Orcas!

So I completely forgot that we had a wildlife photographer on our boat when we went whale watching. My friend reminded me today when she asked if I had looked at the pictures yet. I jumped on soon after to see what she had taken. They're pretty sweet. I may have to buy some of them.

So I'm giving credit where credit is due. The wildlife photographer is Monika Wieland and her sight is www.orcawatcher.com. Check it out for some awesome shots.

These following pictures are from our trip on Saturday:





So incredibly awesome, right?!? And yes, I totally saw this breach. And another super awesome one that was right behind our boat. It rocked. :) Just looking at these pictures makes me happy...

happy birthday!

For my birthday, I wanted to go whale watching. That is one of the few perks of living in Washington--we're only a few hours away from the orca whales. We invited some friends and we decided we'd make a day trip out of it.

Longest day of my life.

Let me recount the day for you:

5:00 a.m. Jesse and I wake up to finish packing food and such for the day.
5:45 a.m. Wake up SUPER cranky girls and try to get them into the car.
6:00 a.m. Leave for Anacortes, WA for the Washington State Ferry.
9:00 a.m. Take the ferry across to Friday Harbor. It was CRAZY foggy so we couldn't barely even see the water. I was so nervous that we wouldn't even be able to see the whales.
10:00 a.m. Pull into Friday Harbor and run to the whale watching co.'s office and book it for the boat.
10:30 a.m. Pull out into the foggy Puget Sound to look for whales....

And there were NO current report of whales.

Boo. Abby was crying because she was terrified of the boat. She thought when we put the life vest on her it meant she had to get in the water. She would not let go of us. She was absolutely petrified--literally. Would not move. Fortunately, this boat had an inner cabin where she didn't have to wear the life vest and it had a booth/table set-up with crayons and whale coloring books. Abby stayed there the rest of the time. Claire was also crying because it was nap time. I actually did get her to fall asleep, but I had to take her to the inner cabin too to take off her life vest so she'd sleep. The inner cabin had windows, but it's just not the same... you know?

We got word that the whales were in Canada. Good thing we didn't stay at Lime Kiln Lighthouse or we never would have seen them.

We drove 40 mins. in the water to Canada and found about 30 orca whales. We got to follow along with them for about an hour. We saw two breach, several tail slap, and a few did cartwheels. I can't describe it, but that's what the behavior is called. I was crazy stoked to see them and especially to see two breach. But I still can't decide if it was worth the travel time and the hysterical tantrums my children threw. And unfortunately, because it was such awful lighting (due to spectacular fog) and because I'm a total amateur, I couldn't get any good pictures of the whales. Seriously.

2:00 p.m. Finished the boat tour.

We were originally going to stay on the island, shop, and get dinner, but it was raining. We decided to get the next ferry at 3:45 and just head home. While we were waiting, we bought ice cream and chilled at the ferry landing dock. The kids had a great time playing on it, and Jesse got some awesome camera time in. I was just trying not to pass out because I was so exhausted.

All of these pictures are of the kids.

Next time we're going to make a weekend of it. And next time, my whale watching boat will be without my kids.

We were EXHAUSTED when we got home. On Sunday, I slept 1-4:30 p.m., and then went back to bed at 6 and slept until 6:30 the next morning. Yeah, I was tired.

Abby and J

Baby E

My Claire

Look at the fog. Really??

Thank you, Grandma Jenkins for the girls' red rain jackets! They were so needed on that cold, rainy day in July. Seriously, who still is freezing in July? Oh, we are.

Tales of a Sassy Ballerina Cowgirl

I've missed so many posts: Utah, the beach, the Strawberry Festival. And no, I'm not going to go back and catch up. It's too hard.

So we'll start with the ballerina cowgirl.

My mom sent super cute 4th of July dresses and shirts for the girls. She also sent Abby bright RED cowgirl boots. Don't say cowboy, she will correct you.

Abby LOVES these boots. And she loves leotards. Put it together and you've got
the ballerina cowgirl.

Claire is convinced Abby is the coolest and the funniest. There's just no contest.

Abby struck this pose fast and told me she was "sassy!"
Oh she totally is.

Please ignore my bad lighting and grainy photos. I don't know what caused that. And my nasty back patio. I'm still spring cleaning... in July. Hey, but here, it just stopped raining. I have my excuses. :) Jesse says I'm being mean for not posting Utah and such. Maybe I'll get motivated and post tomorrow too. We'll see.

Loves.