San Juan trip part 3

San Juan Island was probably Ryan and my favorite part of the trip. I guess I really like my camera because I sure took a lot of pictures and I only included a few here on the blog. :/ Yes, I know it is a lot. I just think that my camera takes such beautiful pictures... I have to share. 

We didn't bring a stroller along on the trip... Zola just spent a lot of time in this carrier. She came on our morning walk. Here we are in front of False Bay on San Juan. It was a gorgeous clear day and you can see the Olympic mountains in the background. 

Here are some deer laying at this pond just up the road from our cabin. We saw many deer during the 4 days- Along with a lot of other animals.

 Here is our cabin. It was quite rustic but very functional and fun.

 We all took turns making a meal and doing dishes. It was just so fun to all be together in one cabin.

Dennis was glued to Kristen. He adores her. And, Kristen was so good with him. He would constantly be looking for Kristen, "Kristen, where are you?" or "Kristen, come in here!" And to top it off, Dennis got to share a bed with Kristen. His dreams came true. In fact the motivator to get him to bed during the trip was that Kristen would be joining him later if he went to bed. And, the first night I checked on them in the middle of the night and moved Dennis (aka bed hog) onto his side of the bed. He woke up with huge eyes and said, "It's Kristen!" I told him that she was sleeping- so he closed his eyes again and was fast asleep. 

As they were preparing for bed. Dennis wanted Kristen to read the books to him. They had to compromise and have Nonnie read while he sat on Kristen's lap. 

We had a visitor raccoon. He lived under the cabin. The owners said that the raccoon is the preferred guest over the R-O-U-S (rodents of unusual size) also known as sea otters.

Without any toys along, Dennis got to play hid and seek and warmer, colder. You might think that Dennis is counting here, but really he is hiding under the coffee table. :) We can't see him when his eyes are covered.

Believe it or not, the island of San Juan has a beautiful little church and a great branch. After church we went outside to take family pictures... and this is the only family that took one. Camille and Buzz. Cute.

Buzz taught Dennis some basics of Frisbee throwing.

My job was to keep Zola warm. The weather never got above 72 F. Most of the time it was low 60s. I loved it, but it wasn't ideal for a baby.

 Thomas took a turn keeping Zola warm. I think he was successful. We will be sending these photos to his girlfriend.

Conveniently, there was this carousel just in front of our cabin. They got it going pretty fast. I was impressed with my picture taking skills on the second one.

And as we were hanging out Sunday afternoon, we saw tons of Orcas (Killer Whales). I even got to see one jump up into the air through our binoculars.

The walk up the hill to our cabin.

We spent a lot of time looking for whales the rest of the trip but never got the chance. We feel pretty fortunate to have gotten such a show on that first day.

We got bike rentals.

Hang loose. The troop biked 26 miles of some major hills. I enjoyed probably 2 miles. I opted to drive Zola in the car. It was too hilly for my out of shape bod.

There were these tide pools everywhere where we could find crabs and sea en-enemy.
 

Dennis mustered up all of his courage to hold a hermit crab. 

Another super cute pic of Camille with Zola. How did I get so many good ones of those two?

We (they) biked to this cool light house where they keep track of all of the killer whales. The water was so crystal clear.

Also during the bike ride, we saw 5 bald eagles fighting over a corpse. So awesome. There were several huge hawks nearby too. It is amazing how big these birds are. 

Everyone was exhausted at the end... even me. :)

We also took a hike. Dennis was the leader and his stick would tell him where to go.

There was a lake up in the huge hill or small mountain.

my cute boys.

At the top of the hike we had the most beautiful view. It was so peaceful up there. You could see all the other little islands and while we were standing there a bald eagle flew so gracefully right in front of us. That was the closest I have ever been to an eagle. I was probably only 20 feet out or so.

And just for fun... this is what happens when you play in the dirt.

... even more to come.

Our list of animals that we saw were:
-crabs
-raccoons
-fish
-dolphin/porpoise
-slug
-caterpillar
-bald eagles
-hawks
-deer
-orcas
-sea en enemy
-submarine :)
-sea lions
-hermit crab
-humming bird
-muscles

4.5 month check up with an update

Our sweet Zola went to the doctor today to have her 4 month check up at 4.5 months. She got 4 shots and a sticky drink. She was super happy for about 3 hours and then it kicked in. She was so sad. She cried harder than I have ever seen her cry and nothing would stop her- not even nursing. She is asleep now... with heavy sniffs every third breath. 

 She is growing very nicely. Her stats are- Height: 24.5 in/ Weight: 13 lbs 12 oz/ Head: 42 cm
She is in the 30% for both height and weight. We are super proud of her for that.

 Check out the super duper big brother. He is starting to have quiet time everyday. He can rest on his bed or read books during this time... it is very hard for him. I know he probably should get a haircut but it is so cute when it curls like this.

Some things that Dennis says:

While driving home from Minnesota he wanted ice and he asked over and over again for ice and the answer was no. D: "When somebody says they want ice, somebody gets them ice!"

Eloise said while playing at our house: "We are making a garden so these strawberries can get some exercise."

While eating food we often talk about what the food contains and how it can help our bodies.
D: holding a big piece of ground beef, "this has chicken in it because it has protein.
During a different meal-
D: What does milk have in it?
M: Vitamin D
D: Milk... milk.... milk.... no it doesn't. Milk doesn't have a D in it.

Zola continues to roll over from front to back but I cannot seem to capture it on film. She is a very happy girl who is quite sensitive. She will cry if she catches her arm on something... or anything of equivalent discomfort that can't be categorized as pain. She loves people and is very happy watching people and even happier talking to them. She doesn't like to be left alone. She loves her brother and watches him intently. She has found her toes. She loves to sit in the walker and watch us. She is an excellent sleeper. She rarely wakes up at night.

San Juan trip part 2

We found some fun things to do while we waited for Nonnie, Papa, and gang to get to Seattle. 

We drove to Anacortes, WA to catch a ferry to San Juan. Dennis and Nonnie watched all the cars load onto the ferry. This was by far one of Dennis' favorite things about the trip.

We watched a couple of ferries while we waited for ours. We also went down by the water and found some crabs. Dennis' shoes got dirty through his crocks.

Kristen has no fear when touching wild things...

the boat ride was pretty fun.

Zola got to meet everyone! She loved everyone and everyone loved her. 

It was so beautiful!!! There were so many little islands.

Thomas. need I say more?

Dennis was running on the boat and scraped his face up pretty good. Pictures don't really do it justice. This was his tough face posing for the camera. bubbles? tough? who would have thought.

Our ferry made a stop at Lopez Island on our way to San Juan.

... more to come... time is limited around here.

San Juan trip part 1

We took a flight to Seattle. It was Zola's first airplane ride. Both Dennis and Zola did great on the plane. There were a lot of kids on this flight and we realized how good ours are. 

 We stayed at my dad's cousin's house. David and Delores were so nice to let us stay with them. We were really inspired by their home. It was very light- it had plants everywhere and there were a lot of books and art.

 Delores was so great with Dennis. From the moment we got there until the moment we left she was 100% into him. In the morning when we woke up, Dennis came out and said, "where is she?". Delores was definitely one of the best parts of the trip.

Their awesome house also includes this little sauna. The Finnish tradition is still alive in the city of Seattle.  We will have to build one in our backyard someday. The inside had a closet with a mini fridge, a dressing area with two chairs and then the steam room with a little stove that can take steam on the rocks and an elevated bench to sit on.

Dennis must have felt comfortable because in the morning at breakfast he said, "after a lot of days, Jesus died on the cross." Delores then showed him the cross on her necklace. So random and perfect. 

We loved staying with them and look forward to spending the night next time we happen to pass through Seattle. 

happy zola

I took this video because we were cleaning windows all day and Zola was just sitting in her chair watching us and talking away... She is such a talkative baby... I love it. 

*Many of you get my posts as emails. If you do, you will not see this video without going to the actual blog. ryanrita.blogspot.com
*Let me know if I am wrong. :)

some of the best

Good friends are hard to come by. The kind of friend that you feel totally comfortable coming over to your messy house, when you feel comfortable around when there isn't anything to say, a friend that you can stop by without calling first. When friends like this come around, they never leave your life even when they live across the country. Not having any sisters, I consider these girlfriends my sisters and are dear to my heart. I am so fortunate to have lots of these. One of them is Ann. She moved last year but when we got together on memorial day weekend, it was like she never left. I kept asking, "I didn't tell you about that?" Cause I feel like she is still apart of my life. I love her big bear hugs that remind me of home.  Remember- Home is where the heart is... I guess she is apart of my home. 

 Dennis is so good with Zola. Here was his first time wanting to hold Zola. He asked me first if he could hold her and I just said yes and watched what happened. He scooted in close and wedged his hands under her. I love it.