What's up...

Here's what's been going on the past couple of weeks...

Alyssa had her surgery to remove the bump on her arm a week and a half ago. We found out yesterday that the bump was just a hair folicle that had turned into a syste. She wore t-shirts that covered her upper arm for a week so she didn't have to look at the wound. On Sunday, she started wearing shirts that fit and it's looking pretty good.

Shelisa had her last week of work last week. Her social calendar has been flooded and I know the closer it gets to leaing home the more emotional it is becoming for her (and me). If there have been any tears, we haven't seen them. But I wouldn't blame her if at some point they start to flow. She had a dentist and a doctor appointment this week and she had to have three shots. Her arms are a bit sore today.

Kayla is in Utah. She flew out on Saturday. She had a little bit of an upset at the airport in Utah. Grandma got stuck in traffic and wasn't there when she got to the airport. But Kayla handled thing just the right way. She asked someone from Southwest to help her and they made a couple of phone calls and waited with her until Grandma could get there. I know a lot of people don't like flying Southwest, but we have had great experiences with them. They have our business!

We're leaving to go to Utah on Friday to take Shelisa to school. She will be living with my mom and dad for a few weeks while she looks for a job. Ken is flying home Sunday night and the girls and I are staying. Kayla and I are leaving on Friday or Saturday and we are driving to LA to meet Ken for the weekend. Alyssa is staying behind for a few days.

I think I may have caught up the blog for now. I'll try to keep it updated while on vacation but I'm not making any promises.

Dear Jacob, I win. Edward

Okay, so you have to know something about the Twilight series to appreciate our next adventure. We traveled 4 hours west of Seattle to a little logging town called Forks. Forks is also the location of the Twilight series. It was very fun to go see all the "places" the book is based around. We picked up a map from the local grocery store and we drove around Forks and La Push looking at the places that inspired Stephenie Meyer's when she wrote the books. Ken talked to several locals and found out that Forks was once the logging capital of the United States and then the Spotted Owl was put on the endangered species list. When that happened they went from having 15 logging mills to just one almost overnight. The guy at the Chamber of Commerce said they used to average about 100 visitors a day, now that every teenage girl in America wants to visit Forks, they have over 500 visitors everyday and every hotel in town is sold out every night (there are 5 or 6 hotels). Every store has Twilight merchandise so we left with our fair share.

Friday Harbor...Whale Watching

This was one of my most favorite day's in Washington. We took a ferry out to Friday Harbor to go whale watching. There are 3 pods of orca whales that live in Sailor Sea. On the day we went out the three pods had all come together. There are a total of 85 killer whales when the pods come together. We boarded a skiff and went out to look for whale and it was incredible. The boats don't get any closer than about 100 yards, but there were a few whales that came a bit closer. They were close enough we could hear them come up for air. We saw them breech and spy hop. It was truly amazing! The pictures don't do it justice so I'm not adding the orca pics to the blog. You really had to be there!

Washington...Seattle Area

This vacation was a little different from ones we've taken in the past. We usually go with a schedule of everything we're going to do the whole time we're there. We did some planning ahead of time, but we also just let things happen. In Seattle we went to the top of the Space Needle. It was a beautifully clear day and you could see forever. We visited Pike Place and watched the vendors toss fish around. We ran into the very first Starbuck's. We toured the underground. If you don't know what the Seattle undergound is, you should google it. It was an interested tour from under the city.

Washington...Sunday and Monday

It's been a week since the fun in our vacation officially started. On our way from Salem, Oregon to our next destination, Great Wolf Lodge, we stopped by Mount St. Helens. Unfortunately, it was raining that day and we couldn't see the mountain, but it was a fun stop over at the visitors center anyway.

We spent our second night at Great Wolf Lodge. This is a great family place. We stayed in a room that had a little cabin built inside it with a bunk bed and another single bed for the kids to sleep in. The best part of Wolf Lodge is the indoor water park. We had sooooo much fun! This happens to be one of the things Alyssa has talked the most about.

Did you say SNAKE?

So, I now have one more reason to stay in California. My sister called today and told me there was a 6 foot blow snake in her living room. Yes, her living room. She lives in a small Utah town with about 200 other people. Her two year old son thought it was awesome. Liz did not. Her husband was at work and so she had to call a neighbor to come over and get the snake. She doesn't know how it got in or how long it was in the house. My kids asked why she didn't call animal control and I told them Lemington doesn't have animal control. Liz said she has her own form of animal control. A shovel!

The Bump

Alyssa has had this small bump on her upper arm for about 6 months. We went to the doctor 3 or 4 months ago to have it looked at. He said not to worry about it unless it got bigger. Over time it has grown. We were sent to a surgeon last week and we got a surgery date today. Alyssa will have it removed on July 20th. It's an in the clinic surgery and will require a few stitches. Alyssa seems okay with the idea of having it removed. I think it's starting to bother her a bit. But come surgery day, things might be a little different.

LA and back in a day

Ken had to go to LA yesterday for work. He asked me Wednesday night if I would like to fly down with him for the day. So I decided why not. What else have I got to do? We flew down and went to the new office being built in Brentwood to check out a few things and then over to the Beverley Hills office to check on a few things that are in the works there. I got lunch out of the deal and a nice "date" and some great laughs with Ken.

4th of July

In Concord we start celebrating the 4th of July a few days ahead of schedule. On Thursday night, we walked over the park next to the high school and watched a great 4th of July celebration skit, concert and fireworks. They repeated it last night and again tonight. Tonight we're just walking down to Mtn. View to watch the fireworks. We went to Martinez this morning for their parade and celebration stuff after words. We had a lot of fun. This afternoon we went to our friends swimming. Over all our day has been relaxing and very nice. Happy 4th of July. God Bless America!

Will life come to an end?

Kevin Jonas of The Jonas Brother's got engaged. Kayla and Alyssa are very concern the band might brake up and the new Jonas show on Disney may come to an end. I've assured them that people get married all the time and don't quit the band or the tv show they are on.

Opening Show

The tour started yesterday. U2 is back on the road. You can read about the tour, see the set lists and get you U2 fix at u2.com. However, they better pick it up, from the reviews I've read they were not at their best.