Grandma and Grandpa

One of the perks of Steve's job is the flexibility of summer vacation or really any time off.  He didn't teach this summer and will always have at least one semester off.  We took advantage of our new found freedom and went up to see Grandma and Grandpa Luke in Washington.  I was a little concerned how the kids would do, namely Elsa, but they were all champs and we had a good trip up and down.  On the way up, we were cautious and took two days for an 11 hour trip and on the way back we just drove as long as the kids were cooperating.  Thankfully we had no issues making it back in one day.

Oh to have willing adults to read to you whenever you wanted!  Grandpa introduced Rowan to some funny new books and Nadia took advantage of the Berenstein Bear books that Grandma has.

The way to Elsa's heart- ice cream.  It was so nice to see Elsa bond more with her grandparents.  She really took to both of them and they rewarded her sweetness with sweets.

One day we went to their local country store, which is quite possibly the most amazing country shop I have ever seen.  They had samples galore, delicious food, aisles of candy, and just about every variation of popcorn known to man.  Steve and I ate Rainer cherries to no end.  It was really incredible.  If I had the capital, know how and the connections, I would love to own a store like it.  There's no question it would be successful just about anywhere.

Fudge

 Elsa found her treat to take home.  See what I mean about the sweets?  How could you say no to that face?

 Salsa bar.  Rowan accidentally sampled a "hot" selection.  Poor kid.

 All the samples of their fruit butters.  I guess Rowan recovered from his salsa experience quickly.

 Ice cream heaven!  It's really not good for me to be going through these pictures.  I'm getting hungry.

 Elsa wasn't the only one to score a massive lollipop. 

 The next day, we feasted on fresh salsa, those delicious cherries, cherry apple cider and Doritos.  I'm going to miss summer produce!

Another day, the kids cajoled Grandpa into taking them fishing.  A nice spot happened to be right next to this awesome playground and splash pad.

 Getting a good fishing spot in the shade with no geese poop was harder than you'd think.  We didn't catch anything that day, but it was a nice outing regardless.

Nadia with her Barbie pole.  Love it.

Elsa is scared of "bad ants" which entails every bug known to man.  Also, she told me yesterday she's scared of violins.  We'll have to stay on the look out for those.

 Elsa apparently would rather be spear fishing.

Oh yeah, I was there too.  :)

I think we had ice cream almost everyday we were there.  It was really hard on the kids.

Most of these pictures center around food.  That's how you know we were on vacation I guess.  We went to a buffet before going to visit Grandpa Judd at his rest home.  For some reason, I didn't get any pictures while we were there.

 We did have fun taking a spin on his old wheels though.

This will be Grandpa Luke in 20 years.  Grandkids will still be crawling all over him.

It was so nice to go and relax up in Washington for a week.  We had a blast checking out the new scenery and even enjoyed a night out at a fancy restaurant with Steve's parents and no kids.  Many thanks to our lovely hosts!  It's hard to believe we will have 4 kids the next time we go up there.