Day 5- On the Water

 Wedding day finally arrived!  But the wedding wasn't until 3 in the afternoon, so we had lots of time for fun in the morning (after we helped as best we could with setting up the extra special wedding touches). 

It was just chilly enough that hot chocolate was a must for our breakfast at the Lime Kiln Cafe. 

These cobblestone streets reminded me of the paralelepipedo in Brazil!

It was a perfect day for an outdoor wedding....

and for a boat ride!  In an attempt to stay out of the way and have some fun, we rented a boat and went on the hunt for some whales!

Emma made the perfect figurehead for our vessel!

The views were spectacular!

Not unlike the Space Needle, we weren't 100% committed to spending any time on the water, but we had the perfect window of time and this turned out to be an absolute highlight of the entire trip.  

There is always a mix of excitement, laughs, and fear when we're out on the water!

Noah was not thrilled about the possibility of running into a whale, and he kept a close eye on the sonar readings. Adam was vigilant about reading and understanding the directions for what to do in case of an emergency. We were in good hands (and tried not to think too much about what would happen if we were stranded at sea for any reason and missed the wedding)!

Daddy was our fearless captain and did a great job navigating the waters for the perfect mix of deep ocean sights and staying close to the shoreline of one of the many islands we jetted around. 

No time to get seasick on this little outing!

The donuts we brought onboard from the café were delicious!

We made it out to Lime Kiln Point, where we had tried to see whales from the shore two days earlier,

 but we didn't have any luck on the water either (probably okay, I think at least half of us would have completely freaked out of we actually saw a giant sea creature swimming alongside our little aluminum boat). 

But we did discover Steller sea lions! The biggest of all sea lions and hunted by killer whales, these blobby beauties were lounging on an island and were the hit of the trip!  They bobbed up and down and in and out of the water and were just so cute!

It got a little chilly out on the water!

And everyone wanted to sit on the same chair.  

Poor Leah. 

Adam always takes such good care of his mama. 

And in just the amount of time we predicted, everyone was ready to get head back to land. 

Daddy and Adam went back out on the water with Uncle Alex and Zeke 

while the rest of us wandered back down toward the resort

for some ice cream!  Probably our last outdoor ice cream cone of 2022. 

And before long it was time for the wedding!

Boys Campout & Girls Night

Adam, Jason, and Noah headed out for another attempt at camping, and this time it was a success!  They do look a little worried about the plethora of gnats that were swarming the camp, but they said the trip was an overall success.

And they weren't alone!

Plenty of time for exploring the woods,

traversing bridges, and swinging on the tire swing.

(And let's all be grateful for a quick moment that Jason isn't the sole picture-taker/memory-keeper for our family.  That's quite an action shot!) 

They said good night to us- 

and we said good night to them from the comfort of my bed at home, where the girls were snuggled up and enjoying a late night movie and plenty of giggles.

And then we all slept!

Ah! There is nothing quite like a good night's sleep in the great outdoors!

Boys Camping Trip

From the looks of it they were hot and happy to be tromping through the woods,

 collecting sticks, 

 eating tasty camp foods,  

 and helping with the service project.  

 Look at those muscles!

I'm so glad we are a family that has camping traditions every year. 

Fishing (by Jason)

Last weekend our Elder's Quorum set up a fishing outing at a church member's private pond.  It is stocked primarily with crappie and rarely fished so it's a pretty good place to learn how to fish - and learn we did!  

Adam caught his first fish!  He cast it and reeled it in but wasn't sure about touching it.  I can remember as a kid not wanting to touch fish - and I still don't like it.  I helped Adam get the hook out and eventually talked him into holding the fish and throwing it back into the lake.  I was proud of Adam for overcoming his fear and holding the fish.  

I caught a couple of fish too.  Of all my memories fishing as a kid I can only remember one time that I caught a fish and it was when I accidentally dropped my hook into the edge of the pond without anything on it - go figure.  The rest of the time I just remember sitting there waiting for my bob to move, so it was really fun for both of us to pull in fish within 30 minutes of starting.

Much like the camping, Adam had a lot of fun and we're both excited to go again!  Not pictured is Emma, who was much more interested in playing with her friends than catching any fish.

Fun with Daddy

Jason is keeping plenty busy at work, but he always makes it a priority to have happy, helpful, and fun moments with us at home.  He comes home early on Thursday evenings to help with Leah's violin lessons and Adam's gymnastic class.  He took Adam to a high school basketball game a few weeks back- Adam loved learning about the game and how to keep score.

He took the kids to an indoor wildlife preserve, where they got to pet Flower the skunk and hold shark teeth and such.   Adventures with Daddy are always so fun.