Work-cation

I traveled a lot this summer for work - way way more than usual and way more this year than any other year! But there are some benefits...1. small vaycay from the kids, 2. I get to hang with co-worker friends, 3. I get to play tourist.

The Seattle Wheel - built after we moved away from Seattle - very fun to get the opportunity to ride with my Los Angeles coworker on her first trip ever to Seattle.

My LA co-workers

I took this funny pano shot of our team at dinner and found this gem when I zoomed in on them.

After the team meeting we found ourselves a speakeasy - fun, tiny, bar in an alley with yummy from scratch drinks.

Handy Ellie

We have really enjoyed the kids clinics at Home Depot and Lowe's, when we have a free weekend that is. Ellie has done a couple projects this summer and had a blast. Despite not having enough power to get those nails in all the way, she does really good at trying to do most of it herself.

Spokane Indians with PPCC

Our daycare is great! Pacific Park Children's Center (PPCC) hosted a group night at the Spokane Indians game. The kids had a blast - they had friends, teachers and dollar night - how could you go wrong?

Showing off their foam baseballs

Ellie and her friend Daphne

Being silly

Ryan being silly with Miss Donna - his favorite teacher

Jen's 30th Birthday

My best friend Jen, celebrated her 30th birthday in mid-June, but we delayed the celebration until we could all be together. She made plans with another friend to take us out on Lake Washington in Seattle on his yacht! It was a beautiful day, warm and not windy. We enjoyed a relaxing time on the boat and then headed out to dinner with more friends.

Camping at Salmon la Sac

Just prior to all the fires starting in Washington State, we were lucky enough to get out camping to one of our favorite locations - Salmon la Sac. It was a HOT weekend, but the shaded campground and the nearby river made it easy to cool off. We love these large family camping weekends! 

The same crew from our last camping adventure last fall! 

We drove about 9 miles up a mountain to find beautiful waterfalls, rivers and amazing scenery.

A trip to Sandpoint

In celebration of my dad's 60th birthday earlier this year, we planned a family trip to Sandpoint, Idaho. We rented a beautiful home on the Idaho Club Golf Course just outside of town.

It started with dinner at McDuffs - they have the best beer cheese soup. On our way there, Ellie and I found this fun, colorful alley.

The next morning we ventured out to the beach on Lake Pend Orielle. It was a bit cold that morning, still under 60 degrees, but the kids didn't seem to mind. 

showing off her moat - she named it Moses Lake

Lunch at Bricks and Barley

The Idaho Club has an interesting history which includes Jack Nickolas, a fire at the 9.2 million dollar clubhouse, and landing in a sheriff's auction as of a few weeks ago. Sure hope to see the group that bought it restore it to what it had been. 

Adventures in Dental Work

Ellie has a pretty substantial cross bite. We've known it for awhile, but the earliest they will do anything about it is 4.5 years old and really depends on the kid's personality. We hit that magic number and Ellie seemed to be pretty calm at the dentist so we tried it out. She had an appointment to get fitted for the rings that would attach to her molars and have a mold made. During this first appointment, Ellie was amazing. They tried 6 different rings on the first molar and 2 on the second. Ellie was just as relaxed as could be. When we went to take the impression, she had more difficulty. The goo started to gag her and she freaked out a bit. Once we sat her up right that helped with the gag and she calmed down.

And in another appointment they attached the device. This was not as easy as the first appointment. The minute they put the device in she freaked out. I promised her a lot of things to get her to calm down but nothing worked. We ended up giving her some nitrous and that calmed her down just enough for us to work. We got it in and in a matter of minutes she was back to her happy self. I kept my word on all those things I promised - ordered the Elsa (Frozen) doll in the parking lot from my phone on Amazon Prime, we made cookies that week and we also went and had pedicures at a nail salon (a first for Ellie).

This is the device in place

Special lunch date with Dad after appointment

What's more impressive, is that we had to 'turn' the device every night. Ellie did this without issue! She would plop her butt down on the floor every night, open her mouth and tilt her head back for me. Sometimes it was a struggle to get the little 'key' in the hole, but even when it wasn't quick, Ellie was calm.

Unfortunately for us, this all came to an end this week. She had her 2 week check up and determined we needed 10 more turns. And then the device would come out in 4 more months. Jared had done the last few turns while I was gone for the weekend, so when I turned it Monday night I was surprised to see some of the composite that holds the front of the device in place missing. Not sure how it didn't get caught at the appointment, so back she went on Tuesday. What they found out is that the entire device was loose. So they had to take it out completely and reglue it. Except that it wouldn't hold. The device had some issues and ultimately was too loose. Because Ellie had a similar reaction to taking it out and putting it back in this time as she did the first time, the decision was made to just wait a couple more years until she was more comfortable to  remake the device and put it in again.

Although it was a little disappointing to have wasted so much time and effort on this, I am glad that the dentist has her interest in mind instead of financial gain. Additionally, they refunded our payment because it was a device problem and nothing to do with Ellie.