Memorial Day Weekend

 Jay and Kelley came to visit, so we packed all sorts of fun activities into Memorial Day Weekend! They arrived Thursday mid-afternoon and started off with a trip to meet the kids at the bus stop! Haleigh has gymnastics on Thursdays, so we decided that she could still go to her class this week. Jay, Kelley, and I went early to pick her up so they could watch her do some of her tricks!

Friday we had the girls stay home from school and headed out to Stanley Park. Because the weather wasn't very nice, instead of hiking around the park like we originally planned, we went to the Vancouver Aquarium. 

From the aquarium, we drove around Stanley Park and hopped out of the car for a wet walk along the seawall. 

We found this big outdoor pool that the girls would like to come back to!

Unfortunately, we were ready to head home from Vancouver at the same time as everyone else! The traffic was unbelievable, and it took us much longer than we would have liked to get out of the city. Thankfully, we only had to wait a few minutes at the border!

Saturday we had a leisurely morning and then went bowling after lunch. 

Saturday evening Mom, Dad, Kim, and Malachi came over for dinner. (Ben and Kelsey were at Lake Chelan for the weekend and Thane and Elias were in Vancouver at a soccer game.) No pictures, but we enjoyed tri-tip and a nice evening together. 

Our original plan for Sunday had been to go hike Horseshoe Bend Trail, up the Mount Baker Highway. Annaliese hiked it when she was at Outdoor Ed camp and we thought it would be a good one to do with Jay and Kelley here. However, we realized that Ski-to-Sea was happening on Sunday and that it would be best to avoid driving up there! Instead, we went to church, played Phase 10, and went for a walk in the neighborhood.

Longest game of Phase 10 ever! (Haleigh didn't want to play...it's too long of a game and she knew she'd get bored before it was over!)

Monday was Memorial Day and the first day the sun decided to come out! After Kyle completed the Murph at CrossFit, we packed up some lunch/snacks and headed to Maple Falls. We hiked the Maple Creek Trail Loop, a nice 3.5-mile trail that meandered its way through the trails and ended along the falls. We've never hiked in this area before, and it was beautiful! There were so many different shades of green, between the ferns, the trees, and all the moss growing on everything. 

We wrapped up Monday with dinner at El Ranchito before trying to get everyone to bed at a reasonable time for school the next morning!

Jay and Kelley left mid-morning on Tuesday, so they were able to accompany us to the bus stop on Tuesday morning. It was a bit wet!

It was a full weekend, and we wouldn't have had it any other way!