A Reunion with the Chovil's

Three years ago in July, Craig and I took a dream-come-true vacation in Hawaii. We did so many fun things, one was going on a lively dinner cruise where we met a really neat family, Ken, Lisa, and their sons Taylor and Nash. We ran into them again on the beach and enjoyed them so much we started planning things to do together during the days left of our vacation. It was the first time Craig and I ever made friends on vacation! It was so fun and made our trip that much more special. When it was time to say goodbye we left it at "If you ever make it to Iowa come see us and If you ever get to Washington be sure to look us up!" Well, we finally made it to Washington so we looked them up! (Lisa and I have stayed in contact through email and Facebook so it wasn't too difficult.)

The Chovil's live about two hours north of Seattle in Bellingham. We made arrangements with them to meet in Seattle on Friday, then go up to Bellingham to stay with them overnight and take a boat trip on Saturday. We met on the Seattle waterfront and spent a few moments hugging and catching up in Starbucks. Then we made the trek up to Pike Place Market and enjoyed walking through. It was a challenge with a stroller since it was such a busy place!

Ken bought a large salmon at the Seattle Fish Market and grilled it for us that night. It was the best salmon I've ever had!

After we had our fill, we left downtown Seattle for the Ballard Locks, a lock and dam system just outside of Seattle, that allows local boats to go from one body of water to another. We ate lunch at Ray's and then went down to the Locks. It was so cool to watch all the different boats go through! It really makes you want to own a boat...a big boat...!

The next day we took their boat out and enjoyed the beautiful day. When we first talked about taking their boat out I was a little nervous about having Gage aboard. But when I saw their boat I saw how silly it was to be nervous...it was a 40 ft houseboat! We ate lunch on board and enjoyed a 3 hour cruise around the bay. Gage slept the whole time! He started out in the pack and play and then fussed a little halfway through, then slept the rest of the time in Daddy's arms. Must have been just too relaxing!

We headed back to Puyallup that evening. It was sad to say goodbye, knowing it will be a long time before we see them again. How blessed are we to have such good friends...with a big boat! :)