Well, what can I say.... the last 2 weeks were wonderful! To have all my family here; to share with them my new life in Washington was certainly a positive experience we'll never forget. Here's a run down of the whole trip...

Monday June 26th, Clayton and I headed to the airport to pick them up, Gary my brother-in-law was to drive a car we had hired. The plane landed at least half hour late, which meant after customs they met up with us at least 2 hours later than planned. After getting their baggage we had planned to get the car, but unfortunately there was a huge misunderstanding, which I'd rather not get into. Upon sorting that out we finally got on the road at least 3 and a half hours later, however, we got into a heavy construction area which laid us over for a good 45 minutes. By the time we got everyone to the hotel it was 2 am in the morning.

Tuesday June 27th, was a better day. Everyone adjusted well to the time difference and the first thing we hit was the mall. For lunch we went to a buffet place, which made everyone very stuffed. In the afternoon we headed to our cottage and spend a couple of hours talking, it was nice to be able to show all my family our place. Everyone really liked the cottage, and loved Liza the cat. On the way back to the hotel we stopped off at Silver Lake Park where most of us went paddle boating. That was a great laugh!

Wednesday June 28th, brought some more lovely hot weather, which meant a trip to Mount Baker. Sunny glorious views, and wonderful family company, as well snowball fights what more could you ask for? Hmm well at least Barnaby Bear had a great time! Upon getting back to the hotel it was time for another Mall visit!!

Thursday June 29th, was all about the local places, we headed to Tube Time (where I work). We spend the whole morning running around trying to keep up with Joanna my niece age 6 and Ethan my nephew age 4. All I can say is.... I'm not as young as I used to be, or maybe I'm not as fit as I should be. Eventually everyone got tired out so we headed to the Train Museum, which I think everyone enjoyed. And yes dad I saw you playing with the trains!!

Friday June 30th, we went to Fairhaven, which involved going to the pottery place where Clayton and I went a couple of months back. The kids painted for a while. After that we went to another Country park, but it was so hot (89 degrees) we ended up leaving early.

Saturday July 1st, was yet another mall day. I think total we all spend about $750. Talk about shopaholics huh!

Sunday July 2nd, was a lazy day at the hotel swimming pool. We all worked up a nice tan, and had so much fun swimming. In the evening we had a BBQ at our cottage, which was great. We invited Clayton's parents and everyone enjoyed the family company.

Monday July 3rd, we went to Birch Bay Family Fun; which included Train rides, Go-Karting and Mini Golf. Everyone had a super fun time, we all played mini golf and most of us caught the sun. Although, Emily (my sister) got sunburned pretty bad. Mum & Dad you're both crap at Mini Golf hehe!

Tuesday July 4th, Happy Independence Day! We all went to the bay; to have a lovely picnic and watch the fireworks. What we didn't anticipate was the weather. All I can say was everyone was bloody freezing! It had been so warm the last week, and now it was cold and the chill coming in from the bay reminded me of a winter's night. Anyway we all laughed through the cold and enjoyed the fabulous fireworks that only lasted 20mins.

Wednesday July 5th, we headed to Seattle for the day. Everyone wanted to visit the Ye Olde Curiosity Shop, and see the well-preserved mummy of a man which was on the Mummy Road Show. What I found utterly disturbing was when my nephew came up to me and asked me if he could buy a postcard of Sylvester the mummy. Eventually he traded it in for a pig catapult, yeah I know still wired. Lunch was at Red Robin that day. We then headed to Pikes Place Market, which we all got completely lost in, and I mean lost. It took us a good hour to find everyone.

Thursday July 6th, Clayton & Natalie's 2nd year Wedding Anniversary. Everyone took me to the new Build-a-Bear that just opened up in the mall. The kids picked out thier bears, and Clayton and I picked out a special Anniversary Bear, named Annie. We had a special Anniversary dinner at the Olive Garden.

Friday July 7th, we went to Vancouver Canada. This was the first time I had visited Vancouver, I was also a bit anxious due to my green card nearly expiring. But we all went and had a great time. We went on the Sky Train, which took us to all the best tourist spots. We walked along the waterfront, which was a great view of Vancouver. We then all went to IMAX-3D to watch an underwater movie that was narrated by Johnny Depp. We then headed to Gas town, which took us to a steam clock, which was quite cool.

Saturday July 8th, Clayton, my sisters, my brother-in-law and I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. This movie was great, so much better than the first. In the evening we went to Clayton's parents for a BBQ.

Sunday July 9th, we headed to Tube Time one last time, the kids had fun playing while we all watched the World Cup. Then to celebrate the result of the World Cup we went to Olive Garden for lunch.

Monday July 10th, was an emotional day for all of us. Sadly the family vacation had to end sometime. After everyone checked out of the hotel, we had lunch back at our cottage before the long journey to the airport and for them- home.

And if you haven't already seen the photos to the right then please click here