We decided it would be a good idea to do a decent family vacation this year. So we packed up the kids and headed out on the road.
Day 1 & 2
First stop was Grandma and Grandpa's in East Wenatchee. Let me tell you, the drive from Pullman to Quincy is as boring as can be. It's all I can do to stay awake. Luckily we made it in one piece, and in time for dinner. We made Isaac and Andrew some beds on the floor with blankets, which worked pretty good.
The next day went goofing around the Wenatchee Valley. We stopped at the new market thing they're trying to make down by Golds Gym. It wasn't too shabby, but the prices on produce was a bit to rich for my blood.
Outside, they had a guy pulling a homemade train around for the kids. Pretty neat if you ask me.
We also saw a train come through downtown Wenatchee. Trains are always cool. We don't get many trains in Pullman. Which is ironic given the name of the town.
We had a great Labor Day BBQ at Clayton's with all the Andersons and friends. There was tons of good food, lots of kids to play with, a big house with fort building materials, and a pool. Everything you need for a great time.
Day 3
The next day we headed out west towards Olympia. We stopped at a children's museum there was lots of fun for the boys--and me.
They had an area for infants, with fun balls to feel and play with. It was even more fun when Andrew struck up the band.
Dad had to play with the water. Constructing a proper spillway is a job for an engineer. (Software Engineering is still an engineer!)
They had lots and lots for Andrew to explore and play with.
This water vapor thing was pretty cool.
Andrew's a pretty good driver--when the car is fake.
This was a neat tube-blowy thingy. You would put puffballs or light handkerchiefs and it would blow them all around. You could change the flow of air at the yellow junctions.
Andrew served up some root beer for dad.
We didn't stop at the capital, but we drove by. That counts--right?
Day 4, 5 & 6
We headed down to Grand Mound, to the Great Wolf Lodge. This was the main attraction for the vacation. The lodge is just off the highway, so pretty easy to find. It was pretty fancy compared to most hotels we stay at on vacation.
Isaac approved of the bed. He was a little under the weather, but still managed to have to a good time. Poor guy.
They had a bunk bed in a little walled-off wolf den. Andrew loved it.
We got down to business right away--at the arcade.
We racked up 500 tickets or so over the course of two days, and then Janel hit the jackpot on a harpoon game. She landed a thousand tickets in one shabang! It actually took a while to figure out what to get with all those tickets. I was very impressed. I felt like I was married to a high roller. I was waiting to get comped at any moment.
They had this magic quest thing there, where the kids would run all over five stories of the hotel finding paintings, crystals, chests, and lots of other stuff. The TV even had the daily rankings. Andrew's name was "Wongey". Don't ask me. That's what he told the lady.
We had lots of fun goofing around the lodge.
They also had a great water park there. No picture of that--apparently. Andrew was a little too scared of the slides, but had lots of fun in the children's area. I went down a few of the big slides, and they were great. One night I couldn't go down any because of the big lightning storm outside. Something about not wanting their guests sliding around in a conductive solution outside in an elevated position. Seemed kind of bogus to me.
Day 7
Since we were down there already we decided to stop by the Puyallup Fair. That fair is huge. Too huge. You need a tour guide to figure out where to go and what to see. It was pretty fun, but there were way too many places to buy food and garbage. I felt that they should have cut down on some of the overpriced fair fare and, instead, roll in some trackers and military vehicles for the kids to play on. That's really my favorite thing to check out. Luckily Andrew got to ride some peddle power trackers instead.
Andrew also wanted to go on some rides, which was cool.
The rollercoaster sounded like a good idea to begin with. But the joy tapered off towards the end, and he was glad to be on terra-firma once more.
We met up with Cam, Tiana, and Ellie. We checked out a draft horse show, and goofed around a bit before heading back to the hotel.
The End
(Well except for the 5 hour drive home on Day 8. I'm surprised more people don't die on highway 26 due to boredom than already do.)
