Great Weekend

We had a wonderful weekend past. The best weekend we've had in a long time! Saturday morning we set off to do some shopping at the closest mall. It's about 45 minutes away. We got the couple of things that we needed and then had lunch at the Olive Garden. It was very yummy and pleasant. As we were leaving the restaurant I saw a nail salon. I said, "oh, I just get my nails done while you two shop more." And the next thing I know, that's what's happening. I'm dropped off at the salon saying bye to the boys. Nathan enjoys any hints given for how to pamper me. About half an hour later, the boys come back to pick me up...with a box of chocolates for me. And Levi asked to see my hands, and then said, "Wow. They're very pretty."
On the drive back to Oak Harbor Nathan decided to take a detour. We went through Anacortes (some might know) and found this lovely beach trail. Spontaneous trips are always the best. Especially when they turn out perfect. I have oh so many pictures to capture our perfect weekend.
This is the beach trail we happened upon. I love the color in this photo. I've been missing fall since we've been married. I finally have colorful trees again!

It was pretty nice out Saturday. Sun shining, cool but not freezing. We were able to all walk the rocky beach comfortably.

Levi couldn't seem to resist walking in the water. He has no fear of the Washington ocean.

I love the rocky shores, the surrounding trees. I love when there is a crooked tree hanging over. I let the boys get far ahead of me as I take 1,000 pictures.

Nathan blends in with the rock wall.

Time to start displaying pictures of Washington Trees. I had about a million in Hawaii.

Levi and Nathan had so much fun exploring. They just ran around in their boots letting me trail behind. Every once in a while they would stop and wait to help me over a log or something. And then be on their way again as the trail leaders.

Can you find Levi? Dwarfed by this awesome tree.

Many times Nathan and Levi would veer off the paved path and venture into the wooded trails. I could hear them from a distance discussing lions and tigers and bears.

Levi's peeking through this tree to say hi.

I love this picture.

Had to take pictures of this tree. Too Christmasy to pass by.

As we continued our drive home, we found more places to stop. There are lots of state parks and scenic stopping points. With our trusty little Garmin we found so many places easily left unexplored. We all had so much fun. I was perfectly happy with my job of photography and slow going.

Inspecting rocks to find the perfect ones to throw in the water. Levi would throw them and then run away before the water could crawl up over his feet. If there are even the smallest waves he doesn't want to touch the water. But if it's calm and smooth he wants to wade as far in as we'll allow and cause his own waves.

These two pictures are very similar but I like them both for different reasons. And since I'm the author of this blog, I put them both. I like in the first one that Levi is smiling with me and posing well. And then I like in the second one that he's cuddly with his hand on my baby belly.

My gorgeous husband. I'm so glad to have him home again. We're having so much fun being together again.

After those couple of beaches we finally made our way home. This is a pretty rose from my front yard. I don't know if the speckles on it are good or bad, but I thought it was picture worthy.

One of the other things that Levi and Nathan bought while I was getting my manicure was this Fire Bowel. Now we can have a little bon-fire on our back porch. Nathan lit it up as soon as we got home and we ended up eating dinner and just sitting outside until Levi's bed time. Levi went back and forth between the "camp fire" and a Micky Mouse special on Disney. It was a really lovely way to end the great day.

Nathan plays with my camera sometimes too. Here's the rather cool shot he took.

The next day we decided to keep the fun going. First stop was a close beach in Oak Harbor. As soon as we got out of the car and walked onto the sand, we were greeted by all these dogs. They're owner was trailing far behind them on her walk. They barked and swarmed us just like I expected them to...being terriers and all. Anyone who's spent any time with Levi knows that this was like finding buried treasure. Dogs to greet him.

There are always forts of some sort on the beaches here. The beaches here are just as much stones and drift wood as they are sand. And people always build stuff out of the driftwood I guess. Levi appreciates it.

These beaches are just perfect for Levi and Nathan. Neither one of them cared much for the envied beaches of Hawaii. For their own reasons they did not ever want to make the trip. Levi didn't like the waves and would not play in the sand that much cause it stuck to him too much. And Nathan is part vampire so he hated the sunshine and was not into just sitting on a towel and soaking in the heat. And he didn't want to swim cause sea creatures fill his childhood nightmares. But here, they're in beach heaven. It's like going hiking or something. They love to climb all over the huge logs and drift wood. They like to bundle up in sweaters and big boots and stomp through the rocks and sand. They like to find walking sticks and make a pile in our trunk. We went to 3 different beaches on Saturday all with the purpose of finding the perfect walking stick for each of us. Then Nathan sat in his chair by the fire bowel last night perfecting them with a little knife work and sanding. These are boy beaches around here.

Saturday's weather was not quite as accommodating as Saturday's. It was really cold (in the low 40's all day) and much of the time it was lightly raining. But we pushed threw it. Next weekend is Halloween so this was our last weekend to go to a pumpkin patch. It was muddy and rainy and cold, but we put on our gloves, coats and boots and persevered for the experience.

It was kinda slim pickins at this point. Nathan was trying to help Levi decide on a pumpkin but he could not stop being worried about how dirty they all were.

He's trying to explain to Levi that he would clean it once we got home. He promised! Eventually Levi accepted this plan.

That's more layers than he's ever had to wear before, but he manages to smile around it. We went to more beaches after the pumpkin patch to continue our weekend of fun exploration. I felt I had taken my fill of pictures though. I'm sure everyone agrees.

We ended it all by coming home and having another bon-fire night. When we were putting Levi to bed, he ended the night with the perfect declaration to us. We were all sitting on his bed and he says, "Papa, I love you. You are my best friend. And Mama is my best friend." Then he hugged us both.

It has really been one of the best weekends ever. We just continually had so much fun. I'm so thankful for my little family. Can't wait for baby girl to come and add her touch.