October 2017 (Part 2 - Washington)

Originally just Ty and I were going to go to Washington in the fall.

We were going to fly up. But then Sean decided that since he was taking time off from work to watch the kids anyway, that he and the kids might as well tag along.
It worked out that we were gone for 10 days but the girls only missed four days of school.
One the way there we stopped at some parks. The kids played while I nursed.
Avery found this painted rock at a park in Boise.
It had a hashtag on it. Rocks of Idaho, I think. I looked it up on Facebook.
There is a whole page about them. Apparently people paint rocks and leave them all over the state.

Our favorite stop was at a park in Baker City Oregon. The weather was just perfect.

It was warm with a light breeze which made leaves fall gently through the sky.

The first day we drove to my grandparent's house in Selah.

The night before we got there my aunt Lisa, cousin Cassy and her new baby arrived.

They came from Southern California to visit.

My cousin Ashlee came over with her baby.

We got all the Briggs great grand babies of 2017 together.

Scout was born in January, then four months later, Ty was born in May.

Then four months later, baby BSC was born in September.

That first night Lexi didn't feel well. I think a whole day of traveling did her in.

My grandpa gave her a priesthood blessing and after a night's rest, she was better.

The next day the kids were so excited to play outside and ride the four wheeler.

Me and Cassy and the girls made Halloween cookies.

Great grandma Bertha bought the kids pumpkins to decorate.

 

The kids asked Cassy to decorate her pig like Pua from Moana.

I got as much baby snuggles as I could with little B.

That afternoon we drove across the state to my parent's house.
Lisa and Cassy came too.

My parents gave Eli his birthday present.

Cassy gave me a make over.

The lip color is darker than I would choose but it was fun getting dolled up.

Eli kept telling everyone how much he loved his new cousin B.

After a weekend at my parent's house. Lisa and Cassy flew back to California.

And our family, along with my parents and brother headed to Long Beach Washington.

It's right on the coast near the Oregon border.

Our first day there we went and walked the board walk.

Another day we went an took pictures with some of the local land marks.

The kids were excited to go to the beach and play in the sand.

We totally lucked out with weather on this trip.

It was gorgeous! Too cold to obviously get wet but sunny and great for playing outside.

It was very windy on the beach though. So eventually Ty and I hung out in the van.

During down time at the condos we played games, watched movies and the kids did art.

My mom also brought Halloween crafts to do with the kids.

Ty tried "solids" for the first time. We gave him rice cereal.

We went and checked out a weird shop in town. The kids though the statues out front were funny.

Here's pictures from one of the nights we walked on the beach.

My mom and I took Lexi, Eli and Ruby this time.

The girls brought their dolls with them. Here's Avery's doll Scarlet enjoying the view.

Another day we went and visited two local light houses.

My dad decided to stay at the condo and nap.

First are some pictures from a scenic lookout point on the drive there.

I'm not sure what that face is all about but I find it funny.

Here's the trail to the first light house.

All of a sudden we happened upon a bunch of coast guard doing some training.

 

The next light house required a little more of walk to get there but the kids did great.

Grandpa makes a great pillow.

We bought a kite and went back to the beach another night.

It was so fun.

One day the kids made and decorated Halloween treats with my parents.

We headed to Astoria Oregon one day to go check out the Astoria Column.

Without really thinking it through, we decided to all go up at the same time.

Avery sped ahead of all of us. We never could see her. She's fearless. She's our Bravery Avery.

Eli was terrified and cried the whole time. I felt so bad for him. 

Ruby walked the whole way and didn't cry once. She just quietly held my hand.

Lexi was scared but was so brave.

Sean carried Ty in his arms and held onto him for dear life.

Inside the column was dark and narrow and the stairs were steep and it was scary.

I think it was so scary for me because I had my kids with me.
I was nervous one of them was going to fall through the rails 

or down the stairs creating a domino effect.

We were not at the top very long. 

The views were amazing from the top!

We didn't bring swimsuits or swim gear because I thought that the outdoor pool would be closed.

It surprisingly wasn't so my mom wanted to take the kids swimming.

Sean found them outfits at a local thrift store. And bought them floaties too.

Ty just watched happily.

While we were in Long Beach his second tooth cut through.

You can kind of see it in this picture.

One night my parents threw the kids a Halloween party.

The kids went Trick-or-Treating to their condo door.

My brother dressed up too.

The kids all got music cards.

My mom made lots of treats with the kids and games too.

We celebrated Avery's Half Birthday while we were there.

We went miniature golfing. That day is was colder and overcast.

Avery was so excited to celebrate.

The next morning we drove home. All the way home. It took over 17 hours!