So, with the new found freedom that I have, Amanda and I decided to start hiking. I asked around to find an "easy" hike that we could do last weekend. The one that kept coming up was the Lake 22 Trail (http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/lake-22) just outside of Granite Falls, WA. Everything I read made it look like an amazing hike that was rated as "Moderate". Little did we know that moderate usually means that you better be an Iron Man triathlete to make it up the hill in one piece. It was ONLY 5.4 miles round trip. How hard could it be... 3 Hours later we reached the top... spent and hungry. But we were rewarded with the most amazing "cafeteria" with which to enjoy our peanut butter and honey sandwiches in. This will definitely be one to return to... once we have a few more miles (and less hills) under our belt.

Happy Birthday Dylan

Want a bite Auntie? Its VERY tasty!
There is a hand and all 5 fingers in that mess somewhere!

I wonder if this is okay? Only one way to find out....SQUISH!

Happy Birthday to Dylan and his Mommy & Daddy.
1 Year Down...a whole life time to go!

Dylan and Gramma!

Sunday was 0ur Nephew Dylan's First Birthday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DYLAN!!

The Twins Turned 3!

Cupcakes.... Yummmm


Chuck E...... Hailey LOVED him, Hanna HATED him.

Hanna Michelle. Loved her cupcake and her pretty hair bow that her Auntie Made her.
Hailey Anne.... LOVES the camera. She's such a show off!!
Our pretty girls. Their definitely not premie babies any longer



"My" twins turned 3. Well, they turned 3 in December, but with the terrible weather in Spokane and Snoqualmie pass being UNPASSABLE, I didn't make it over to Spokane to celebrate their birthday. The PLAN was to take them to Chuck E Cheese for a small family/friends birthday party. We'd been telling them about it for weeks. "Aunt Mandy and Uncle Travis are driving over for your birthday and we're going to Chuck E. Chesee." But, because I didn't make it, the girls decided they weren't going to Chuck E Chese without me. So, of course, that means their birthday didn't happen. If someone asked them how old they were, they both said (with no coaching!) Im 2. When Aunt Mandy comes and we go to Chuck E Cheese, I'll be 3!!! She's coming soon and it will be MY birthday!

I walked in the door and lil Miss Hailey Ann says, "What's your name?" I replied with, "Aunt Mandy." Hailey thinks about it, ponders for a minute and says very methodically, and you can see the slight bit of smoke coming out of her ears from this very important thought process, "Aunt Mandy......Aunt Mandy.......OH!! ITS MY BIRTHDAY!!!! We're going to Chuck E Chese!........HANNA! Today is our birthday!" Sooo cute.

Friday at the Marina.

While waiting at the marina to catch our boat, The Pez Gato II, to go whale watching, this fellow was outside. We walked right past him and thought it was a statue until he moved.... Quite the spectacle. And, I must say.....much more impressive than the Hotel Entertainment Crew.

Yes, that is a baby African lion Travis is holding... Pretty cool huh? And below you'll see the cute little Jaguar I was holding... so soft and cuddly...all he wanted to do is take a nap. The gentleman at the booth with them said Im a "good Mommy..." He didn't move a muscle when I got up to put him back in his pen. For a $25.00 donation, you get your picture taken with these little cuties. Proceeds go to fund the wild life refuge here in Mexico someplace. Quite the experience. Before they put the babies in your lap, they tell you "Legs together, hold his tummy with one hand and his armpits with the other. They need to feel secure, or they may scratch/bite you." Seconds after this photo was taken of Travis, the baby lion started to slip between his legs. The lion is 3 months old and about 30#. Trav was a little nervous to move him too much, as this little girl liked to play....and she likes to bite on the things she plays with... You can see her trying to use his wrist as a teething toy. The baby Jaguar on the other hand was 2 months old and could barely keep his little eyes open... He just wanted a nap where someone was petting him and the Lion would quit sucking/biting on his tail! SUPERCUTIES! I did seriously ask Travis if I could have one..... He said no..... Usual answer!! ;o)

We're ready to come home! Getting ready now to head upstairs and pack! See you soon. We heard its snowing in Seattle this weekend.... Do what you can to get rid of that stuff for us, will ya?

Friday... Whale watching

Today we went whale watching. We had a terrific time. There was a nice breeze on the water as well as today there is a light cloud cover high in the sky, so its cooler today than it has been. Travis got a great opportunity to try out his camera and he's downloaded some pitcure editing software so he was able to edit the pictures as well, to crop off all the extra stuff.

We only saw a whale or two for the first hour or so of our trip. They were off in the distance and as soon as we'd get over to the area they were, they would be gone. Finally, we got out a little farther north on the Pacific Ocean side and we got into a pod of about 4-5 whales. We're not sure exactly how many, as they don't all surface at the same time. Travis got some GREAT pictures. We had a ton of fun and it was a nice change to be out doing something this afternoon.

Pictures...AND 3 TURNED OUT NOT HALF BAD!!

We got our pictures today!
And....we got 3 good ones! We got a few more than that, but we need to edit them a bit,
but these are our favorite 3.

Pictures!

Since we're having such a hard time getting pictures taken of us together, we hired a professional photographer to take us out on the beach and get some photos. For $129.00 we get 8 prints and a cd of all the photos he took. We're hoping that just like our wedding.... JUST 1 picture turns out great and we can give photos out. We haven't had a "family" photo done since we got married, figured it was time to do it and what better place? We're both tan and relaxed and you can't beat the view!! Jeremy was our photographer...from Paris. What's Jeremy doing in Cabo you ask? We wondered too... A friend of his moved here and started a photography business. BRILLIANT IDEA BY THE WAY.... They travel to the different resorts and snap photos of everyone hanging by the pool, visiting, etc, print them all up and sell them for $8. Also hire themselves out for weddings, events, etc. Or, like we did, we see the neat photos by the pool and then have the brochure about sunset photo shoots. Anyway, we were out at the beach for 30 minutes and he must have taken 100 photos.... We just want 1 to turn out great. He did do us a favor and snapped the one above for us with our own camera so we could email it home! That one didn't turn out tooo terrible!

Agenda for tomorrow... whale watching on a 30-40' catamaran. Travis is bored and I hate to agree... Im getting that way as well.... So we booked one last activity. Everyone say a prayer.... In the HUGE ocean and next to those HUGE whales....we're little bath tub toys and IM PETRIFIED OF THE WATER! (I saw jaws WAY to young... I get scared it the deep end of a choloronated swimming pool... you never know what can be hiding in those vents.....)

We'll post tomorrow evening when we get back and tell you how it went.

If Expeditors or EJIW decides to open a Cabo Branch....we volunteer!!