Seattle Vacation 2012: Tanner Edition

We took our almost usually annual trip to WA this summer, but this summer was special because we were going mainly to visit some very special people that we hadn't been able to see for a long time, ever since they betrayed us and moved across the country all for the sake of "education," the jerks.... but that's another story. By some amazing act of a kind God, the Tanner's ended up moving from Kentucky to Maple Valley Washington, only five minutes from Doug's parents! So in the spirit of killing two birds with one stone, but really going to hang out with our friends since they now lived 13 hours away instead of 30, we made the drive up to WA for the 4th of July. We left at 4:00 am from Orem, which may seem insane to some of you, but it's actually really really nice to hit Boise at 9:00 am and Doug's parent's house around 4:30 pm with enough time to unwind, eat dinner, and finish the evening only marginally exhausted. And our kids did excellent on the whole trip. Evelynn is becoming more interested in time, and so the usual answer to the question "When are we going to get there?" (Not for a long time) had to be explained in hours, minutes, seconds, and constant reminder that hours took a long time. I even managed to do well on the trip, not having to make any more stops than the kids did to pee or stretch my legs, so go me. :) This lovely picture of my pretty pink toes was taken somewhere in Idaho. Doug was talking about/making fun of all those people who photograph their feet traveling, saying it was only a cool picture if there was a beach scene behind said feet. So I promptly took a picture of my feet, to capture the moment.

Once upon a time, it was summer.

Summer tiiiimmme, and the livin's eeeeeazyyyyy. (Porgy and Bess) Except that our summertime has bee packed! These pictures are just filling in the gaps of the time when we were less busy. A detailed explanations of our excursions, vacations, and family events will follow.

Las Vegas getaway

Summer, oh summer, how amazingly busy you have been! I still have most of August to go, and my schedule for that is already filling up really fast. School might not come soon enough. I need a break.

Anyway, let's start at the beginning. In May, Doug's parents came down for a visit, during which Doug and I ran away to Vegas for 3 days to have our yearly getaway. Why Vegas you ask? Most people (LDS people that is) find the culture crude and uncomfortable, which can be true depending on where you wander. But Doug and I have been several times now, and the city seems to have cleaned itself up over the past few years. There were hardly any people handing out flyers or other such things, you didn't see pictures all over the ground. The people who go there by and large are there for the drinking and gamboling, but there is a surprising amount of families with children there to see the sights and enjoy the cheap accommodations, which brings me to the main reason we went. Our hotel, which was off the strip and not a casino (no gamboling at all in it actually) was $89 a night, and included a kitchen and a hot breakfast. It was great.