Paul’s sister, Judy and her 2 boys, David & Ethan came to spend the week with us and we are having a great time.  We spent last summer with them in Old Forge, NY so it is fun to have them here and show them all the stuff we are enjoying this summer.  We had to take them to all the regular places, crabbing, lighthouse, beach, fish & chips and a few places we haven’t been yet.  They arrived on Monday and after the long drive home from SeaTac we spent the evening roasting marshmallows and laughing around the fire and then on Tuesday the fun began!  First was crabbing, then the beach and back to camp to swim!  The boys had a great time on the docks even though we didn’t capture any “keepers”!

After two days of crabbing and no luck, Paul tried to purchase a couple so that we could cook them and show the boys how to clean and then enjoy the feast but the price has doubled here and for $15 each we decided hot dogs & beans would be a fine dinner!

Wednesday we took a drive north into the Olympia National Park to get to Ruby Beach and see some tidepools.  What a beautiful day and the beach was just perfect.  We arrived at Ruby Beach just as the tide was coming in so we got to see lots of tidepool activity and lots of waves crashing!  One of my favorite things- just sitting there and watching as the waves crash into the rocks.

David really took to the adventure of chasing the waves and enjoying the splashing as the waves head for shore.  He even got a taste of the ocean as one wave was quicker than he and soaked his shirt & shorts, a small scrape on the knee as he tried to escape but all was well and he waited for the next wave!

Thats my favorite photo of the day!  They were all enjoying the beach and really didn’t want to turn around for another photo, but they did and it was a really good one!  After an hour of playing on the beach another beachcomber told us that a beach down a ways would have better tidepools so we loaded up and headed to Beach 4.  I guess they run out of names?  It was a great beach with even more rocks off shore for exploring however the tide was coming in quickly and we were not able to really get out to the pools.

Heading south from the beach we stopped in Ocean Shores to show the boys the drive on beach and the Go-Karts!

Dinner of fish & chips and the long ride to get back to camp!

Thursday we headed into Aberdeen so that David could do a little shopping.  He happened to see the Star Wars store and was sure they would have some great deals to add to his collection!  This place is not much bigger than my RV and is stuffed with everything Star Wars!  David was in heaven and found himself a couple of guys to take home.  Paul, Judy and I amused ourselves with laughing at the store owner and enjoying his stories.  He opened the place years ago when his boys were teenagers and it was suppose to be a hobby for him and the boys and it has just grown!  This guy was so funny.  He showed us a tatoo of one of the characters he has on his arm that he had her give him an autograph which he took to a tatoo artist and had the signature tatooed below it!  Crazy.

In Aberdeen they have lots of street art along the sidewalks.  This was Pauls favorite!  A TV.  They have metal statues of all sorts, fish, sporting activites, animals and Paul chooses the TV!!!

More campfires and smores and of course kite flying.  We chose Friday to enjoy the beach here in Westport and fly our kites.  It was so windy I wasn’t sure we would be able to keep the kites in the air.  The boys had a blast flying and chasing my green monster kite while Paul gave direction to Judy in two string kite flying.

Saturday we headed to Seattle to show the boys the big city and the Space Needle.    To make things a bit interesting and not just a hour car ride we took the ferry from Bremerton to Seattle.  A great diversion and the views of the city are beautiful as you approach.

Since it was Labor Day weekend the city was crazy.  We took them to our favorite spot to see the Space Needle and get the tourist photos before skipping the craziness and heading south to the Museum of Flight which Boeing has done a great job of putting planes from the beginning into this museum.

 

You could spend hours here, we did!  Paul could have spent days.  They have buildings for WWI, WWII, Space Exploration, Air Force One and then my favorite was the building of Glass that had Planes everywhere you looked.

This was an amazing museum even for someone like me who knows very little about airplanes other than they take me where I want to go in a really short amount of time.  I really enjoyed this museum and would consider going again.

After the museum we headed to dinner and then to our hotel.  We spent the night near the airport so that Judy and the boys could catch their flight at 6:50 am to New York.  Speaking of flying to get yourself somewhere quick, that isn’t how it always happens!  Judy flight left Seattle on time and was due to arrive in Newark NJ for their 1 hour layover to catch a shuttle to Syracuse where Fred (the dad & husband would be waiting to take them on their 2 hour car ride home!  Before they reached Newark their plane was delayed and had to stop in Pittsburg, PA and wait while our President was in New York City accessing the damage from the recent storm that hit the area from the hurricane.  All air space in New York City was shut down, by the time they arrived in Newark, their shuttle had been canceled and the next flight was 3 hours away.   Judy took the easy way out!  She didn’t stand in line with the mobs waiting to see how the airlines might help them get back into the air, she boarded the train and headed to NYC where she took another train to upstate NY, spent the night with relatives and was driven halfway home where Fred met them the following day.  They arrived home on Monday about 8 pm!   Still faster than driving but…….

A great week!

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