Soap Lake

This weekend Chris and I took a little mini vacation! Without Hayes Gasp! It was so hard to leave our little boy, but it was so relaxing, and just what we needed! Chris went over to bid a job for work, so I tagged along.

Ross Lake

We left Thursday after work. There was terrible smoke going through Leavenworth and Wenatchee. It was dark and the smoke made it really hard to see. We got to our hotel about 11:30 and Chris's mom was there and had our key. Mary goes on vacation to Soap Lake twice a year, she is actually the reason why Chris went there to bid a job. Soap Lake is a mineral lake that is known world wide for it's healing properties. Most of the hotels in town have the lake water pumped into the room, so that guests with mobility problems can soak in the mineral water in the privacy of their own rooms. This is also nice for in the winter, when it is snowing outside ;) Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, the water main that carries this water burst. Without this water being pumped into the rooms, the businesses in this town will more than likely be forced to close. So Chris came in and met with the Mayor and the head of the public works department, and gave them some options for replacing this line.

While Chris was busy meeting with people and measuring pipes, I was laying on the beach in 85 degree weather, napping. hehe After Chris met with a bunch of business owners, he met up with me and we went swimming and had a mud bath. The black mud at the bottom of the lake is full minerals, so we coated ourselves and laid out in the sun and let it bake on. After we rinsed off the dried mud, our skin felt so soft and tight. It really helped with my little oil pocket bumps on my arms.

After we went inside and showered, we headed out to dinner. We tried to go to a drive in, but apparently they closed at 7pm, so we bagged that idea and walked over to the fancy restaurant in town, Don's.  It was so good! Chris and I had the prime rib, our meals came with clam chowder, bread, corn on the cob, choice of potato and a huge cut of prime rib. It was way more than we could eat, so we had breakfast for the next morning, score!

Saturday morning, we went junk shopping. We hit up, a flea market, a city wide garage sale in Ephrata, 2 junk shops, and numerous garage sales. We Chris went a little over board, he ended up with 2 fishing poles, a tackle box, a rolling tool table, a huge inflatable raft and paddles, 6 old duck decoys, an old cork dart board, a weed burner, and some other misc. tools. I was able to buy a few Christmas presents, but I can't say what they are because the recipients of these presents, read my blog.

That is smoke, not clouds

After "picking" Chris had a little more PR work to do, and I headed down to the beach. We mudded ourselves up again, and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon. That evening we went back to that drive-in for dinner. After dinner Chris, his mom and I went for a drive up the coulee,  to some beautiful lakes, and then checked out some old Native American caves. After that we stopped for some ice cream and took the llong way back to the hotel.

From inside the Lake Lenoir Caves

Sunday we got up and packed up and Chris had to do some video taping for his boss, then we headed out of town. When we stopped for gas, we overheard some people talking about how they were evacuating parts of Wenatchee due to the fires. Chris and I decided to bypass that whole area, and go for a more scenic drive, and take Highway 20 up through Winthrop. Along the way, we stopped at one last garage sale, were I bought 2 bags of books, and Chris bought some more tools. Then we stopped and bought a box of peaches, because you just can't go to Eastern Wa and not buy peaches. Yum!

Dry Falls it looked like a mini Grand Canyon

We did see a little forest fire on our drive home, but the smoke was all headed in the other direction. We were so happy to get home to Hayes and get his snuggles, to finish off our relaxing long weekend!

What did you do this weekend?

Linking up with Alison for Get Outside Monday

9 Months

Stats: Still no updates, but he is definitely getting taller. Hayes can reach things on the counter now, and loves pulling everything he can off.

Milestones: Hayes never stops moving. He is into everything. He also has quite the memory, if you take him away from something, and move him to the other end of the house, he crawls right back to where he was. Hayes has started clapping occasionally. He won't do it when you ask him to, but he will sometimes do it when he is sitting in his high chair. Hayes started playing pat a cake on 9/5/2012. Hayes got his top right tooth on 9/1/2012.

Feeding: The boy still loves to eat. He has tried everything we eat and loves it all. I hope he is always such an unpicky eater.

Behavior: Hayes is entertaining himself for longer periods of time, but he is still into everything. His temper is starting to show through. When you take Hayes away from something he wants, he will yell and kin dof through a fit. He is very strong willed right now, I am hoping this is just a passing phase!

Sleep: Hayes is still a champ at sleeping through the night. One night when we were camping, he woke up twice in the middle off the night, but I just let him fuss and he went back to sleep. Hayes's naps are still all over the charts. One day he will only sleep 1 hour all day and then the next day he will take two 2 hour naps.

Clothes: Hayes is still wearing the same size as last month, but things are starting to get a little shorter on him.

What I'm Loving Wednesday

 

I'm linking up with Jamie for What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I haven't done this for awhile, life is good, so why not!?

I'm Loving Suave dry shampoo! Not because my hair is greasy, but because I LOVE the smell. Also it makes my hair curls so much easier, and I can kind of even achieve kind of big hair! Score. Of and it is only like 2 bucks.

I'm Loving My new jeans! I actually got two pair of jeans that are stylish! Go me! They are Angel brand which are normally $50 to $75 but I got them on clearance at Fred Meyer for $20.

I'm Loving That hubby and I are going on a mini vacation this weekend! Chris is going to Soap Lake to bid a job, and I get to tag along. 85 degrees and Eastern Washington, I think so! We are leaving Hayes with my parents, so this is my birthday and anniversary present all in one. I am counting down the hours

I'm also Loving My sweet boy and his daddy. Happy Wednesday.

Southern Mama's Blog Hop

This is my first time ever participating in a blog hop. I love meeting new people so I thought why not?

I am definitely not from the South but I always wished I was. I am from Western Washington, about a 100 miles North of Seattle. In fact I live closer to Vancouver, BC than Seattle. The summer after I graduated high school, I thought long and hard about moving to the South. Where? At the time I was thinking somewhere in one of the Carolina's on the coast. Anyway, obviously I didn't, so now I just live a vicariously Southern life through all the blogs I read.

Thanks for stopping by, and I look forward to getting to know you!

Show & Tell; Baby Talk

 

I'm a day late, but so goes my life. haha

 1. Tell us your favorite baby names? Aside from your own babies, if you have some :)

For a boy, I like the names Wyatt, Bryce, and Clint

For a girl, I like Adaline and Brayden

2. Show me your "dream" nursery {can be your baby's nursery or one that you love}

I love the western themed nurseries! Hayes doesn't have a decorated nursery, it just wasn't in the cards, this time around.

3. How many children would you like to have? How far apart?

Growing up, I always thought I wanted 3 kids, 2 boys and a girl. But now that I am 30 and have 1 child, I think I am done.  If you want to get technical though, I have 2 step children, a boy and a girl, so really I do have 3 kids, 2 boys and a girl. Perfect!

4. Tell us what you think the importance of parenting is?

I'm not exactly sure what that question is asking, so I will answer what I think is most important to teach your children.Respect, plan and simple. When you have respect for the world and people around you, you treat everyone fair and kindly. When you respect the earth, you are conscious of what you are doing and how you are treating your environment.   You can not truly love someone until you respect them. Respect is a challenge. It is hard to respect someone's views or way of life that is different from your own. I think that respect is the building block for a better tomorrow. Excuse me while I listen to a little Aretha!

5. Show us your favorite newborn photo {can be your children or random}

Well of course my favorite is from my baby boy Hayes

He looks a little crossed eyed, but I promise he is not

6.  Tell us some things you promise to never do as a parent {and if you are a parent, did you stick to it}

I promise to never kick my son out of the house! I had some friends in high school who their parents were always kicking them out when they got in a fit. I think that is horrible!

I promise to never embarrass Hayes. Haha yeah right! 

I promise never to judge the activities that Hayes chooses to pursue. (I'll try)

Other than that, I haven't really thought too far in advance about parenting. I am kind of a take it as it comes type person.