It Was Monk Monk's Turn

Last week was Monk's turn to come visit us here in Washington. We had a super great time. I really do love my kid sister and enjoy getting to spend time with her. I can't say how glad I am that it worked out for her to come see us this summer. I am going to try my best to fill you in on the week that we had. Some of the week was just normal stuff like grocery shopping but so nice to have someone to push the buggy full of babies while I pushed the buggy full of food. I know this will be a long post but I hope the pictures make it worth it. It is my goal to do better from here on out of posting more frequently instead of saving up whole weeks at a time to post about. Wish me luck in that endeavor. Anyway here goes:

Tuesday morning we picked Monk Monk up at the airport.
Then we headed to Olive Garden for a little soup and salad lunch.

Kade was glad that we had Monk Monk with us for lunch and he got to sit by her.


Ryne got to show off his newly acquired big boy skills of sitting in restaurant high chairs.

After lunch we did a little bit of shopping and then headed home.

We just did some hanging out at the house because Monk had already had a really long day!

And Ryne had to show off some more of his new skills....crawling!

On Wednesday is when we did the grocery shopping thing. And we did something extra special for Kade....lunch at McDonald's so that he could PLAY!!!

This is the only picture I took. He was trying to get a sweet little girl to help him climb up to the next level.
Then it was home and house cleaning to do so that we could be ready for Wednesday night Bible study at our house. Bible study was good!!!

Thursday was our girly day!

We went to the ladies Bible study at the local coffee shop on Thursday morning and that was fun. Then Kyle kept the boys that afternoon so that Monk and I could do lunch together and then have some relaxing time getting these done:


We felt fabulous!
Crazy side note here: When we went into the nail salon a gentleman came in behind us. Monk and I said that we wanted a manicure and pedicure and he said "I'll have what they are having."
Ended up in the pedicure chair right next to us. So why is this so crazy, you ask?? Within minutes we found out he was from ARKANSAS! Military guy just up for a week of training at Ft. Lewis. Stationed at Camp Robinson in Little Rock! Found out that he knew our good friend Bill Berry who is a chaplain for the military. What are the odds? Anyway, I thought that was just too cool not to share.

Got home from our girly (after a post nail salon pit stop for dessert) and started getting ready for some special guests that we were having over for dinner.

Kade got some Monk Monk time in while we waited.

Our special guests that night were Tim and Jahnet Sims and their sweet girls. They are missionaries to Thailand. Just happen to be back in the states for a bit visiting churches and they were in Washington for the week. We actually met three years ago when we lived in Arkansas. I was pregnant with Kade. They visited us then and Jahnet and I just connected and had a really good time sharing what all God had been doing in our lives. So we were definitely excited to get to spend some time with them again.

Here are some pictures from our evening:




Thanks Tim and Jahnet for fitting us into your busy schedule! We had a great time.

Friday was a big day! Whale watching day! It was an absolutely beautiful day. We had to drive through Seattle heading up for our whale watching adventure so we couldn't help but make a stop at the Space Needle.

Just look at that blue sky!


And the flowers in front of the Needle were very pretty, too.


It was a great day for the space needle. Lots of other people thought so too. It was the most people we have ever seen there!


But we took the time to grab a few pics.


And of course a nice little self-portrait.
Then we were on our way to Anacortes to catch our boat.

Can't even tell you how crazy the traffic was on this Friday, but we almost missed our boat. The company we were traveling with was fabulous. Had someone waiting in the parking lot flagging us into a parking spot and escorted us to the boat. They did a top notch job of taking care of us. And it was a beautiful day to be out on the Puget sound.

Here is a look at Mt. Baker.


And another look at Mt. Baker with a little seaside community in the foreground.


Got an up close and personal view of a Bald Eagle.


And this was a light house that we saw. Someone used to live in the house and take care of the lighthouse, however, a few years back the lighthouse became automated and the house is now empty. Still a pretty cool looking place to see.


This is a place called Deception Pass. Neat bridge to view from the water.


Cool shot of the flag on the back of our boat.


And this was another little island with a small lighthouse. There were lots of seals on one end of this island and lots of birds all over it. To the right of the lighthouse is a huge Eagle's nest and we got to see an Eaglet hanging out there. This is one of the only known Eagle's nests that is actually on the ground.


This was Turtle Back Island.


We saw some seals playing and enjoying the sunshine.


Sailboat enjoying the day.


Another boat heading out into the sound.


Kade and Monk Monk all ready to spot some whales.


Kade trying out the binoculars.

Looks like he got the hang of it.


Our family watching for whales.


And another sister self-portrait.


I really liked this shot of Kyle and Kade watching over the water.


Kade took turns watching with Daddy and watching with Monk Monk.
And after all of that watching......
NO WHALES!!!
It was still a fabulous day and we had a great time. AND we got free tickets to come back for life until we do see whales. We were only the second or third trip for them this year that didn't get to see whales and we were trip number 140. So, it was a fluke and we will try to go back next summer when Monk can come back and go with us again.

We got home super late Friday night so we spent Saturday resting up.

Our neighbors Stephanie and Justine felt so bad that we didn't see whales that they gave us our very own whale watching puppet show. It was hilarious. Check it out:





Sunday morning we went to church and had a good time and then on Sunday afternoon we made a visit to the park.
At the park we spotted some deer coming across the street and into the woods.


Look who thought he could catch those deer!

Monday was our last big adventure. Something Kyle and I have been wanting to do since we moved here. We went to Mount St. Helens!
It was an amazing experience.


At one stop Kade and Monk Monk found some swings to play on.

At our picnic stop, Kade found some cool digging toys to play with. He was needing his Grandaddy to show him how to really get some work done with them.


And here we are in front of Mount St. Helens.


We watched a really cool movie about the volcanoe and when it erupted. Kade had is very own nice little seat.


Kyle and Kade got to make an earthquake in the exhibit hall.


There were lots of pretty flowers growing where we were looking at the mountain. The mountain was actually about 5 miles away from us but it was as though you could just reach out and touch it.


And Kyle got this nice shot of a bumble bee on one of the flowers.


Monk taking it all in.

And, of course, a self-portrait. Looks like Ryne is trying to make sure that Monk doesn't fall off the mountain.


On our way out we caught a glimpse of this guy floating through the sky. Pretty neat sight.

And our last stop of the day was at an outlet mall that we saw on our way down. They were still open so we thought we should check it out. Got a few good deals and this cute picture of Ryne trying on a hat for us:

And that was the end of our adventures. I think that's a pretty cute face to end on.
Tuesday morning I took Monk to the airport and now we miss her!
Hope you enjoyed our grand adventures with Monk Monk.