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