Go West!

Vacation Part 1:
BUXTON FAMILY in No. Cal

I'm on the tail end of my 9-day vacation so I thought it was high time to blog about all the fun I've been having. I'm on a fabulous vacation out West ... enjoying beautiful Fall weather with fantastic friends. I spent the first half of the vacation at the Buxtons' new home in Northern California.

Before you get any further on this post, I must warn you that I went collage CRAZY so that I would be able to display as many pictures as possible ... because I've taken a TON.

Collage #1: Apple Hill

On my first full day with the Buxtons we went to Apple Hill and enjoyed the pumpkin patches, apple orchards and farmer's markets.

A couple days later we drove up to Lake Tahoe. It was amazingly beautiful.

One of our favorite parts of the Tahoe trip was hiking down to Vikingsholm in Emerald Bay in South Lake Tahoe.
We had such a great time. I was also happy to get to watch the girls in some of their extra-curricular activities.

Rachel had her last cross-country meet and she finished with her best time yet! I also got to watch Aubrey's horseback riding lesson.

I had such a great time. It's reminding me how much I miss them, but at least I have a fun place to visit!

Thank you Jodie, Wade, Rachel and Aubrey!!!!!

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Vacation Part 2:

ANDERSON FAMILY in WashingtonOn Wednesday, I flew from Sacramento to Seattle to visit the Andersons. Unfortunately, I started to feel sick that morning and by the time I arrived, I had officially reached barfdom. Do you know how horrible it is to be sick when you're a guest in someone else's house?! I felt so horrible!!! I tried to put on a brave face but soon after arrival, I had to prostrate myself on the couch. Shar's kids were so cute and so excited to see me and pretty soon they were like, "Are you tired or something?" And of course, Shar made a delicious dinner and I could only take about two bites of it. I was determined to be healed because we had reservations in Seattle the next morning for a food tour of Pike Place Market. That place is SO COOL!

Here's what we sampled on our Savor Seattle tour:

• Freshly Fried Doughnuts


• Crackers and Spread at the Spice Market


• Two Kinds of Salmon at the Fish Market


• Fruit at the High Stands


• Assorted Chocolates and Cherries


• Clam Chowder


• Cheese on Crackers and Macaroni and Cheese


• Salmon and Meat-Filled Piroshkies


• and Finally ... Coconut Cream Pie

I gotta say - I was doing so good at first ... I was pushing through like a champ. I made it all the way to the chocolates and cherries before my stomach began the churning. I REALLY slowed down at the cheese place - but I was determined to at least taste everything. So, despite the pain, I had a bite of each of the piroshkies and then I was officially done. Here's the one item I couldn't partake of:

After the food tour, I could barely stand I was so nauseous. It was so sad because I'm such a foodie and my normal self would have been in heaven at the Pike Place Market. When we first arrived, I was sure I was going to shop around and buy a ton of stuff. I would have loved to try some of the different foods. But after the tasting tour, I was done with food for the day. I couldn't even handle the smell of it. Poor Shar had to eat lunch alone because I couldn't even look at her food.

Thankfully, I was feeling a little better today so we headed to the Olympia area. "Sparky" and "Squirrel" were in school, but we took "Scuffy" along with us. We went to the farmer's market and had lunch and Scuffy entertained us with some hilarious dance moves.

Afterward, we went to a nearby park and hiked a little. It was very pretty but apparently the bay there is very polluted -- we saw lots of nasty looking dead fish, and the smell could gag a maggot. Ignore that smelly part, and just enjoy the pictures. The views were incredible -- especially because the weather was so uncharacteristically sunny.

Tonight, Shar made some DELICIOUS pizza on the barbecue:

And the kids and I giggled and giggled as they directed me in a hilarious photo shoot. They were giving themselves lots of poses to do. See if you can tell in which pictures they were trying to look sad, mad, sleepy, or cool. There are also some action shots where they pretended to be telling secrets or eating, and some where they acted like cute cats and then mad cats. These kids are very imaginative and charming and they were cracking me up.
Ah ... and now I've been organizing pictures and blogging for hours so I must go and enjoy the rest of my vacation!