Day 10 of the Great Adventure: Seattle to Kamloops

We were relieved that our first day on the road after a 3 day break was a short one - only about 6 hours!  We left Willy and Darlene's house around 9:30 and got out of town around 10.  Washington is so beautiful!  The weather was wonderful the entire time we were there and today it was rainy.  

We stopped to get gas in the car, fill up our gas cans with "cheap" gas, and change diapers before we crossed the border.  The boys had fun in the front for a few minutes.

Our last picture before we crossed.  We both felt SO weird.  I cannot tell you how it felt to know we were really about to start the journey to our new home.  Several people have asked me after the packers took our things if it felt real or after we drove away from our home if it felt real.  It did not feel real until that moment.  

Here is the little road on the way to the border.  I am loving all the tree lined roads!

It took us a little under 2 hours to get to the Canadian border and we were there for about 45 minutes.  Tim was told at his base that all he needed to get through the Canadian border patrol were his orders and his ID.  Well, that was not the case.  Thankfully we had his birth certificate and his expired passport with us.  The boys and I all had special passports to cross.  Some of the ammo we had in the car had to be surrendered because hollow point is illegal in Canada.  But other than that, it was a pretty smooth crossing.

 Once we crossed and got out of the first little town, we were blown away by the beauty of all that was around us.  We saw numerous waterfalls.  I think I squealed every time I saw one!  Absolutely breathtaking.  All the little white lines you see in these pictures are waterfalls.  The mountains were gorgeous.  So majestic.

 These pictures don't even begin to do it justice.  Like I said, it was raining and these are just pictures from our phones.

 The fog was crazy once we got to the top of the mountain.  We really couldn't see very far in front of us and I could only see slight darkness where the trees were.

 Naptime.  The best time.

 This is when we first drove into Kamloops.

 Apparently Kamloops is the "Tournament Capital of Canada".  Whatever that means!

 Once we got settled into our hotel, we got out and walked around for a bit then found a place to eat.  It was so nice to get into town around 4 instead of around 7.  The boys had just woken up from their naps and were happy to be out and doing things.

 The boys' meal came in a pirate ship.  Really cool and probably the main reason that Robby ate well!

 When we got back to the hotel, we took the boys swimming.  Well, Tim did.  I forgot a crucial part of my swimsuit...the bottom...so I just put my feet in the water and hung out with Robby near the stairs since once around the pool with daddy was enough for him.  Charlie is our little fearless fish though!  He loved every minute of it!

 The pool was heated but once the boys started shivering profusely, we decided to move them over to the hot tub!

Tomorrow is a really long day, but we are looking forward to more of this beautiful country!  In case you follow either of us on facebook or instagram, we don't have an international plan on our phones so we are only updating when we have wifi.  We are hoping to find a starbucks about midway so we can touch base with our families, then again when we get to the hotel.

Days 7-9 of the Great Adventure: Fun in Seattle

Due to inability to find any hotels available in Oregon because of graduation weekend, we decided to go all the way to Tim's brother and sister-in-law's house in a long 12 hour day.  Willy and Darlene live in Issaquah, just outside of Seattle.  They hadn't met Charlie yet and hadn't seen Robby since October.  We were so glad to get there and relax for 3 days!  Ethan and Lizzie loved playing with the boys and were so good with them!  Their house is on an acre of mountainside that is backed up to a national forest.  It was such a beautiful place to rest and relax.  The boys loved playing outside and exploring.

They have a rhodesian ridgeback named Ty.  When he and Annie were near each other he just looked like an xxl version of her!

And here are way more pictures of them playing outside than anyone wants to see!  :-)

 Having a stick sword fight with Ethan!

 Riding your bike while holding your trains is really hard!

 Charlie loved collecting and playing with all the sticks!

 Sweet train loving boy!

 Ethan and Charlie had quite a few stick wars!

Finally handing the trains over to Lizzie's bike basket.

 Trying on daddy's hat for size!

I was so proud of Robby for riding his bike down their driveway.  It was kind of steep and he just laughed the whole way down! 

 "Jumpy jumpy jumpy!"

There's no doubt about it, Daddy is Charlie's favorite!

Ethan and Lizzie's last day of school was Tuesday, so we waited for them to get off the school bus!

Isn't their bus stop so adorable?!

Some playtime after baths!

They have two birds.  Annie tried to attack them the entire time and Charlie loved them!  Here he is feeding one.

Willy and Darlene insisted we take a date night while we were there.  Well, insisted might not be the right word.  They just mentioned the idea and we jumped on it!  We were ready for a break!  Willy told Tim we needed to go see the waterfall in Snoqualmie.  It was beautiful!

 After that we had dinner at Ivar's Salmon House.  No lie, that was the best meal I have ever had in my life!  I love seafood and it was incredible!  If you are ever in Seattle, you must go there!

 

The last day we were there, we needed to run some errands, but first, a stop at Top Pot for donuts!

We needed to go to Ikea for more train tracks, among other things.  Robby loved the little carts and Ethan did a great job keeping an eye on him!

Charlie was so interested in the washing machine.  Willy decided to put him to work and he loved it!

Here is there backyard.  It truly is beautiful!

 The morning we left, the boys raided the pretzels in the snack cabinet!

 We tried to get a good picture of the cousins together right before we headed out.  This is what I got instead...

 We had such a wonderful time!  Thank you, Willy and Darlene, for having us!