I have decided to move our blog to a new location since I was having some issues with photo uploading and limited capabilities on this site.
Our new blog site is: http://jskalles.blogspot.com/
Thanks so much and look for more pictures and posts over there. I will keep this one live since it has some great pictures but going forward, all new blog posts will be on the new site http://jskalles.blogspot.com/.
Thanks,
Susi, Jeff, & Ethan
On Saturday Jeff, Ethan, and I headed to Monroe to meet up with my dad and Jackie to go to the Evergreen State Fair. It ended up being a pretty sunny day and some of us partook in rides and most of us enjoyed the fair food. Ethan saw quite a few animals and went on a couple of the rides. Check out our pictures below.
Ethan, Jeff, and I headed to Issaquah to go to the Cougar Mountain Zoo. We had never been before so we decided to check it out and were pretty surprised. The zoo is pretty small but once you get past the gate there is very cool stuff to see. When you first go through the gate you are welcomed by the mountain lions, reindeer, and two large tigers. You could get pretty close to the animals and you could feed the reindeer. I would definitely recommend visiting the zoo around Christmas time since it looked like they had a lot of themed items around the reindeer.
Past the tigers was an area that had deer, llamas, wallaby’s, and Emu’s that you could feed. The deer and the llama’s ate right out of Ethan’s hand. They also brought out the baby tigers to play while we were there as well that was a treat to see. Further down were the Parrots that were really funny to watch. Many of them could talk as well and there was one that liked to say hello, peek a boo, and bye to us.
After the zoo we were all looking forward to lunch so we went to XXX Root beer in downtown Issaquah for some burgers and shakes. Ethan can attest that the fresh banana shake was the bomb.
After being sick for the past few days we were all getting a little cabin fever and since the sun was out we decided to head to Seattle Center for a morning adventure.
Our first stop was the Children’s Museum located in the Seattle Center House. Ethan had a great time running around and exploring everything. Plus, I guess since it was a Sunday morning there was hardly any one there and he took full advantage of this.
After the museum we went outside and bought some tickets for rides at the Fun Forest. Ethan went on his favorite cars ride again and then when on a flying space ship ride that he really enjoyed and the roller coaster. He was a little scared on the roller coaster but seemed to have fun. Good thing that Jeff was with him on the ride to hold his hand.
August 12th is my dad’s 70th birthday. I told him it was the new 60′s which I think is pretty true. To celebrate this momentous event we headed up to Bellingham last Sunday for a BBQ at his house. Luckily the weather was pretty decent so we were able to hang around outside and had a great time and some yummy cake to boot!
Happy Birthday Dad! We love you tons and wish you a fabulous day! Don’t celebrate too much.
And here are a few from Ethan’s actual Birthday where we went to Red Robin and then to Chucky Cheese for some rides.
Yesterday we celebrated Ethan’s upcoming birthday with a party. I was a little nervous about throwing the party because earlier in the week it was in the 100′s temperature wise but luckily it cooled off. We had a great time with friends and family and Ethan had a blast. It was a Car’s themed birthday party and of course Ethan is a total boy so it fit him perfectly. He even got lots of car gifts so all was well with the world. Check out pictures from the party below.
*A big thanks to Courtney for some of the photo’s above.
Happy Birthday Little Man! XOXO – Mom and Dad
Jeff and I had a gift certificate given to us by one of his co-workers a while back for a hot air balloon ride that we were dying to use. It was with Aerial Balloon in Snohomish and we had made several attempts to go up in the air but they had all previously been cancelled because of weather.
We woke up at the crack of dawn and met up at the Aerial Balloon at 6 AM for our sunset flight. Luckily the wind was not that bad and the weather was cooperating so we were able to go up this time. There actually really was not any wind so we went up in the air and stayed there. We did go up about 5000 ft and into the clouds which was really cool and when you got up that high you could feel the air change. Once we came down again we caught a little wind and floated over the river right above the trees. When we landed we actually didn’t make it to where the pilot was shooting towards and basically landed in this guys back yard area. It was a pretty thrilling landing because when we came down we barely missed taking out his satalite dish and hitting his roof but we made it safely to the ground. You can check out the pictures below of our adventures.
Also during the previous weekend my sister and her two kids were visiting from Colorado so we met them at Lopez Island for the weekend. My step brother was also able to join us along with his new addition, his puppy Poncho. The weather cooperated so we had a great time playing on the beach and of course trying to not step on Poncho.
This is his favorite Dr. Seuss book, he may not have all words down but I think he has the cadence.
For 4th of July we jumped in the car and headed to Lopez Island for the weekend. We decided to wait until Friday morning to head over and the ferry terminal in Anacortes was a total zoo. We were trying to catch the ten o’clock ferry and by the time we got to Anacortes we had twenty minutes to spare before the ferry left. We did not anticipate the two and a half mile backup though down to the ferry terminal. The ferry was thankfully late leaving the dock so Jeff dropped Ethan and I off at the landing and was expecting to put us on the ferry and take the later one four hours later. They were delayed in getting the cars on however so Jeff ran from the way far away parking lot and literally jumped on the boat as it was pulling away. It was definitely out of a scene from a movie from what he described. When we got to Lopez we were able to relax a bit and hang out on the beach, enjoying the beautiful weather.
On the 4th we went to the parade and we sat up by the start of the parade which was a wise decision. Two of the floats were handing out ice cream cones and rootbeer floats and I guess they ran out halfway through. All of the floats also hand out candy and Ethan made out like a bandit. He got more candy than Halloween. We also went out with Jon in the boat to check out Fisherman’s bay and Ethan got to drive the boat. We were all a little scared when he figured out the throttle. My mom and Jon had a really yummy 4th cookout with pulled pork sandwiches, baked beans, potato salad, and beer. We even roasted smores over the bonfire. Jeff and I stayed awake for the spectacularfireworks and from where we were sitting on the deck we were able to see both Friday Harbor and Lopez shows. We had a great weekend but we are glad to be back home and not traveling for a least another weekend. 
This past weekend Jeff, Ethan, and I went to Seaview Washington with Jeff’s sister Mandy’s family and Jeff’s brother Shane. We had a great time and enjoyed the fantastic weather all weekend. I could not believe that we lucked out with sun and blue sky the whole time we were there.
We left for the 4 hour drive on Friday morning and arrived at Seaview around 3 to check in to our hotel. Once the bags were out of the car we were headed to the beach. As soon as Ethan saw the ocean water and waves he made a b-line for the water. We figured that since the water is not as warm as Mexico he would soon realize this and not want to go near it again. We were totally wrong. He is just a water baby at heart and we could not get him out of the waves even though he was shivering he was just loving it. After our beach venture we headed back and met up with the rest of the fam for dinner and then we had a fire and cooked some smores.
On Saturday we woke up and headed in to town for breakfast and then headed back down to the beach. This time Ethan played a little in the sand and ended up trying to swim in some tide pools. Luckily the water was warm in the tide pools so he was able to stay in a little longer without us having to drag him out kicking and screaming. After the beach we headed into town for some lunch followed by a trip to the amusement rides and arcade since these are necessities for beach towns. Ethan loved the rides and especially liked bowling in the arcade. I think that we will have to take him to a real bowling alley in the near future since he seemed to be pretty good at it.
On Sunday we woke up and went to the beach and the arcade one more time before the long trek home but it was fun had by all. I think this will definitley be a Kalles summer tradition but next time we are thinking possibly renting a house instead and maybe changing locations up a little. I guess you’ll have to wait until next summer to find out where we go next.
