Things I can cross off our bucket list.

• Go camping
• Visit Pullman.  Share memories of how Peter and I met with the girls.

Last Friday was Peter and my 10th wedding anniversary.  It's crazy to think that we've been married a decade already!  10 years?!?!?! Really????  Although at the same time, it seems like it's been forever and much longer than 10 years.  We celebrated by driving over to Pullman and went camping for a week.  We went so we could share our story with the girls (Natalie was really little last time we went and Alexis has never been). We had a blast reminiscing through our old stomping grounds of where Peter and I fell in love!  We took the girls to all of our favorite spots and told stories of our life before them.  We ate out at Rancho Viejo where we had our first date, and laughed at how horrible I was and how it's surprising that Peter even wanted another date after that fiasco.  We took them around campus and shared many stories of classes that we had, and experiences we experienced.  Natalie was much more interested in the stories than Alexis was, but I think they both enjoyed themselves as much as Peter and I! =)

Enjoy some pictures -

On our drive over, we're almost there.  Natalie is cracking up because Alexis, just had to sneak herself into the picture with her.  Little Stinker!

One of the first things we did when we got there (it was over 95 degrees) was go to Ferdinand's, WSU's creamery where they make cheese and ice cream, (and I'm sure much more than that!).  I forgot how YUMMY Ferdinand's icre cream is!  So delicious!!!

After Ferdinand's we went to find our campsite and set up.

Making smores!  This was not a diet friendly trip....

We had a scary moment with Alexis during the roasting of the marshmallows.  She was walking towards the camp fire and tripped and about fell, face first, into the fire. I was sitting right next to her and saw her falling, but from the angle I was, there was no way I was going to be able to catch her enough to prevent her from falling, but I was able to push her to the side, away from the fire, and she fell that way instead.  Talk about a heart stopping few seconds as she's falling towards the fire!  Thank goodness I was there!!!  After that, Peter decided to help her more with roasting her marshmallows.  They're so cute! =)

The girls in their tent.

The next day, we all walked around campus.  It's amazing how many memories that brought up.  Well, not really, since that was the whole point of the trip, but some of the memories that came up surprised me.  Things I haven't thought about in years.  Like the time I found $50 dollars in the library and got the call, 30 days later, that no one had come to claim it so I got to keep it.

Looking out over campus on the library
roof.

Looking down into the library
foyer.

Peter and the girls doing some science experiments with magnets.

The next few are what happens when the kids are bored while Mom and Dad are setting up camp and they find the camera.

Natalie is going to LOVE this picture when she's 16... don't ya think?

On our way home, we stopped at Deception Falls in Steven's Pass.  It was a raging, roaring HUGE waterfall.  The bridge was grated and the falls were raging down toward the bridge.  It seriously looked and felt like the water would come roaring over the bridge any moment and take it and anyone on the bridge out.

The sunglasses are hiding my eyes, but maybe you can tell by my strained smile, I was terrified of being on that bridge.  If you know me, I don't like walking on grated things; sewer drains, man holes, anything that you can see/drop things through.  I will go out of my way to walk around them!  Strange, maybe, but true.  So this grated bridge with the water raging towards us was a bit uncomfortable.  But I'm glad I did it anyway because the view was spectacular!

And in case you ever wondered "Did Stephanie and Peter really graduate?"  Here's the proof... we found our names in the WSU Alumni book. =)

Bucket List Russian Roulette

So today I had our first weekly hike planned and was excited to see that it wasn't raining this morning.  So I get everyone packed up, loaded in the car, and drive to our first hiking adventure destination and it starts pouring.... bummer!

We were already in town, so I thought I'd do something to cross off another thing on our bucket list instead.  We went bowling.  There is an old bowling lanes in Sedro Woolley that has been closed down for years.  It has  been recently purchased, revamped and it has reopened.  I thought it would be fun to bring the girls there.  Nobody enjoyed it (which is surprising because we all LOVE bowling).  The girls were so whiny, argumentative and complained the entire time.  Remember how I said it was an old bowling alley?  While they fixed the floors and mechanical stuff, they kept it older; the ball returns were the older style not the fancy newer kind you see in alleys today, we had to keep our own scores because there were no computers to do it, but the biggest thing is that there were no bumpers.  The girls are used to bowling with bumpers and therefore they got a lot of gutter balls.  But instead of playing to have fun, all they could focus on was that they weren't doing very good and whined and complained a lot. =(  I was ready to scream by the time our game was over and I couldn't get out of there fast enough...  Since it was such a disastrous outing of bowling, I'm not going to cross that off of our bucket list, but I will add and cross off...

• Not kill children when they're being exceptionally whiny, argumentative and complaining!!!

=)

We Went to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo!

I've had that Raffi song stuck in my head for a week now.  That's how long Natalie's has been super excited about going to the zoo for her field trip this year.  Anyway, I'm able to cross off the first thing off our bucket list and Natalie wasn't even off of school yet.... =)

• Go to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle

Wednesday, we went to the zoo with Natalie's class.  The original plan was I was just going to be able to go with her as her chaperon, but Peter managed to have to take a day off this week, so he brought Alexis separately, and we all got to go!  We had a lot of fun!!  We've been to the Portland Zoo many times, but this was our first time to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle.  It's a nice zoo, and very different than the Portland Zoo. They had some animals that the Portland Zoo doesn't have and didn't have some of the animals the Portland Zoo does have.  So each zoo is a different experience in itself.  That is very cool.  The girls had a great time!

 

 

I've also added two more things to my summer bucket list.

• Get Natalie's skating medals engraved... Finally...
• Get a frame box (or something) to display the girls' skating pins

Our Summer Bucket List

One of my friends and her daughter are doing a summer bucket list.  I thought that this was a great idea!  So here is our bucket list.

• Lose 10-15 lbs.
• Go camping
• Have a Disney movie marathon
• Go for a hike once a week... that's only 11 hikes
• Visit Pullman.  Share memories of how Peter and I met with the girls.
• Join the Sedro Woolley Library
• Mani/Pedi day with the girls
• Clean my room
• Clean and organize the girls room (again)... including dressers
• Get Alexis out of Pull Ups at night
• Learn Spanish
• Make a kite and go to the beach to fly it
• Go to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle
• Picnic at the park
• Sign up for some community service with the girls
• Have many water fights!
• Have a watermelon eating contest
• Lay in the grass and find cloud pictures
• Go putt putt golfing
• Go bowling
• Have the girls make self portraits on large butcher paper
• Give the girls a camera, and let them take photographs of things that inspire them outside
• Sew curtains for the living room, dining room, and the girls' room
• Zip Lining with Peter
• Get Natalie's Skating medals engraved... Finally...
• Get a frame box (or something) to display the girls' skating pins

Some are just for me, and others are things I plan to enjoy with the girls.  I plan to come back here and cross off items as we do them, and probably add things as well, so keep checking back.