Spring Break Camping at Grayland Beach

We decided it was time to head to the ocean for a camping trip. We hadn’t been to the Washington Coast since Ashley was a baby, and thought Spring Break would give us the perfect opportunity. We went to Grayland Beach, which is between Long Beach and Ocean Shores.

It was really pretty there. I just loved the big flat open beach. It was cold and windy, but the scenery was worth it! Plus, it was sunny most of the week, so we managed to get warm when we were out of the wind.

We had some nice walks together as a family and Buddy had a blast! The girls had fun exploring the campground playing “Campground Hunters” (instead of House Hunters, the show on HGTV). They also enjoyed the tall grasses between our campsite and the beach. They played hide-and-seek there a lot.

We really had a chance to relax and spend good time together as a family once again. There was no cell service or wireless at all, either, so no one could even text, get on the computer or anything else electronic in nature.

Oh, how I love our family camping trips! I hope the girls will always have great memories of these times!

Can’t wait to go back to Grayland Beach!! :)

Easter 2010

The girls look forward to our annual traditions for every holiday. Easter is of course one of the holidays that we love to celebrate! The girls really understand and enjoy talking about Jesus’ resurrection and His defeat of sin and death so that we can live, by His grace, forever.

To celebrate Easter, like many people we dye eggs as a tradition. We also are regularly invited to the Ducoing’s for an Easter brunch and egg hunt for all the kids.

The weather cooperated this year and the kids had a great time finding all the eggs. Tami hosted a really nice brunch as usual. It was a great Easter!

Future Bake Shop Owners?

Ashley and her friend Madi have been dreaming for quite some time now about owning a Bakery some day. They both love to bake and enjoy finding recipes together to test some of their future menu items.

One particular day I was feeling like it would be fun to let them choose a few recipes, make a shopping list and then go to the store and buy everything they needed. Once home again I would let them take over the kitchen while I supervised from a distance. I was thinking it would be a nice way to go over all that is involved in the process.

I think I may have supervised from a little too far of a distance, because after we got back from the store and they started making things, we realized quickly that they had forgotten some items and not bought enough of others. I also didn’t realize until that point how many recipes they had each chosen.

But, hey, we decided we could turn it into more of a lesson on resourcefulness than anything else. I sent them off to the neighbors to try and come up with all they were short by. By the end of their time together that day, they successfully completed two recipes and had started on two others. Madi came back a few days later a they finished it all up.

I have to say I’m impressed with their drive. I’m thinking they just might do it – open a bakery together some day. If they do, I will be one of their best customers for sure!

Kurt’s Birthday

We kept things simple for Kurt’s birthday this year. We just stayed in for a dinner together as family. Lauren played some tether-ball with him while I grilled up some steak fajitas for him. Rather than cake, he asked for Mrs. Smith’s Apple Pie… a-la-mode.