Road Trip

Matthew's penance from a recent confession was to plan a vacation for our family. He must have done something really terrible.

We left for Mirror Lake on Monday morning at 6:30a. At 8a, Nathan got carsick, threw up all over EVERYTHING and we found ourselves at the always hospitable Walmart. We purchased a new outfit, some cleaning supplies for the car, and seriously considered just purchasing a new carseat.

This is the best vacation we have ever been on.

We arrived at our hotel much later than anticpated, but the children were ready to go swimming. They were stripping down in the hallway as Matt was opening the door to our suite.

Nathan, ready for swimming. He couldn't find his other croc, so he ran laps through our rooms calling out "Foo-fops?! Are you?" (Flip flops?! Where are you?)

Thomas, being Thomas, got injured as quickly as possible...doing a long jump off one of the beds and hitting the floor. Hard. When my parents found out we were going on a vacation, they rejoiced for us and went out shopping... for Matt. Go figure. Amongst MANY other things, they dropped off a couple of bags of beef jerky and some Stella Artois, in cans, for easy travel. Stella came in handy after the long car ride and also as simple first aid for my third born. Thanks Mom and Dad, for making our trip that much more awesome!

One of our balconies at the hotel. We watched our first storm roll in over the mountains and settle right over the Olympic Center across the street.

The children saw the hot tub and rainbow trout above it on the hotel website before we left for vacation. This was one of their favorite moments from vacation: getting their picture taken with the Hot Tub Trout.

We had the entire basement of the hotel to ourselves on the first night. This included the hot tub, pool, lounge, pool table, foos ball table, bathrooms and... water cooler.

Chillin' like Bob Dylan

Swimming Sarah!

Love

The basement was sectioned off with heavy glass doors, most  of which needed a room key to get through. Instant playpen.

Nathan is ready to be an engineer.
 He just needs to work on his water cooler conversation...

And etiquette.

Matt and I played pool for the first time together in YEARS! It was hysterical. Matt says he won, but I think it was because of the little elf that hid under the table and kept throwing my striped balls back up into the playing field.

I understand that it seems as though there are a ton of us, but why in the world do hotels make us get suites? This is what bedtime on vacation looks like. All of us, piled together, in one bed.
The kids were wiped after a long trip and some good swimming and games. Everyone slept really well! Not the norm.