Sunday, September 7, 2008

Gouda, Blackberries, Grammy, Grampy, Anacortes, and We

[more details later]




We all went to Anacortes, Washington last week to be with Daddy's parents, Grammy and Grampy. Our original plan, plan A, call it an audacious one, involved a week of camping by canoe. Plan B was to have a couple short canoe camping trips with camping in the wilderness. We ended up with plan Q, basically canoeing lakes and bays in Anacortes, eating yummy cheese, playing Vietnamese Boat, and taking it easy. Here's the typical voluminous volume of photos.

On the first day we explored Hart Lake by canoe. Little and Littler had never been canoeing, so we took it easy. Little had quite a bit of fun, but Littler didn't like her straightjacket--er, lifejacket.



Little loved the job of making sure the canoe didn't float off while we were getting ready. She also loved her lifejacket, and especially the "tail" it has [the strap that goes between her legs]. She was actually pretty proud of her tail.







Little had a lot of fun paddling.









Mommy caught a big one.





Littler is proud that she figured out how to sit up with her lifejacket on, and Grampy is just plain proud.








We picked somewhere between 896 and 934 quadrillion tons of blackberries, but only about 10 pounds made it home. How could that have happened?





We visited a little dairy and got some yummy gouda for fondue. They had a big daddy pig. Mommy had never seen such a big daddy pig. So Mommy wanted a picture of the pig. Daddy, blase and cool as he is, wasn't terribly impressed but worked the pig into the background of a much more attractive photograph.





Ok, so the pig was pretty big.











Our next canoe trip was on Whistle Lake. This was a much more secluded lake, and our explorations were top-notch. There are just lots of things you can't see from the shore! The weather was perfect [cold, drippy, damp] and the lake was completely idyllic. We spent most of the time drifting over submerged logs and navigating narrow gaps discovering lots of beautiful little inlets. Overall, it was a blast [the 1-mile portage was another issue].











We also all went canoeing in the ocean, at Bowman Bay, along with Mommy's sister Tick. It was fun, but Daddy doesn't think canoes and the ocean are great fits.







We went to the coast for sunset later and enjoyed the lighting.







Littler and Grampy.



Grammy and Grampy.


































Our last canoe trip was in Little Cranberry lake. It was at dusk, and beautiful. The kids were not too happy but it was gorgeous.






Grammy and Grampy's house.



Getting the wiggles out.



A portrait of Grampy's brain.



We set the all-time single-day Transportation Diversity All-Universe Record by taking car, ferry, bus, plane, golf cart, train, foot power, and bikes to get home. And it was hot when we got home, so:



5 comments:

Unknown said...

These are amazing. The combination of beautiful washington and your talents in photography ...WOW. Will you take our family photo christmas card pic this year? PS- Thanks for having us over. We need to hang out more.

Martie said...

You have received an award on my site! Come and see it!

Martie

brittney said...

wow, beautiful pictures. What else can i say? oh, I'm mad you didn't come visit while we were both in WA. but besides that.... beautiful pictures!

Peg Lewis said...

Beautiful grandchildren! Need more of the photographer, who seems to be anonymous here.

Your daughters are certainly going to grow up rather outdoorsy. Which I think is the best way! They can even feed themselves, provide their own transportation, and charm all else they need from the surrounding grandparents.

Lucky grandparents. I bet they miss them when they're gone...

Elizabeth said...

Thanks for sharing-- I love how happy you guys obviously are :)

Sometimes Little reminds me of Drew and Littler of Sunny... funny, huh?

When ARE we ever going to get to see you again?