Mini Vacation

For one of our family Christmas presents, we decided to travel the long distance to Coeur d'Alene and spend the night. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Hayden, which is just north of CDA, and is connected to Triple Play, a family fun center. The main reason for our visit was that Triple Play has an indoor water park called Raptor Reef and we thought that would be great for our family especially during this weather.

The water park is not overly big, but it was just perfect for our family. Because we went on a Thursday, it was not crowded at all and we basically had the whole park to ourselves. They had 3 big waterslides, which Daryl and I really enjoyed, a wave pool, and a kiddie pool with some water toys and small slides.

Our overnight stay in the hotel included 4 passes to the waterpark that day (4 pm to 9 pm) and also 2 hours the next morning (10 am to noon/checkout). It was perfect. The kids had a blast, even though they petered out rather quickly, but that was okay too. I think it will be even more fun when the kids are older (and taller) so they can ride the big slides and the adults can ride them more too!

Mailbox Mayhem

My neighbor called me this morning to let me know that our mailbox had been bombed. Yup, bombed...Can you believe it? He thought he heard a big boom at around 11 pm the night before and this morning when he went to retrieve his newspaper, he noticed that our mailbox had been the target. Daryl found an empty 1 liter pop bottle in the street and thought someone had just littered, so since it was garbage day, he just put the bottle in the trash can. It turn out that the bottle was the bomb.

The back of our mailbox was blown off but the rest remained intact. The entire box was probably 1 1/2 times it's normal size. It was weird. I think it was just a random act, but who knows. Daryl said there may be a couple of people at work that could be mad at him, but he thinks they wouldn't bomb the mailbox (they might slash his truck tires though....hmmmm). We called the police just to file a report, but since it was a mailbox incident, they sent an officer out to investigate. Our mail carrier came to the door today with our mail and was shocked to see our mailbox. She was so cute. She said that the post office x-rays everything and that it should not have been anything she put in there. I told here it was done late at night, probably mischievous kids, but who knows. We have since put up a new mail box. I hope this one will last. We shall find out.

And I thought our neighborhood was safe.....Beware. These things can happen anywhere.

Sinus something

Natalie has been sporting the green slimy nose since before Christmas. Yuck, I know. It hasn't been too bad, just an inconvenience. Other than that, she is acting and feeling just fine. Well I finally took her in to the Dr's office and she was diagnosed with a sinus infection. Hmmm. She was given a round of antibiotics and low and behold the green slime is gone. I guess I should have taken her in earlier, but hey, it wasn't anything urgent. Although I probably wouldn't have had to follow her around with a kleenex for as long as I did. We are all glad she is doing better.

Sledding Party

Because of all this wonderful snow, I quickly threw together a last minute sledding party with some neighbors and friends. My sis and family were here so I thought it might be fun for them to enjoy the festivities as well.

After a few runs, the snow was packed down enough to make for some fun sledding. It was quite the workout trudging up the hills though, especially in areas that had not been groomed. The snow was at least 2 feet deep if not more in some areas. Whew, what a workout.

We enjoyed soup and cocoa and brownies and Daryl made a fire in the outdoor fire pit. Many of us were huddled around the campfire trying to stay warm when not sledding. It was a beautiful day for the party: blue sky, sunshine, but only 12 deg. BRRRRR. Thank goodness for the fire!

It may not look that exciting, but it's very very fast. YIKES!

Lisa and Lucas taking a thrill ride

Huddled around the fire to stay warm

The Richardsons are Coming....maybe

My sister and her family were originally going to come to Spokane for Christmas, but due to the crazy weather, that trip was postponed. They decided to come out on New Year's Day instead. Well, again the weather did not allow for that. In fact, all the mountain passes in the state were closed due to avalanche threats and heavy snowfall. We didn't think they were going to be able to come at all. But, on the 2nd the passes reopened and there was a break in the weather. They drove over. What would normally take about 4 1/2 hours to drive, took them 6 because of the icy roads. Luckily they all made it in 1 piece.

Lucas, Henry and Uncle Tian having a laugh

We enjoyed their company over the weekend before they headed back to Seattle early Sunday morning (to avoid the next big storm system). The kids had a great time playing with each other. It is fun to see that the cousins do not miss a beat even though they don't see each other that often. The last time was in October when we were in Seattle for my 20 year HS reunion.

Bath Buddies (girl included)

Playing catch-up

With the hustle and bustle of all the holidays, I just have not been blogging. Now I am finally sitting down to do some catching up. Of course my blogs will be post dated, but that's okay, right?

I told Daryl that I am playing catch up on my blogging. He said, "Plain Ketchup????" It was funny at the time. I guess you had to be there.

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2009! We are looking forward to a healthy and happy new year.