Cooking Dinner an Odd Way

On our trip home from camping with my cousins it was getting late and we thought we were going to make it to the next town for dinner. Well, on our way one child said I have to use the restroom and she wasn't giving us much time. So we stopped at the next place that happened to be a boat ramp with restrooms. When we stopped guess who was hungry Lilly so I started nursing her. When Kyle realized we were going to be there a while he decided to cook dinner. So took out his jet boil (a small camping stove for back packing). It started up and only lasted a couple of minutes due to no fuel. So then he decided to get out the Coleman camping stove and that didn't work because we had nothing to lite it with. So he remembered learning in scouts how to cook food on your engine.(see scouts is a good thing) Since we were having hot dogs and they are cooked already you are mostly heating them up he decided to try it. He put the hot dogs in foil and put them under the hood. In the mean time I changed the baby feed her some more took the other kids to the bathroom. We were now waiting for the food. So we decide to check out a park that we saw a sign for near by. So he closed the hood and we went for a drive while cooking are food. We saw a beautiful sunset. We ended up at this neat park where you can camp. It was getting dark fast so we got out our flash lights and ate are yummy dinner right out of the engine.

Camping with Cousins

This weekend we had the opportunity to go camping with my cousins and their children.
It was so much fun and my kids love to play with their second cousins. My cousin Spring set it up with her Dad and his wife and invited us along too. We ended up going to Mt. Saint Helen's. We went to the Ape Caves where we went last year. The kids loved it again as always.

We then went back to camp and had a smoked salmon tasting adventure. My cousin's Dad smoked a whole bunch of salmon a lot of different ways. We were able to try 8 different kinds and give them our best scores ranging from 1 to 10. I decided I am not that good at this I ended up with like 5 8's and a couple of 4's. After they were all tried numbers 8 and 5 won out. So next time Robert can make a lot of the one that was liked the best. It was all pretty yummy! Thanks Robert.(Uncle Butch)

My Cousins who we camped with were Spring and Harmony they are sisters. They all live in Oregon. Harmony has 2 kids one a month older then Miley and One 10 days younger then Belle. They all got along so well. They played and made forts around our tents. They made a sling shot out of a tree. The funny part was they went around finding cool rocks and then was selling them to us all for a quarter each. It was creative and we are all suckers. I think they each ended up with about a dollar. Belle and Cameron found a rock that broke in half so they each took a half home with them. They called it their friendship rock. It was so cute.

Spring is my favorite cousin we are about a year apart but, we were in the same grade. We were pretty much together all the time when we were together. It was hard since I lived here and she lived in Ashland, Oregon. So we only saw each other about 1 to 2 times a year. So being able to see each other 2 times in one month has been great. The best thing now is she has her little Sailor. She is so cute and we hope that Lilly and Sailor will be just as close.

Spring, Harmony, Dan and kids left in the afternoon to go home. We decided to drive up the mountain and see spirit lake. It was so cool to see the destruction of what a volcano can do in a matter of minutes. They still had tress standing burnt but you can now see the new growth and it is fabulous. We drove up to windy ridge and climbed the stairs to the top. It was windy but really nice. Robert and Emiko went too. It was neat we would stop and some places and they would soon be there too. It was a fun day!!

Fort Casey Fun

After a full afternoon at the park on Whidbey Island we found our way to Fort Casey in pursuit of adventure. We went and toured the Light house. Played in the bunkers and enjoyed the wonderful weather. We then left and went searching for the ferry. The ferry heading to the peninsula wasn't leaving for like 6 hours because the others were already full. So we took the Mukiteo Ferry and then went to the Southworth ferry and came home. It was a nice end to our week at Whistler.

Park on Whidbey Island

We decided to look for a park and have some lunch. We enjoyed lounging watching the kids play. It was right on the water and had a fantastic View

Date Night Ideas

I was checking one of my friends blogs that I actually use to babysit. Talk about make me feel old. She is now married and going to school she was talking about this cool blog with ideas for date night. So I checked it out and it is awesome. So I thought I would share it with all of you. Just click on the icon below.

Narin Falls and Pemberton

 

We decided one day to drive to Pemberton a small town north of Whistler. There was this cute little Museum that the kids liked with a lot of antiques and stuff. On the way back we hiked into the Narin Falls. It was a nice hike with the trail along the river.

Whistler Fun Continued

One day the 2 younger girls had stayed the night with my parents. They then went up the mountain on the gondola with my Dad and Chelsea. They rode the new Gondola peak to peak lift. It goes between Blackcomb and Whistler mountains. At the lowest point between both peaks you are 10 statue of liberties from the ground. The girls and my Dad said it was a a lot of fun. I found these pictures of the gondola online during the winter but it shows you what it was like.

 

.

Gabby and Miley's Morning out with Dad!

So Kyle and the older girls went out for the morning. They rode their bikes all over the village. They bought slurpee's at 7 eleven. They had a huge selection of flavors there and it was cheap compared to most things at Whistler.(Kyle loves Slurpee's) They then rode to Lost Lake which has a nice beach. They had a great time. I decided to stay at the condo and do some laundry and let Lilly take her Morning nap. It was nice and peaceful.

 

This is the one bedroom condo that we stayed in while staying at whistler.

Welcome Baby Butherus

Congrats to Carlee and Spencer on their new little baby boy. We are so excited to have another little boy in the family. We love you guys. If you would like to see some more pictures check out Carlee's Blog. Just look for Butherus Family in my Friends blog list.

Brandywine Falls

 

On the drive up to Whistler we saw that there were some water falls on the way. So the next day we went down to squamish to pick up some stuff at Walmart that we forgot. It is cheaper then buying stuff in the whistler stores. On our way back we decided to stop and check out the Brandywine Falls. They were so beautiful.

Whistler Apple Fun

 

Every time we come to Whistler we go to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. They have these delicious carmel apples. My favorite is the apple pie it is so yummy.

Whistler Swiming Fun

Whistler Vacation

When we come to Whistler usually in the spring we do a lot of skiing. So this time it is summer and there is no snow. So we have done some fun stuff that doesn't include snow and a few things that we always do when we come to Whistler.

The Rec Center

Is this place that has this wonderful pool with a river like thing in it and a whirlpool. It also has lap pool and a hot tub and a slide to go into the pool. I am not giving it justice as I explain it so here are some pictures. They also have ice skating but we decided not to skate this time.

 

I guess these pictures don't do it justice either.

 

These pictures were taken at our out door pool at the condo where we were staying at called the Aspens.

Spring's Visit

 

Last Tuesday I was so excited and happy to have one of my favorite cousins come to visit with her new little baby Sailor. It was so fun to hang out with Spring, Brett and Sailor. Sailor is 2 Months younger then Lilly. Spring has always wanted to be a Mommy. She is such a good Mom and Brett is a great Dad. They came in Tuesday night and left Wednesday morning. We had a family dinner so everyone could see her. We ate Pizza and just had fun visiting. We will be going camping with them later this month.

Here are the pictures we took of Sailor and Lilly.

Garden Party

Last week Aunt Gerene and Grandma Hoisington had a Garden Party for all of the girl cousins. Gerene made these adorable aprons and ordered hats. The girls all decorated the hats themselves. They came all dressed up in their dresses ready for a tea party. Gerene made tablecloths and center pieces for the tables. It was so cute and they were taught how to use their manners. Using napkins and the whole thing. It was just so cute. They had a great time. Thank You Aunt Gerene and Grandma Hoisington.

Dosiwallup Camping

A couple weeks ago Kyle took all 4 girls hiking and camping. I stayed home with Lilly it was nice. It was at first going to just be a hike with just Gabby, and Miley and maybe Belle. Then Lydia wanted to go but Kyle said she couldn't because she wears diapers. Soon after that she started going on the toilet. She has been doing pretty good with a few accidents a week. So of course he had to take her.
So they all ended up going.

When he decided to take all the girls up he thought someone else should go up with him so he asked one of his friends from work Michael Shipley. So they all went up together. They are also members of the church and my girls just adored his older daughter. They think she is so cool.

Kyle decided on Dosiwallups because of the waterfalls and because the trail is an old road that washed out. So he decided to take the jogger stroller. The trail was approximately 6 miles in and out of course. So my 10, 8, 5 and 3yr. old did a 12 mile hike. Lydia rode in the stroller some of the way and then they would take off their packs and she would walk. Each of the older girls carried there own clothes and sleeping bags and even some of the food. Belle carried a pack as well with some of her clothes and Lydia had a pack too. They had a great time. On the way up Belle ended up getting a blister on her foot and wore flip flops the rest of the time. So on the way down the mountain Belle and Lydia ended up riding down. There is a nice picture in the slide show.

Next year we will see where he decides to go and I will decide if it will be worth it to take a 1 year old on. It may be a few years before I get to go with them. We have been slowly buying gear for me. I have a hiking sleeping bag and that's about it. I can't wait to go camping with them!!

Kyle is trying to at least do one back packing trip a year with the girls. It was a nice trip for all of them and I was able to relax just a little.

The Newest Hoisington Cousins

The other day I was able to watch my nephew Braden. He is a few months younger then Lilly. They were both crying at the same time so I put them both on my lap and they stopped crying. So this picture was taken on my lap.

Smith Family Reunion

Well a few weeks ago we had the Smith family reunion here in WA. Every year it is either here or in Idaho. People started to arrive on Thursday mainly the Holladay Clan. They stayed at our house and put up tents in the field. Some of Kyle's siblings also stayed in tents here too. Along with Kyle and the girls they love camping and loved camping with all the cousins in our yard.

On Friday, we spent the day at Tj and Danielle's home. Where they put 2 of those inflatable water slides up for the kids and the adults all hung out and visited while watching all the kids. They also did a pinata.

Saturday was the big day and was at our house. We ended up counting approximately 80 people here. The kids swam, played on the big toy and tire swing. Played with each other and just hung out. There was a lesson on raising the bar which was our theme this year. All the kids learned about the stick pull game, Went fishing for Candy and just had fun. Gerene and Brenda did all the food with help from the family. Saturday night was the big feast. Barry had some friends that do BBQ come and BBQ for the family it was delicious. We did our annual salad pot luck everyone brought a salad for everyone to try. They were all good also.

Saturday Night was the best for all the Dad's and a few Moms (ages ranging 18 to 34) They had a spit ball fight that went on for hours. All around my yard. One of the kids went out on the porch and we could hear them say were playing go away. It all started when people were going and getting Slurpee's at 7 eleven because it was hot. They sell these metal Slurpee straws so all the cousins bought them. That is what they used for their spit ball fight. I didn't join them it's not my thing. It was fun to watch my husband playing with his sister and brother and cousins. After the kids were all in bed. We all went down to the fire and just hung out and visited and enjoyed the campfire. It was the best!! We can't wait until next year. See you all in Idaho.