West Side Story

Rob really wanted to spend mother's day with his mother so yesterday we drove over here to the west side of the state. Luckily it isn't too long of a drive; only 6 hours with a nice break half way at Vantage on the Columbia River. We always stop there and let Sam and Grace throw some rocks in the river which is an activity that they never seem to tire of. Also by the time we've been in the car 3 hours it's time to use the potty, and while the bathrooms at the boat launch are just about as foul smelling as any I've experienced, they happen to have the most amazing acoustics ever which Grace and I discovered with a rousing rendition of 'Book of Mormon Stories', which must have been heard from miles away. I'm not sure that I can't still hear the echos. What made our trip even more exciting yesterday was that we were driving our new-to-us minivan!!! Yes, we finally took to plunge and are the proud owners of a 2001 Toyota Sienna with a bit more miles on then I would have hoped but still quite capable of driving us wherever we need to go for the next however many years. It really is quite wonderful to have at least three times as much space as our little Suzuki Esteem, and in true Packer/Hansen fashion we made sure to pack at least 4 times as much stuff for this trip, which means that poor Sam was banished to the outer darkness of the back bench and had to endure his mother throwing snacks all around him but never quite to him. Actually, we had so much stuff because we brought Grace's crib and Sam's old toddler bed to store in Rob's mom's basement and that required moving out half the back bench and folding up Sam's regular seat. So we will have quite oodles of room on the trip back not to mention all the extra room in the apartment with two beds gone.
We had a great day today at the Locks with Rob's brother Rick watching all the boats and ships coming up and down and watching the salmon coming up the fish ladder. We found a great Fish and Chips place where I had a yummy Italian Grilled Cheese sandwich without a hint of fish on it and wound up the day at REI where we got sleeping bags and water shoes for the kids, spending a whopping 96 cents! Gotta love those dividends. The Seattle REI is the flagship store and is really a cool place. Of course, we think all REI's are cool places to go but this one is especially cool with an enormous climbing wall and a great big tree house for the kids to play in. Grace was so tired by the end of the day she was practically catatonic and hopefully the kids will sleep in a bit tomorrow. Rob and I hope to get to the temple tomorrow morning and then will spending the rest of the day preparing for Mother's Day which means Rob will be shopping for brunch foods and I will be getting a pedicure. Sometimes life is just right.