Summer Vacation - Part 2

We typically take at least 2 trips to Washington state every year to visit the Kisebach side of the family. But being out of the country for almost a year, we had to make up for some precious lost time.  We spent 2 full weeks in this beautiful state visiting grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and a few of Kyle's school buddies.

Spokane and Lacey, Washington

With lots of amazing parks and great weather, we spent much of our time in Spokane playing outdoors.  Riverfront Park, located along the Spokane River 

and created for the World Fair in 1974, is a favorite of ours.  Aunt Kelly joined us as we explored the huge park.  First on our list, feed the garbage eating goat.

We discovered the park is bigger than we realized and has many more fun things, like the giant red wagon playground.  The kids climbed the stairs at the rear of the wagon, 

slid down the white handle slide and

swung from the monkey bars underneath the wagon.

Another day at Comstock Park, we found the tallest swing sets we've ever seen.

On these swings, it was easy to go super high and even a bit scary.  

Notice that Grandma Gloria was easily her height and more above the ground (and she wasn't even half as high as she could swing.

For a date, Kyle and I took a nice morning walk along the Spokane River not far from Gonzaga University (see the 2 steeples on the far left).

And trip to Spokane always includes a trip to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho to visit the Bjorkman clan (some of whom escaped before we took the big family picture).

 Lake Coeur d'Alene was pretty cold but Cade still got his feet wet while the other kids enjoyed playing on the beach.

A week on the west side of Washington included a beautiful afternoon at a park on the southern tip of Lake Washington catching up with one of Kyle's high school friends, who he hadn't seen in almost 20 years (boy does that makes us sound old! - and we were so busy talking we forgot to take a picture of the two buddies).

It also meant lots of time with Uncle Gavin, Aunt Nicole, and cousins Alahna and Maria, who are just about a month older than Abby and Leah.

Maria and Leah were inseparable and absolutely adorable together.

As you can see, Alahna and Abby had lots of fun too.
During our visit, we went to a glass museum

and watched professional glass making artists (even the kids were mesmerized by the process).

Most of the amazing artworks were showcased in the ceiling of a bridge connected to the building and what better way to capture the artwork

 than with the camera on the ground.  Fun pictures!

We also went to the Farmer's Market where got these super cute balloon creations.

But, our favorite place was Tolmie State Park along the Puget Sound.  We hiked, found hundreds of caterpillars, skipped rocks, searched for crabs, visited, and enjoyed a nice BBQ picnic.

Nicole showed Cade and Abby how to roast bread sticks (which were a big hit) while the other kids played and did the "cousin dog pile".

We had a fantastic visit!  Here's the whole gang (minus Grandma, who took the picture)

but we got her with all the grandkids - what a happy Grandma! (But, this is the last time she will be the tallest among them - they're catching up to her FAST).

Grandpa wasn't able to make the trip west with us (so Grandma got some special time with the grandkids undistracted by silly Paca) but we returned to Spokane and had a nice Father's Day with him.

Another big highlight of our Washington trip was Abby cutting her hair and donating it to the Locks of Love, an organization that makes wigs for children suffering from hair loss diseases.

Abby was a little nervous but loved being able to help someone in need.  Plus, she loved her new haircut!