Brent and I returned to LA this afternoon and Brent went straight to work. While on our trip, we got to see Amy's new house in Olympia (Tumwater to be exact), her family (very cute boys who you will see for the wedding), my dad, as well as the Rainforest in the Olympic Penninsula. We stayed at Quinalt lodge which was right on the lake and base camp to quite a few nature/rainforest hikes which were breathtaking. We did not pound out too much mileage since we had a 2 & 3 year old with us which had to be carried on shoulders much of the time but still saw a lot. The lodge was rustic with a large great room with big leather couches, an enormous fireplace, and a large game closet with which we played a game of giant chess, candyland, and scrabble on a few occasions in the evenings. We had large lakeside rooms with a nice view of the calmest lake I've ever seen. It rained our first day a bit and then was absolutely gorgeous the next day. We were entertained on our hikes by both boys who sang songs and were very silly. I'll have Brent post a few pictures which will be a difficult task since we took about 200 and there are way too many beautiful ones of the scenery to choose from. I highly recommend the area and there is camping right next to the lodge as well... sounds like August is the best time to do everything in the lovely state of WA.
I had a blast with my nephews... Bradly was fascinated by me which might be since I look like mommy but I don't mind at all. He kept wanting me to hold his hand on hikes or be near him and kept smiling at me saying "hi aunt Buffy!". And Dallin asked Amy when putting him to bed the first night at her house if she was really mommy or aunt Buffy. And then said "you and aunt Buffy are twins". And I was really happy that Brent got to play with them more since we haven't had that opportunity very often... and they really got to know silly uncle Brent! At first they were a little intimidated by him since he is much larger in stature than their dad and their dad speaks to them quite softly most of the time.
Dave, good luck with the practice, I'm sure it will all go smooth your first days. I would love to see pictures of the possible house on the blog.
By the way, my last day at my internship went well with many hugs from patients and therapists. I was real sad to leave and almost got teary when saying goodbye to my clinical instructor if that gives you any idea at how well I clicked with the people there. I even got gifts from patients (an older Irish nun and a 94 year old man)! I hope I find a place like that up in WA to work at.
Anyway, now I have to get back to re-reading and finishing Harry Potter #5 before Saturday. See you all soon!
Buffy