Sister Time

My sister, Christina, has been out to visit us twice in Washington but never with her lovely family. So we were stoked when we found out this past winter that the entire Barber-Just family was going to head west for a summer vacation! This was one big trip of firsts for our nephews! Henry and Jackson, our eight-year old twin nephews, had never been in a plane, never been in a big city (Seattle was their first), and never been on a ferry. This was also a big trip for their two mommies since H&J had never traveled this far before. It turns out that H & J traveled wonderfully and those boys are now bound for a life of adventure! We had such a great time with all of them ....if only we had even more time to play!

Jay and I rarely get to spend more than a day or two with Christina, Sara, Henry and Jackson when we head back east - so having them for almost an entire week was a special treat. We feel like we got to know our nephews so much better and we finally got a ton of quality time in with Christina and Sara. We learned during this trip that H & J are serious bookworms, as demonstrated in this photograph above while we ate lunch in Anacortes at The Juicy Dog.

Our first full day in Anacortes was spent just wandering around Anacortes. We visited the playground, the pool, The Juicy Dog (for gourmet hot dogs), and the town JOKE STORE (see photo above of the mommies horsin' around).

 No visit is complete without saying "hello" to Deception Pass State Park. We took the whole family to Rosario Beach to check out the tidepools. We did, however, tell H & J there was a playground at the park....which made the tidepools slightly less exciting. How can a crab compete with a playground!? We knew they really wanted to check out the playground first and foremost, so H & J got some serious awesome points for at least tolerating their biologist aunt/uncle (pre-playground) in the intertidal zone.

 Discovering crabs (Hemigrapsus oregonensis!)

 While the boys played on the playground, the adults celebrated the good life! 

 On Pass Island checking out the tide rips! 

The next day we headed to Whistle Lake - the best spot to swim in Anacortes! Along the trail to the lake H&J discover what it means to be a big Douglas Fir. I love Jackson's face in this photograph - awe! Or at least I like to think it is awe!

One of our favorite places to take visitors is Guemes Island, just across Guemes Channel from Anacortes. It is one of the islands in the San Juans, but it is closer than the other more famous San Juans, cheaper to get to, and a hidden GEM. We hiked up Guemes "Mountain" (only 650 ft. at the top, but a great walk for this family). Here Jay was teaching Jackson what the "thinker" looks like on a mountaintop.

 A rare and lovely sight - two sisters together! 

Jackson and Henry had a blast going down the trail according to my sister. I was and still am nursing my bum rib (see my Hozomeen Lake blog if you have no clue what I'm talking about) so I couldn't keep up with these dudes on the downhill portion of this walk.

Following lunch at Anderson's on Guemes Island, we headed to the beach near the Guemes Island Resort to play in the water and gawk at Mt. Baker.

 Henry, Julie, and Jackson

Back on our island (Fidalgo Island) for watermelon margaritas, thanks to Sara!

This was such a lovely visit - we really can't think of any way it could have been improved. It was perfectly fun, relaxing, and wonderful to have my sister's family in our house. The only unhappy folks around were two cats that are used to their quiet two-person home - these fluffballs bolted to our bedroom any time the strange creature called a "kid" appeared. Lester and Darwin have recovered nicely since the "child" departure....but we have not. We miss them all immensely and hope they come back again soon.

More photos here: https://picasaweb.google.com/111221596171793333099/August2014?authkey=Gv1sRgCJDHg8T6tJLsiwE