which seems just about right.)

For the past few months, my kids have been playing the Slugbug game with a vengeance. Tyler was so sick of it that he banned it before the trip because he didn't want to listen to "Slugbug blue," etc. the whole trip. So, when I saw an interesting Slugbug, I didn't even open my mouth, but June couldn't help herself. Then again, it isn't every day that you see a Slugbug Nemo.

Pretty darn cool, if you ask me.

We did make one more stop by R.C. Worst. This is the company that bought Barry's (Tyler's Dad) pump business. They weren't open, but we had to stop by anyway.

You would think with so many stops, it would take us forever to get anywhere. You would be right. We were only traveling as far as Idaho, but by dinnertime we had only gotten to Butte, MT. After eating, we snuggled the kids in and drove the long last stretch....through a blizzard.

Thank you Montana for saving us some exciting weather. I was back in the driver's seat since I'd seen enough of the back of the car. But I am not the one who usually drives the crazy storms. This one was so bad, we could hardly see the lines on the sides of the highway. We tried to get a cool picture as we went into hyperdrive, but they never quite turn out.

Needless to say, we made it safely to our destination. It was delightful to sleep in and attend church with family the next day. Moxy seemed to enjoy catching up with her canine companions.

Everyone was able to love on Grandpa again. Ivory made a design for him. Is that a GA in the middle? Does it stand for Grandpa? Is his favorite number five? We may never know. But there is no doubt that he is loved.

All in all, I would say it was a very successful Spring Break. We spent it with family and that is what matters.