Summer Vacation~ In Olympia Washington

Our last destination on our vacation was to visit my parents in Olympia. I can't believe that it was two Summer's ago since we (Freckles & I) were in Washington .... But was great being back and visiting our family. We spent three nights and two full days with my parents just hanging out together and catching up. We talked just about the whole time....It was great seeing them. We walked down to the bay, took family pictures, walked on the dock, spotted some seals, and jelly fish of all sizes, an eagle and deer. The weather was also amazing!

My parents were thrilled to have their Grand daughter close to them. They included her in the conversations and took the time to get to know her better as they too shared many stories with her about themselves when they were younger. Momma took us out shopping and bought Freckles an early birthday gift from Forever 21. After that we hit a couple antique shops and a bookstore, while  finding a stack of books all on clearance! It was a fun afternoon out. While we went out shopping my dad stayed behind to make arrows for me, in which I wanted to paint and hang in my home....He made four in all! Will share soon!!!

We had a delightful few days with them...

Can't wait till they visit us in September!!!

Snohomish...

While visiting my son a few weeks ago, I asked if he would take us to see our old neighborhood. This was one of my favorite places to live while in Washington. It is a quaint, charming little town out in the country, suburbs. One of my favorite things to do was walk downtown, which was right outside my door. This was the first place I started putting my handmade goodes in a shop.

This was our home when my kids were little. Maestro was 6 and Freckles was almost one. This home had charm, built in 1898....I loved it here. Though, Freckles doesn't remember living here, except for pictures and that we had visited our neighbor throughout the years...this little home was where I learned how to can food and bake the best rhubarb, wild blackberry pies.

 

After a year, the house right next door was available for rent....So, we jumped on the opportunity, since it had an extra room downstairs..That room would become our home classroom. This house too, I loved. This is where I started to garden for the first time.

 

This is the backyard. When we moved in, there was nothing but dirt and grass....
It was so nice to see it all grown up and seeing the fruits of our labor that began so many years ago..

    

 

 

It was so nice to see it all again, sharing those memories with my kids.....Priceless.
We also decided to recapture a moment on film taking place in the very same spot, on a bench outside our home. 12 years ago, I had my kids sitting on the bench as Freckles attempted to shove a piece of lavender up her brothers nose. It is one of my favorite pictures. It was fun to recreate that moment.
The result.....Priceless.
Perhaps in another ten years or so, we will go back someday
and take the picture again. That would be.....Priceless.

Together Again...

It has been six months since our boy flew from our nest. For a Mama who wasn't quite ready for the move...It has been very hard to separate. I just don't know where the time went. It was stolen away by time. He was just my little boy not that long ago...and to move hundreds of miles away...broke my heart. He is such a great guy though... I think we did something right with him. He calls regularly or send texts and keeps us updated on his life and to see how we are of course. Our visit with him was short but sweet. Seeing him after all those months was just a delight. I loved seeing how he goes about his independent life. He goes to work with an awesome attitude, he's well loved by his friends and peers/coworkers...He works hard...He goes to church on his own,
 he's trustworthy, outgoing and has a lot of ambition. This Mama is proud.

 

 

For the first couple of days we stayed at some friend's beautiful house from our old church home... Every morning we had breakfast and a beautiful view. Then we spent the remainder of the week with our son and our dearest family friends. It was great just hanging out...visiting. My son had a couple days off during the week which we spent together. Will share more on that later. I was also blessed to spend some time with Jonathan...I call him my second son. It has been fun watching him grow up into a fine young man. He went out of his way to visit and hang out with us...which was so neat. He had breakfast with us one morning, bought us pizza for lunch one afternoon and even had some really nice pictures taken just him and I. Plus more pictures of my kids, us together etc... that I will also share later.

I love these kids....

 

 

It was also a blessing to spend time with my very dearest friend Susan. She has taken my boy under her wing...and in turn adopted my son as her second son. I just love it. She is a wonderful woman. I treasure her friendship and thankful to God for her. Another moment I will treasure
 is just being together again. 

By The Bay...

The last few days were coming to an end with Freckles, Grandparents. They are very active in their little community and have made many friends while they have been enjoying their life in retirement. Their friends had a potluck picnic by the bay where we went to feast in their community park and walk the shore just steps away from the grassy field. There were some very nice folks...It makes me so happy to see how very much they are liked and loved by their neighbors. They too give out lot's of love in return. They enjoy their quiet life in a quaint community nestled in the woods and the bay which is a part of Puget Sound. They enjoy walks together and kayaking in their kayak which my dad made with his talented hands. We are thankful for the time we had with them, they welcomed us in, gave us love, with chats and giggles and took us around town, as well as introduced us to all their friends. After the picnic, Freckles and I explored the grounds and walked down by the shore a bit. 

 

 

It was a gorgeous day. The beauty of it all....Breathtaking. We combed the shoreline for shells. But only brought home a couple shells to remember our time with them..
Freckles especially loved playing in the water.

 

 

 

 

 

We had a very nice time by the bay.
Perfect day with awesome people.

Downtown Olympia

After seeing the Capitol building my parents/Freckle's Grandparents...took us to downtown Olympia for the fair and some antiquing. I am more of a visual person so pictures for me, mean a lot. I am not fond of graffiti all over towns, but this kind of artsy graffiti is fine. I love how this kind of backdrop in  pictures adds lot's of color and quirkiness. Moving on....

 

In all honesty...I don't like carnivals very much. The one reason is they are so expensive. A family can barely afford the ticket prices for their mediocre rides. You spend $20 bucks for 30 tickets, each ride is around 8-10 tickets. No way...I won't pay. The games are just as bad.... you hardly win and if you do win you get a cheap toy. Yikes. The food and drinks...HELLO. $3.50 for a little lemonade. I don't think so. What happened to the good ole days where carnivals were good cheap fun for a family. This isn't Disneyland folks. I have one last thing to bash on this carnival...The "craft booths" were filled with made in China junk. We were all very disappointed. I don't like being negative, but for goodness sake, it was all ridiculous. So we just walked through and took pictures.
The coolest thing was there were old school rides with fun vintage style.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After all that we stopped in a little cafe for some lemonade then did a little
 browsing around a few shops. That was better than the carnival for sure.

 

 

 

We stopped in this quirky, funky vintage shop. It was fun...
a little pricey for our taste...but fun nonetheless. It was really fun shopping with my Mama C....She loves all that old vintage stuff. She makes the coolest purses too.
 She enjoys buying embellishments for her art work. Ha....Just like me.

Freckles is also a great partner in crime when it comes to vintage shopping. Shes got style and great taste I must add. We had fun rifling through the shops together....Even my dad enjoyed himself.

 

The best part of the day was when they all got goofy together.
Oh the giggles we had taking this picture.
 I am just so thrilled that my parents can just be plain goof balls,
and be so relaxed about it. Freckles was not embarrassed at all...
It actually brought her out of her shell a bit. That is a good thing.
 I just know this visit with her grandparents will be forever memorable to her.
We had so much fun.