Lovely Little Washington

As some of you know, it had been 7 months since I last saw my family! So a Washington visit was well overdue. We began our journey at approximately 3:00pm on Sunday the 15th (leaving shortly after church). Everyone in the Bloomfield fam was very excited, except Pierre, who had no idea what was about to happen to him.

sneaky kitty.

The Downside of a 14 Hour Road Trip:

• It's 14 hours. In a car.
• You have to drive through the horrible state of Oregon.
• You can't recline your seat because all the back seats are down.
• Therefore, naps practically give you scoliosis.
• Your kitten is scared to death.
• There's only so little time in which gas station snacks and fast food can be enjoyed, before they become obnoxious.
• Other drivers apparently don't understand the concept of cruise control, making passing sometimes awkward..
• Gas station bathrooms.
• Bug guts all over your car.
• Gas prices.

The Upside of a 14 Hour Road Trip:

• Harry Potter on CD!
• Your kitten is scared to death, thus making him extra cuddly!
• You're going someplace awesome.
• Luckily, you packed a mango-avacado salad to snack on.
• Megamind.
• Less idiots on the road at night.

We arrived just before 3am to a slight sprinkling of fresh summer rain and my wonderful mother anxiously awaiting us in the kitchen with some freshly baked monkey bread. She then headed off to work and we grabbed our pillows & crashed while Pierre curiously explored the house.

On Monday, we met my parents for lunch, and then my mom and I discovered why you should NEVER bank with Bank of America. Long story short, BoA had a branch that affiliated with my old job, so when I signed up I got extra perks. Apparently when that branch closed those perks ended (unbeknownst to my mother and me) and they decided to charge me $9/month for not having paperless statements. And since I literally never used that account after moving to Utah, (yeah, there's not a BoA in Utah. They should be renamed Bank of 49 States of America.) I didn't know my $150 turned to -$20. Bullllllllll. Money suckers.

Our afternoon was spent having an intense water-balloon-capture-the-flag-war with my brothers. And I mean intense. There was tree climbing, rooftop gallavanting, and big bruises from vicious balloon throwers.
After dinner we played Curses! a delightful game, and there was much laughter & embarrassment.

Zach and I awoke to a delicious breakfast in bed the next morning and then decided to go to lunch. We went to a darling little restaurant on the Sound called Tugboat Annie's, and discovered that they also rent out kayaks. Of course we had to get in on that!

We kayaked over to Priest Point Park's beach and back again.

Afterward our pants & shoes were soaked! And then my parents called wanting to go see Spiderman. So there we were; wet, tired,  and smelling like sea-water, but happy in the theater :)
We had chocolate trifle that night, (which is quite possibly my favorite dessert ever) and I realized that being 20 doesn't feel much different from being 19! haha

On Wednesday we went hiking near Lake Cushman, which is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful hiking trails ever! Unfortunately, the water was much higher and swifter than last year, so we couldn't ford the river this time #sadness. But it was still fun.

On a much calmer, and deeper part of the river, Zach and I decided to dive in to the freezing water. Uh, what were we thinking?! That's the kind of cold that knocks the air out of you! But, I'm glad I did it, and I would totally do it again. Like, totally. ;)

Oh and I think that night we had spaghetti squash for dinner, which might seem like kind of a 'whatever' life event, but it's freaking amazing!! I honestly don't think I'll go back to noodles. Which is healthier anyway, right?

Thursday Zach and I spent in Seattle. We explored Pike's Place Market, went to the Aquarium, and just wandered around downtown. Oh and ate some awesome fresh seafood: a definite perk of not being landlocked. We wanted to ride the ferris wheel on the pier, but the line was tooooo long.

The next day we hiked Multnomah Falls down in Oregon! It was of course gorgeous. But such a long day-we didn't get back home til 9:30.

breathtaking.

so handsome.

I guess I'm on the last day now :/
The boys went shooting while my mom and I got mani-pedis. Then we packed up our junk, (which got some fantastic new additions including new dining table/chairs, a sewing machine, and some wall decor) and said farewell to Washington at about 5:30 pm July 21st.

lovely Olympian sky.

The drive home actually wasn't bad. I had my first ever 5 hour energy and yeah. There was no way I could sleep if I wanted to. Thus I drove most of the way.

good morning Utah!

Overall it was a much needed vacation :)
However there just wasn't enough time to do everything we wanted! We didn't go to the beach, we didn't spend time with my friends :(((( and a bunch of other plans had to be canceled.
But hopefully we'll be moving up there come December, so I'm sure everyone will be sick of us soon!
Because... Zach applied to the Washington State Patrol! And the tests are in October. He wants to get into the aviation division since commercial piloting is not exactly what he was looking for.

Oh and Pierre absolutely loved Washington. He saw a deer and didn't know what to do! He just ran around, found lots of hiding spots in my parent's house, and was a very happy kitty.
Needless to say, he was not too psyched when we arrived back in our small apartment in a place where he's not allowed outside.

Oh and one last thing. A very sad, heartbreaking thing. A couple days before we left for WA, our sweet little girl kitten, Juniper, started peeing everywhere but her litter box, and she stopped eating. The vet said that even with her medicine and their care, she probably wouldn't stop peeing everywhere for a few days, which wouldn't be okay in our car or my parent's house. So we decided the best thing for her was to give her to the humane society where she would be well taken care of. Many tears were shed, but in the end, we knew it was best. So here's to the sweetest, cuddliest, and most adorable girl kitten to walk the earth: Juniper we still love you!