San Juan Island

Jr, Charisse, Isaac, me, Emily & Tony..On our way to Friday Harbor


Mt. Baker


Uncle Jr. w/the kids


Another cool shot of Mt. Baker


Angela (Lola) with Isaac


Emily on the ferry


Isaac trying to figure out where we are at!


MORE picture's that I have to post & of course I have tons more!
Have never been up to San Juan Island and neither had John's family so we ventured out one Fri. morn. Took 2 hours just to drive to the ferry, we were going to walk on the ferry but, missed it by a few minutes so then we had to wait about an hour for the next one. Once we got on it was a beautiful, sunny ride around the islands. The kids loved being on such a big boat and we were hoping to catch a glympse of a whale but, that didn't happen.
Got to Friday Harbor about an hour & a half later and went to get dinner, the kids were pretty tired by the time we were done since we didn't get their until 6:30 pm. And then we find out the next & LAST ferry was not until 10 pm. The kids just hung outside until it got dark and then went back to the van to watch a movie. THANK GOD for the DVD player!!
Once we were back on board the ferry, we headed home & thought that we would just chill for the next 2 hours. NO! The kids wanted to play & run all around the ferry til we were just docking in Anacortes at around midnight. Jumped back in the van and it was totally dead! So, of course the people on the ferry are prepared for such an incident. Get the van back in order & finally on our way back down to Tacoma for another 2 hour trip.
It was such a beautiful day and I'm glad that we got to take the kids & family up there to see the sights of our beautiful Washington state!

Seattle's Experience Music Project

John, Emily & Isaac in front of the "Tower of Instruments"

John & I

Well...it's been awhile since I have been on here and I guess I need to update this! Has been a busy summer with the kids!

We went to Seattle's EMP while John's brother & girlfriend were in town the end of August. It was so much fun an the kids had quite a time playing in the instrument & vocal rooms. Isaac got on the drums with Daddy and Emily & I tried out the keyboards. While Uncle Jr. & Charisse were singing their hearts out! John & I tried singing too but, the song choices were not so great, John picked "Teen Spirit" Yeah right!!

Then John, Jr. & myself went into the "Demo" Room where you can actually play & lipsync to a song of your choice. You have your own stage with a keyboard, drums and a guitar also an audience cheering you on to make it even more fun! Lights, Camera, ACTION!! I think the song we picked to play was, "I Love Rock-n-Roll!" The name of our band was the "Blado's" somthing that John thought up all by himself!! It was hilarious! About half way through the song they let us know when to pose for a pic that we could get when we were done! OH it was so much fun!!

GONE...Crabbing!

Redoblado family...Gig Harbor




One of John's passions is FISHING! If he were able to do it everyday I know he would but, because of his work schedule that of course is not possible until his day's off. So...this past week we packed up his gear, lunch for the kids and headed down to the Marina in Gig Harbor to try our luck at crabbing.


Emily trying to be "patient"


Isaac pulling on the cages






Hmmm....how many crabs?


Technically two but, they had to throw one back!

Waiting patiently!

It's in the kids blood....John will make sure that he teaches both Emily & Isaac the fun of catching a "fish" or a "crab." Isaac couldn't wait a half an hour or even an hour to pull up the cages so he kept going over to the ropes to tug on them and say "C'mon Crabs!"

N/W Trek

We took the day on Saturday & headed out to N/W Trek so the kids could see some wildlife first hand. I hadn't been out there since I was in 7th grade! WOW..long time ago!!



N/W Trek is 723 acres & has a little bit of everything...lakes, meadows, trails and plenty of animals! It's huge!!

We took the trails when we first got there and Emily kept saying we were in the "jungle" as we were walking along. We saw a Lynx, Cougar, Wolf, 2 Bears & of course they seemed to be all napping when we went to see them. Also saw a Golden Eagel and a glimpse of a Bald Eagle too.

After that we took the tram tour through 435 free roaming acreage to see the animals in their natural habitat.

It was really beautiful and it was a nice opportunity to sit back, relax & enjoy some of our N/W gorgeous scenery & animals.






This Bear was snoozin' away, all curled up in a little ball




A Cougar trying to take a nap



The kids running up the path to another exibit



This is what we saw first on our tram ride..some thirsty Elk!



Pretty Swan posing for me!



Heard of Bison



Emily on the train



There is a Heron in this picture but, it's hard to see
since it blends in with the water.

SUMMER FUN!

Took a few days & went to Ocean Shores Thursday & Friday this past week.

It was very nice to be able to take the time off and enjoy our family time together down at the beach.
John usually works the weekends so, the beaches and hotels were a whole lot less crowded during those days.
Emily & Isaac had a blast being creative and making their own version of a sand castle! Getting buried in the sand and just having fun!
We had no agenda or schedule to go by except for checking into the hotel by 4:00 pm on Thursday.
This will have been the first time for them to really stay away from home somewhere and they did amazingly well. Emily kept saying that this was our new home.

We stayed at a place called the "Gitche Gumee Inn" kind of a weird name for a place but it was really nice for our budget. They had a heated outdoor pool that the kids wanted to swim in later that day and thank God it was heated! The weather was absolutely beautiful but, I don't think it got over 60 degrees.

We played alot at the beach! Also went to an indoor water park down the beach before we left on Friday. They had about 4 slides and alot of water fountains to play in for the little kids. Emily went down one slide w/John but cried the whole way down and didn't ever want to go on it again! The only think I didn't like about it was the floor was really slippery in some spots, Isaac kept slipping alot and so did Emily. Since it was part of the Ramda Inn, the bathrooms were really, really small! Overall it was pretty fun and the kids had a geat time!

I wish we could of stayed a couple of more days down there but, John had to get back to work the next day.

We definetely will be making plans to go back down to another spot on the beach here on our beautiful Washington coast.

Celebrating the 4th...

This 4th of July was pretty laid back, staying away from the crazy crowds & the big fireworks show in Tacoma. We had our own show here at home.
We did go up to VLC in Kent to their community outreach to see our family & friends we hadn't seen in awhile. Plus... lots of good food & games for the kids.

Joel & Dana (my bro & sis-in-law) had a booth to raise money for Gabby's Miracle Foundation. They are just in the beginning stages of getting this going and now also have a website for more info. It's so great that they are able to do this, to bless & minister to other families.





Joanne (John's sister) also came in town from Cali. for a couple of days to spend with us & the kids...as you can see in the pic below Isaac & Emily kept her pretty occupied!

Lots of love,

Tracy

Growing Up!

It seems birthday are here and then they are gone so quick!

Isaac turned 2 on May 16th and we had a "Cars" birthday party for him a couple of weeks ago. He such a smart little boy now, he says alot! If you start pulling out all of his cars he has he will talk your leg off! He is definetely "all boy" loves his trucks, cars, the outdoors. He also really loves music, & playing on Daddy's drums! Also loves to dance, sing, worship & pray!

He is alrighty a mighty little prayer warrior! When you ask him to pray, alot of it is his own language which I can't understand but God certainly can! When he is done he say's "In Jesus Name, Ameeen!"
I'm in absolute wonder of our son as he grows & learns new things each day!

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Onto Miss Emily.... she turned 4, June 2nd.
We had a "Princess Party" for her last Sunday and she was so excited all week she couldn't contain herself. She just loves to dress up in her Princess outfit & say, "I'm the Princess, Mommy!"
The weather here was not good all week and I thought I would have to cancel but we prayed & it turned out really nice that day.
She got all decked out in her special dress, tiara, & all the rest of the bling, bling that goes with her outfit.
Just had a nice relaxing day to BBQ & hang out with Emily's friends & family.

The Redoblado's

~Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God~ Matt. 5:8

Emily's last day of Preschool!

Emily's 1st Year at Preschool, Wow! How time has flown!

Emily started her first year of Preschool this past September and she did amazingly well! I'm so very proud of my daughter! I think it was harder on me to see her get on the bus for her first official day than it was for her. She learned so much...making new friends, learning her numbers & abc's and starting to write her name. Going on field trips to the Pumpkin Patch, seeing a Fire truck & meeting the firemen & women, going to the zoo, & riding on a ferry boat!

Today, they had a special party & graduation for all of the students who are going into Kindegarten. Although she is not going until the year after next she still got a certificate & some goodies from her teachers. It was really exciting to see my daughter complete her 1st year there! You could say I'm a very proud "Momma!"

We prayfully considered putting her in this school, we knew that it would be good for her but at that time I had also considered just homeschooling her. I had such a peace about it that I can't explain because I knew that God would watch out for her everyday. It's such an awesome program & she was truly blessed with very good teacher's and fortunately she gets the same class next year!

Well... I will definetely have more stories & pics to post!
Thanks for stopping by!
Love ya, The Redoblado's