Summertime road trip

A few weeks ago, some of the families from our travel group to China got together on the east coast, for a mini-reunion. When I saw the pictures on a blog, I was a little sad, until I realized that the Theis family lives in Washington State. Not too far for a road trip. When I looked it up online, it was an estimated 17+ hours from door to door. Frances remarked, "Great! We can get there in a day!"

It was a long drive (two days), but it was so worth it. We stopped at rest stops (this one in Oregon was really beautiful) and for meals. The girls took turns with a portable DVD player, and as we drove across the drawbridge that links Oregon and Washington, they were both napping.



When we arrived at the Theis' home, we felt so welcome. It was great to see them, after almost ten months. Frances was thrilled to see Caleb again, and was initially a little shy with Sarah and Miriam, until Sarah freely admitted that she sleeps with a stuffed animal. That was all Frances needed - they were kindred spirits!


We stayed for a week, and it was like a vacation from our summer vacation. The weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cold. It rained a little, which we loved. One of my favorite memories of the trip was when the three girls (Sarah, Frances and Miriam) were jumping on the trampoline after dinner, and it started pouring rain! The girls kept jumping, laughing and catching raindrops on their tongues.



We spent a day in Seattle, and while we were walking around the city, we found this great store...



Near the Space Needle, there is a really cool fountain, with water jets that are synchronized to a variety of types of music. It wasn't a hot day, but it was warm enough for the kids to all play in the fountain! At one point, the children had all laid down on the concrete to warm up, and Frances fell asleep. Abby could not wake her up, but she tried.

It was a great place to take a break from walking and sightseeing. We all had fun playing by the fountain, and being silly. Here is a Theis Totem Pole!



We drove to Mt. Rainier, where there is still tons of snow on top of the mountain, even in August! They day was gloomy, with rain and fog, but when we pulled over to hike to a waterfall, the sun came out, and God made a rainbow in the waterfall.

It was wonderful how well the children all got along with each other during our visit.
Frances and Sarah are only 5 days apart in age, and were fast friends. They even shared a jacket in the rain at the Mt. Rainier Visitors' Center.




Abigail and Micah seem to be equally matched in the drama department! They got along fairly well, considering the fact that they are both two years old. Both of them referred to each other as "baby."



It was such a fun and relaxing week. I think that some of the best times we had were just hanging around the house, being together. The kids all played together, jumping on the trampoline, playing on the climbers, exploring the woods. My girls got to help gather eggs from the chickens, and we even got to ride on the tractor! The big kids had a few slumber parties together in the family room upstairs.





On our last day in WA, the kids got to swim in a river that's fed by melting snow from Mt. Rainier. The water was a little chilly, but they had fun. This is a group picture, of the Theis family and the Bushnell girls. It was really hard to say goodbye!


Coming home, we spent two nights with my friend Kelly, in El Dorado, CA (near Sacramento). She took us to a place called John's Incredible Pizza Co., which is like a Chuck E Cheese, but much better (and without the rodent). Frances quickly discovered which games had the biggest ticket payouts! We had a great trip, and it's great to be home.