Summer in the States ~ 2010 ~ Seattle & Canada

July 4th Celebration!

We spent a quiet day at Dennis' folks house on the 4th. Dennis' Uncle Bob & Aunt Arlene Cooley, Uncle Ken & Aunt Gretchen Graybeal, Cousin, Susie & Marc Burns & their daughter Amanda, and sister, Carol, came over for the afternoon. It was a fun afternoon of visiting, playing bocce ball, and enjoying the mild Seattle weather.

Elisabeth, Hannah & Amanda play some Bocce Ball!

The men get in a game, or two, or three of Bocce Ball too!

Aunt Gretchen & Uncle Ken Graybeal
(Mary's sister)

Cousin Susie, Marc & Amanda Burns
(Ken & Gretchen's daughter)

Uncle Bob & Aunt Arlene Cooley
(John's brother)
~~~
Fun with the Grands!

Cooking with Grandma is always fun!
Hannah rolls out the lefse!

Lefse is one of our favorite things to have when we're with G'pa & G'ma Cooley!!
Lizzy was the official lefse cooker.

Caleb tries out the Bass Recorder. He did quite well with it.

The guys went golfing to a fun short nine course. They had a great time.

This is how close Nathanael got to a hole in one! Great shot!

~~~
Canada!!

We went as a family up to Vancouver Island, British Columbia for 4 days!
It was great fun! Our friend, Laura Polston (who student taught at AVA), joined us for this trip!
Lots of great memories!

All aboard the BC Ferries for a beautiful ride to Vancouver Island!

BC Ferries

We were delighted to pass by a pod of orca whales on the ferry ride!
Very cool!

Beautiful Mount Baker was visible in the wonderful weather
we experienced on our trip!
Gorgeous!!!
~~~
The Butchart Gardens Victoria, BC

Our first stop on the Island was at Butchart Gardens near Victoria.
Fabulous Flowers!

Dennis & John try playing the statue instruments at the Gardens.
Not much sound, but the acting was amazing!! Ha!

The Sunken Garden
Formerly a stone quarry, turned into a wonderful flower garden

The Cooley Family in the Rose Garden!
It was a sea of roses, with every color and scent you can imagine.
Breathtakingly beautiful!

The wonders of God's creation were evident everywhere in these gardens.
His imagination is untold!

In the rose garden

Lizzy, Laura & Caleb

Cooley Cousins by the fountain
~~~
Qualicum Beach, Vancouver Island, BC

We stayed at these great condos for three nights.
Very restful!

The view from our balcony!
Gorgeous!

Skipping stones into the bay...

Grandpa Cooley

Swimming with the jellies!
The bay had a bunch of baby jelly fish when the tide came up.

Enjoying a walk on the rocky beach!

Hannah and her shell collection!

Caleb & Dennis visit on some driftwood!

Colin shows us one of the tiny crabs that were EVERYWHERE on the beach!

Qualicum Bay at 10:00pm!

We visited a VERY COLD lake on Vancouver Island!
The water was about 55 degrees!!
Too cold for me, but not for some!
Uncle Gordon cheers Hannah as she takes the plunge!

We had a nice walk in the Cathedral Grove.

The cousins by the largest tree in the grove.

We celebrated G'pa & G'ma's birthdays while we were all together.
Yummy cheesecake & carrot cake!

We took another ferry back over to the main land for a day in Vancouver.
~~~
Vancouver, BC

Vancouver is a beautiful city!

We spent one afternoon on Grouse Mountain. That was a fabulous place with lots to see.
We took a gondola ride straight up the side of the mountain.

There were many amazing carvings to look at.

We took in the last Lumberjack Show of the day! This was an exciting show where we learned all about the life and job of a lumberjack.

And, thrill of all thrills, I got chosen to be part of the show, demonstrating the use of the two-man (or woman) crosscut saw. I also got to wear a very cute outfit!

Lumberjack Johnny and I toasted the other team.
I may have missed my calling in life! HA!

We took a chairlift further up the mountain to see the beauty from higher up.

Laura and I enjoying our ride. We saw grizzly and black bears from the lift. Very cool!

The scenery was so beautiful!

This is the Grouse Mountain area and the city of Vancouver.

Lizzy & Hannah, up on top!!

Cooley & Ferguson Gang ~ A Mountain Top Experience!

~~~

The next morning, we went to Stanley Park for a few hours. Before that, however, Dennis & Nathanael did the Grouse Grind. This is basically a climb (almost all stair type steps) straight up the mountain where we had taken the gondola the day before. It is 1.8 miles up (2830 steps...they didn't count them, I got that from the internet)! It took them just over an hour to climb, and for the well-being of their knees, they took the gondola back down.

In Stanley Park

Lighthouse in Stanley Park
~~~
We headed back to Seattle after our time at the park.

The Border crossing was beautiful. We actually saw three different wedding parties at the gardens there.

Flower Flags for each country
~ Canada ~

~ US ~

Peace Arch
~~~
We had an amazing family vacation in BC.
Great memories!!

~~~

Seattle!!

Our friend Laura had never been to Seattle, and the kids didn't remember many of the sites of Seattle, so we took a day to see some of downtown. We had beautiful weather and a great time!

Pike's Place Market is always a fascinating place to visit. You can never see all of it.

Beautiful fruits, veggies, flowers, and more!!

Of course, you have to watch them throw fish at the fish market!

We went to the original Starbucks and had some coffee!

The architecture of the city is fabulous!

The very cool Space Needle, which is WAY too expensive to go up these days!!

We watched the "dancing" fountain...

...then ran down to touch it in between "shows."
None of our people got wet! :o)

Here is just one of Seattle's many seagull residents.

The Puget Sound with Safeco Field (Mariners) & QWest Field (Seahawks) in the background.
Mount Rainier is even showing it's beauty!
~~~
We had a wonderful time in WA & Canada with family & friends!!