Sand and Sawdust Festival

On the fly we decided to go to Ocean Shores for the Sand and Sawdust Festival. It was overcast in UP and none of us had motivation. We just had to decide between the Taste of Tacoma and the beach. Ryan chose the beach so off we went. What a great idea! It was beautiful, super windy, but beautiful! (I know it cleared up eventually in UP but we needed the sun asap!).


When we got to Ocean Shores it was packed, of course. We saw the chainsaw carvings right away but we still had to find the sand castle competition. We parked in between the town and the sand and when hunting for sand castles. We followed the kites and crowds and found them. We were a little disappointed. We had expected more sand castle builders but there seemed to be about 10 and they were in the middle of building them. It was cool to see them building them but I really wanted to see the final products. We walked around eyeing them for a bit and then headed off to see the "sawdust" part of the festival. It was so nice walking around barefoot in the warm sand.

At the chainsaw carvings we found we were REALLY impressed by what they could do. There were carvings of every kind imaginable - characters from Where theWild Things Are, Betty Boop, giant stingrays, turtles, beavers, Big Foot, bears, of course, and so many others creatures. The men were still carving as well so we all pretty much got sawdust in our eyes because, as was mentioned, it was WINDY! It was really neat to see them carving with chainsaws and I really wanted a masterpiece for ourselves but didn't want to walk around with it.

There were a lot of chainsaw carvers from around Bruce's home town. This shouldn't be such a shock, it is mountain country up there, but I thought they never left their hometowns. Just shows how little I know :) They were from Wilkeson, Buckley, Bonney Lake, Lake Tapps and then from Tacoma, Seattle, Aberdeen and La Center (where ever that is). They were impressive.

We also walked around the fair area where I willingly purchased nick-nacks! Yikes, they were cute little owls made from giant pine cones and they were such a good price for a unique little thing I haven't seen before. We ate hard ice cream and looked at jewelry and some kooky bead lady gave Ryan free stickers because she thought he was such a gentleman (he was because Britt didn't have cash so he whipped his out for her - what a sweet heart).

Afterwards we went to this kitschy little shop, Sharky's, where we took pictures in the shark's mouth and bought, wait for it............. a shark! Gross! A dead little baby shark preserved in formaldehyde. It was a MUST to buy for Ryan who was trying to decide what to purchase as his souvenir for that day.  We carefully took it back to the car and put it in the cooler. Bruce laughed at me but, seriously, would you like that broken in your trunk and ruining your car or ruining your food in a contained cooler. Ok, then.

Then we were off to go fly a kite. We've had this kite for at least 3 years, probably 4, and have never flown it. Brittany and I found out we weren't that good at flying kites. Bruce and Ryan found out they were, hmpf. Well, they got it up and showed us what to do and we all got the hang of flying our 6 foot wingspan dragon kite. It looked so big while we were preparing it and so tiny once it was up in the sky.

 After flying the kites we went to look at the finished products of the sand castles. The competition had just ended and they were taking the honey buckets away and filling up the giant holes that had been created for water. Sadly, people were destroying sand castles while others were still trying to look at them and take pictures. We got to see most of them unharmed.

 And we played in the sand and surf a bit. Or, at least Ryan did :)

 Of course there were pirates there!

 Britt and Ryan jumping for joy for such a great day!

 Fun Group Photos!

We had a perfect day. Great weather, albeit a tad too windy, great fun and great company. On the way home Britt and Ryan slept while Bruce unknotted our kite string (wind!) and I drove. At home Ryan and Britt were ready to continue their Harry Potter movie marathon and then we all slept well that night. The End.

I'm So Excited and I Just Can't Hide It

No, I'm not pregnant. I'm just really excited for the 4th of July this year. I'm not sure why, I just am. I plan on having wonderful weather like the 4th of July a couple of years ago. I want I want I want! Or, it's because I feel like cooking; thus, I have been planning my own 4th of July menu.

This year I'm going to make miniature fruit pizzas. Last time I tried to make them, while I was letting the giant "pizza" (aka sugar cookie) cool off on the counter while everyone hung out outside, Des was inside breaking my giant cookie and eating it! It was not going to be a fruit pizza if it was in bite size crumbles! I was really upset by that. I did eventually make them again, but I think I'll just be safe this year and make them regular cookie sized.

We always BBQ, but I was thinking of making sliders this year. They look fun. Of course, I don't eat burgers so that may not happen. Black Bean Sliders?? Hmmm...I'm going to have to think on that one.

I also thought it would be fun to have a festive drink - something we never do! Not Kool-Aid, but maybe strawberry lemonade with blue berries and a dollup of whip cream? That sounds festive.

I wanted to do Red White and Blue potato salad but, alas, I don't know where to find blue potatoes. I wonder if I can dye small potatoes blue. Hmmm, another thing to think about. Oooh, and fruit  kabobs could be fun and yummy too.

So, I guess the menu is what I'm excited about - not to mention I love hanging out at the lake on a nice day with friends and family. Just a few more weeks!

Phew!

June has already felt like a crazy month. I'm not really sure why, but we were busy a lot so that may have had something to do with it. The first weekend in June was pretty uneventful but on June 11th Des had her wedding reception. That meant that on the Friday before, after working at the school, I went to Des's house and helped a little with cupcakes but I had to run because of Ryan's baseball dinner. After his dinner we were back over at the house so he could help decorate cupcakes (I don't know if "helped" is the right word, I don't think they ended up using his cupcakes and he made a big mess). We were back over at the house early in the morning to continue to "help" but we all had to hurry and get ready so we could drive to Shelton to help decorate and set up. We had fun at Mike's aunt's house where they had a beautiful back yard that could only have been more perfect if the sun decided to stay out. Then we left to drop Ryan off at his mom's so he could go to his cousin's birthday party the next day.

This weekend aunt Marcia and Wendy came to visit and it was my last week of working at school! I worked a half day and got a lot of yard work done because the weather was awesome. I visited Marcia and Wendy at daddy's house until late Friday night. We went over on Saturday to hang out again until we had to rush home to have dinner with Mike and Stephanie. It was gross on Saturday but I was happy because I love hanging out with my family telling stories. Unfortunately, Des was in California (ironic, right?). Our dinner with Mike and Steph was to plan for Maui! Maui will be a first for Bruce and I and we're excited. I don't know why Steph wanted us to help plan, this will be her 3rd or 4th time and she had pretty much thought  of everything.  She didn't really need us. However, we were also planning some trips for this summer (tubing the Wenatchee and another Whale Watching tour so Steph could see her beloved Orcas) so we got that all squared away.

Next weekend we're thinking about going to Longview to watch a Saw & Sand Contest with log carvings and sand castles. OR... we could go to the Taste to Tacoma at Pt. Defiance. It gets a little crazy there but it could be fun. OR...we could actually stay at home and get some yard work and cleaning done (exciting, I know). OR...we could go to Long Lake and play badminton or corn-hole. So many options. What to do What to do? I wish summer could last a little longer here so that I didn't feel the need to cram everything into just a few short weekends.  I love summer :)