Phoenix::At the Hotel

We stayed at the Marriott for our first few days in Phoenix. Heated pool was definitely worth it! Rand worked from the pool because it never, ever ends and the kids swam and swam and did a little school work. There is nothing like finding summer for a bit in the middle of winter!

 

Someone's getting a little big for this activity!

Clam Digging

So, we got back from the Nutcracker and the very next morning we took off for the beach. Rach was recovered, no one else was sick (confirming the food poisoning suspicion), and along with all the kids, Royal and my dad, we hit the road. Royal's family has a cabin at Long Beach which isn't the closest place for us to get to the beach, but we had a nice cozy place to sleep and yummy food to eat. The clam tide was at 6:00pm so that meant digging in the dark.
I'll be honest, I was REALLY dreading this trip. It was 2 days before Christmas Eve and the beach in winter with 6 kids sounds like a nightmare. Usually cold, rainy and miserable.
Well we lucked out!! It was warm, clear and windless. It could not have been better!

We all dug our limits which resulted in the guys cleaning and processing about 195 clams. Not the part of the experience that I stick around for. We all went to bed and headed back towards home the next morning. We had our clam fry celebration a couple days after Christmas. SO worth it!

 

yummy!

Snowy

The first snow is the best....no matter how wet and short-lived. We woke this morning to 2 very wet inches of snow. I told the boys to go get it while they could and they took full advantage. They didn't even eat breakfast and were gone for about 3 hours!!! Needless to say they came in and pounded about 4 pancakes each.

 

 

Small Town Christmas Parade

Yesterday we went to Shelton and watched the good ol' Christmas parade. I love small town parades, and despite the incredibly rainy weather we've been having, it cleared up and we didn't feel a drop all evening. Fun time, had by all!

I grew up watching the Christmas parade from the balcony over there across the street. 

McComb Funeral Home, baby!

 

my timid, I-don't-like-loud-noises kid

 

and this one...doesn't mind the startling blasts of horns in the least

 

what small (logging) town parade is complete without Paul Bunyan...especially one that limbos under street lights!

A Big Tree Mess

There are pros and cons to living in the woods.
Pro: Lovely scenery, outdoor activities, nature and wildlife.
Con: When you have a big winter storm....it makes a really big mess.

Snow in the woods=really beautiful
Ice Storm and wind in the woods= really scary and eventually ugly.

I haven't left the house since Sunday morning. One week tomorrow. The ice storm that came after all the snow was frightening. All day and night we listened to branches cracking like gun shots and huge branches crashing to the ground. Some sounded real close and some we could tell were in the distance. There are hundreds of thousands without power. I don't know how ours managed to stay on, but the worst we had was about a 30 second black out.

Today it stopped raining for a second and I went outside to look around the house a little bit and see what things were looking like. Ugh, I hate seeing beautiful trees just destroyed. We will see how spring and summer will bring new growth and beauty to nature's natural pruning session!

What a big, big, ugly mess things are though!

Snowmageddon 2012

That's what they are calling it anyway. Snowmageddon. For an area (in the low lands) that sees on average only 10 inches of snow a year...this is a pretty big deal. It's been snowing here at our house since Saturday. It's been patchy all around us, but here at our place, it's been snow, snow, snow. There was quite a bit yesterday morning and Rand had a bit of trouble getting to work. I was sure he wouldn't make it, especially since we don't have a 4-wheel drive vehicle anymore, but he managed. We had almost 7 inches by that point. Yesterday we had some melt which was nice and I emailed Rand a big ol' grocery list.
Sometime after midnight Snowmageddon showed up and I woke around 5am with about 10 inches of new snow on top of what we already had. It has snowed all morning and is finally letting up. We just lost our first big tree branch right in front of our house. We actually saw it go! I'm glad we were all inside when that happened. We were all outside after breakfast and currently are watching a giant tractor plow and clear the roads out here. Makes me feel a little better about being 1 day away from my due date, knowing getting to our house is at least possible!

Fun and exciting and a little nerve-wracking! Hey, at least we have food and I brushed up on my "what to do if you have to deliver your baby by yourself info." I'm ready.