Van Komen Family

Deception Pass, Cape Flattery and Westport trip!

2011-08-30T23:37:00.000-07:00

Well Here I am again. It has been a few years now!! As a family we have recently been trying to find new places to visit. Gabe and I wanted to make a travel book of all the places, but I decided that I would try to add it to our blog. That way it will be easy for us to access it, and it is a way to share with you what our family is doing or if you need vacation ideas! Now that the summer is over, you may not see a post again any time soon!

Below is a map of where we traveled when we went for a vacation on August 25 2011. (Yes, it has taken a couple of weeks to finish this post!) We started off from our home in Issaquah and made a big loop that took us back home three days latter. On the Map A and E is representing our home and B, C, and D are the places that we spent the night.

We first drove up north to Deception Pass. You can take the Mukilteo/Clinton Ferry which we actually tried doing but after seeing the long ferry wait time, we got back on I-5 and went up and around the other way. We Camped out at Deception Pass state park at Bowman Bay. Below is a map of our campsite and notes of which sites we liked the best. There is also a map of Cranberry lake campsite which we didn't have time to explore.

We arrived at the camp ground a little later than we thought. After setting up our tent we took the Kayak in bowman bay. We brought our crabbing equipment along and Gabe dropped the crab pot a few times. We didn't have any luck, but we should have used some different bait and maybe that would have been better. We then went back and roasted hot dogs and had somores for a treat. Cade and Ethan now that they are a little older really enjoy cooking over the fire, especially the marshmallows! We then settled down for the night.

Helping to set up the tent

View of Bowman Bay from our camp site

First the kids had a turn on the kayak!!

Asher's turn!

Gabriel with a crabbing pot looking for dinner!

Kristy on the Kayak, enjoying the splendid view!

In the morning, we decided rather than going home that day, which is what we planed to do that we would continue our trip since Gabe had the time off work and in two days we were planning another trip anyways. So we knew we had a bit of driving ahead of us, so we didn't spend a lot of time at deception pass. We did go out on the dock where more people were crabbing. If we had time and if Gabe hadn't forgot his crabbing license we would have tried crabbing off the dock at bowman bay. But instead we packed up and headed out. We drove south through Oak Harbor and went to Coupeville to get on the Port Townsend Ferry. This ferry is smaller so they actually suggest to make reservations for it.

The boys on the ferry

Asher may have liked the ferry the best!

So we really wanted to go and see Cape Flattery which is near Neah bay. Cape Flattery is the northwesternmost point of the contiguous United States. It was a bit of a drive but we had seen other parts of the Olympic Peninsula before and this was something we hadn't seen before. So we took the drive and made reservations at a camp ground, called Hobuck Beach Resort. We drove past the campground and it was better then we were expecting. As long as it isn't too busy then it would be a nice place to camp that is right near the beach. But I guess we were up for an adventure, or so we thought! We had been told because it is on an Indian reservation that we could camp out anywhere off of hwy 112, which goes right along the ocean. So after checking out the campground we went back the other way and found a place to pull off the side of the road and camped right on the beach. We drove around ??? miles east on hwy 112 before reaching the spot where we stayed.

So this was our campsite! Without telling the long story, I'll just say that Gabe and I didn't sleep too well until after 12:30 a.m. which is was the time of the high tide. Up until then we were worried about being swept away in the ocean! Ok, not really swept away but the high tide did come up a lot further than we thought it would. It was probably only about 15 feet away before it started going back down! It was also a little hard to sleep because we were just out here all by ourselves on a public beach and there was an Indian celebration going on in the town of Neah bay, so we didn't know who would show up latter wanting to continue their partying! But it turned out to be a quite night.

In the morning Cade and Ethan wanted to play pirates. The log that we are standing on was our ship!

This was one of the view points of Cape Flattery. The hike is about 3/4 of a mile each way. There were about 5 or 7 different view points and they were all really pretty.

So part of the walk was too bumpy for the stroller, So Gabe carried Asher like this part of the time, and he seamed to have liked it!

Here is Gabe at what we believe was the northwesternmost point of the contiguous United States.

This Island in the distance is called Tatoosh, which has Cape Flattery's light house on it. After telling a friend of mine where we went she let be borrow a fictional book that her son read in school, and it takes place on Tatoosh Island. It is called "Ghost Canoe" by Will Hobbs It has been fun to read after going there.

After we finished our hike to Cape Flattery, we headed south, all the way to Westport WA. We had reservations at a Hotel, which name is not worth mentioning because we would not stay there again. But we still had a fun trip!

This is Westport's light house, which is the tallest lighthouse in WA. Although it didn't seam that big to us

This is the dock where we went crabbing at. We caught a lot of crabs but none were big enough to take home.

Before we left, we checked out this campground in Westport, and we would for sure camp here if we go back. A lot of the sites are pretty private (as private as it gets for car camping) and we marked some of our favorites on the map below.

So we mostly had hotdogs and peanut butter sandwiches on our trip but we did order a pizza from this place, in fact we got one for dinner and then we got one for lunch before our trip home the next day. It was excelent. We really liked the Greek Goddess pizza that had feta cheese!

Easter

2009-04-13T22:52:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a while since I posted. We are all doing really good. The boys are growing more and more. Ethan is learning new words, loves to be outside, and likes to do what ever his brother is doing. Cades imagination is growing more and more, he loves the movie chitty chitty bang bang, and loves to sleep in mom and dad's bed. They both really like to read books, we like going to story time at the library, and playing outside and planting flowers. Although a squirell keeps taking all of our bulbs that we planted!

Sorry for the view(the crack!), but I thought this picture was so cute. Ethan likes to smell flowers and this is how he smells them when they are really close to the ground. The next picture Ethan is also smelling a flower and you can't see it but a flower is in his hands.

With the really nice weather the boys enjoyed having several easter egg hunts during the week!
I thought it was cute how they both held their baskets around their arm!

So I wanted to try something new, it didn't turn out excatly how I imagined it but it was still fun. The boys and I grew wheat grass in their easter baskets.

I got this suit for him last year and it still fit!

Pictures

2009-02-22T19:54:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from the last few months. They are not in any order. Just last week some of Gabriel's family came in town and this is Ashlyn taking Cade down the slide.

Here is Cade and Ian making cookies with Gabriel.

This is inside our home, you can see our nice fireplace which we use as our main source of heat.

Is this cute or what!

The first picture was the one bellow. Ethan got in the box first and then Cade thought it was a good idea!

These next pictures were taken at a fun park that is close to our house. The boys love going to parks and we enjoy finding new ones to go to. As you can see from the pictures they have some fun things at this park.

Gabriel and I went skiing a while ago and this is a picture of the mountain!

Christmas 2008

2008-12-30T16:00:00.000-08:00

This is Christmas morning at our home.
I made these stockings for the boys.

Christmas afternoon we went over to Gabriel's parents house. Gabriel, the kids and I all made snowmans that afternoon. If you can see there are also two small snowmans in the middle.

2008-12-30T13:29:00.000-08:00

To start with here are some pictures from the last month, and soon I will post pictures of Christmas! Below is the new house we just moved into. We have been enjoying all the snow. I think we got about 14 in. total, which is unusual for the seattle area. This is the old house we were living in.

Cade was just too interested in the train, rather than getting his picture taken! This was at a city light celebration that we went to. The boys enjoyed the train ride!

Time for a hair cut!

2008-12-20T13:25:00.000-08:00

With Cade and now Ethan, I was never anxious to give them their first haricut. But after I cut it, I find that I am more pleased than anything. I did enjoy Ethans curls which you can see in the picture below, although that was right after bath time without being combed down, but still I am sure you would agree it was time for a cut. In fact there was a time or two he was mistaken for a girl while I was at the store. It only makes me sad beause he doesn't look as much like a baby anymore, it is hard to beleive how big our boys are getting!

Ethan's birthday and Halloween

2008-11-25T14:57:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of Ethan's birthday which was on Nov 18. Also I wanted to post pictures of halloween because I never did that. Ethan had a good birthday, he actually blew out his candel on the cake! Cade loves to blow out candles so Ethan has had a bit of practice as well! Gabe also had his birthday the first of november. And Halloween was fun, I love animal costumes.

Trip to Virginia

2008-10-20T11:55:00.000-07:00

The boys and I took a two week trip to Virginia to visit my family. It was a lot of fun. I was not looking forward to the long airplane ride with the two boys by myself but they did so good. The flight there was non stop and left at night, so they slept most of the way. The return flight I had a layover so it was a bit of a longer day but they still did great! It was great to see all of my family and introduce Ethan to everyone considering my mom is the only one that has ever met him! Here are pictures, they are all out of order.

These first two pictures are at a mall near the Washington DC airport that we went to to pass time and let the boys play before my flight left to go back home. Cade absolutely loved the train ride, he didn't like the carousel so much. Ethan was just happy to be out of the carseat and stroller!
The boys helping Grandmother play the piano.

Cade giving Hailey a hug. Hailey is 6 months older than cade.

Me and the boys with their Great Grandparents.
Cade giving Uncle Mark a hug goodbye.
Cade saying hi to scamp

Family picture. We are missing Gabe and 4 other kids.

The Grandchildren, althought with my sister getting remarried we are missing 4 girls that are from my sisters husbands previous marriage. So there are 14 grandchildren total.

Cade helping Granddady clean up and bring things to the shed.

Me and the boys on a hike that we took. It was a stroller friendly hike!
Cade and Hailey looking for fish!
Cade and Cousins sneaking up to the ducks.

San Juan Island Weekend Trip

2008-09-11T12:45:00.000-07:00

Here is a map of the San Juan Islands. We drove to Anacortes then took a ferry to San Juan Island where we camped at Friday and Saturday night. On our way home we stopped at Lopez island. You can take a ferry from San Juan Island to Canada but there wasn't enough time this trip! It would be fun to go to Canada for the 2010 olympics!

This is a picture (obviously no taken by myself) of the campground that we stayed at. Our site was right on the lake. Family picture, which we don't get very often! We were on the ferry.

I thought about my granddady as I took this picture, he likes sail boats.

Picture preparing to dock at the island.
Here is cade driving the boat!

We rented a paddle boat for an hour on the lake by our campsite. Althought in the picture Ethan does not look comfortable he did enjoy it. Gabe and I got more of a workout then we thought we would have.

The paddle boat was smaller so it was hard to paddle with the kids on our laps. We found a nice little seat for cade. Althouh he missed his nap this day and almost fell over from falling asleep so he didn't stay up there very long!!

Cade enjoying chocolate ice cream. He is a chocolate fan!

I don't remember what was going on here, but I thought his expression was...fun.

Ethan enjoying a cracker. He never really ate the baby food so went to table food.

Isn't this such a cute picture!

If you can see the yellow kayak in the water, well that is Gabriel. We rented a kayak and Gabriel and I took turns paddling around for a little bit. We really enjoy kayaking and are looking into eventually getting our own.

This is a light house that we went to on drive around the island.

Adorable Pictures

2008-08-27T09:49:00.000-07:00

Here are some new pictures of the boys!

This is Cade's smile when he says "Cheese"!!!

Cade's 2nd Birthday

2008-08-12T21:26:00.000-07:00

Cade turned 2 on July 20th. I made this truck cake which I was very pleased with how it turned out! Cade got the car that you see below, which he really liked. On the next post I tell you about what cade is up to at year 2.

Cade's Interests at age 2

2008-08-12T20:45:00.000-07:00

Cade loves playing in cars more than anything. On our key chains Cade can pick out the key that goes to which vehicle (we have 3 plus he also knows his grandpas truck key).
Cade also enjoys books, especially reading them before bed time. He likes to help unload the silverware from the dishwasher, put dirty clothes in the washer, sweep and mop. However he does not like the vacuum. He likes putting rocks in his pocket from outside and then they get dumped out all around the house. He likes going to the park. He likes animals but does not like to get to close to them. He enjoys going to the zoo, at this point I think he likes the giraffe the most. He likes to observe other kids and will sometimes sit back and just watch and learn. He is getting good at doing little puzzles. He likes helping me water my plants outside. He enjoys going swimming once he gets in. He likes to see big trucks. He likes sleeping in his toddler bed. He likes going to the bathroom in the toilet but we haven't worked hard enough or spent the time to be fully potty trained. Sometimes he likes sharing with Ethan and other times he tries to take away what ever he has and hands it to me like he is doing me a favor. He is a happy boy that has brought us much joy and laughter.

When we were fixing up our home in Boise Cade liked to help his dad and play with the tools. Recently using piles of cardboard Gabriel put this together so Cade could hammer and screw through it.

Cade loves wearing hats. Whenever he sees a hat he will put it on. As you see he also likes to eat sugar when we make cookies!
He also likes to put socks on his hand! He does this quite often around the house or where ever! After he developed this I made him a sock puppet which he likes.

Part 2

2008-08-01T20:36:00.000-07:00

On the trip we rented some boats and the equipment to go crabbing which was a lot of fun. We had heard that it had been slow so I didn't think we would catch much if anything. To my suprise almost everytime we had several crabs in our trap but they just had to be male and also big enough to take. Between the two boats we rented I beleive we took home 9 crabs. They were yummy! This was Cades first time on a boat smaller than a ferry! He enjoyed it. Ethan however had to miss out on the boat ride and was with Grandma while we took a turn!
We stopped by the tillamook cheese factory and got cheese curds or squeeky cheese as I found out some call it. My favorite icecream right now is tillamook chocolate (I don't remember the exact name)

Oregon Coast Part 1

2008-08-01T15:27:00.000-07:00

In the middle of July we went with Gabes family to the Oregon Coast. We reanted a house right on the ocean, it was great. It was a bit colder than I expected. As you see bellow this is what the boys wore when we went down to the beach. If it wasn't so windy then it wouldn't have been so cold.
Family picture!
This is a lighthouse that we went up which happened to be the tallest in Oregon. Not to brag but I really like this picture!
We rented some Kayaks and this is Gabe and his brother going out. I would have liked to go also but I could barely put my feet in the water it was so cold!

The secret behind this cute picture...........

2008-07-18T13:05:00.000-07:00

This picture looks precious doesn't it, well the truth is is that I was taking pictures of the boys and I asked Cade to go and give Ethan a kiss so I could photograph it. Well Cade went to give Ethan who was happy at the time a kiss but accidently slightly stepped on him and as a result we got this excellent photograph! But it does looks better if you didn't know the whole story! This is a picture of a flower in my mother in-laws yard. She has so many beautiful flowers it is a good place to brush up on my photography.

We finished our house in Boise! I will try to post pictures of it soon. We also just got back from vacation to the Oregon coast, I will post pictures of that as well. But because of limited time I just thought I would share a picture.

2008-06-18T11:58:00.000-07:00

I went to ID for two weeks and then last weekend again so I have neglected our blog! Things are coming right along with our house after many, many weekends of Gabe going to Boise and then I have been there off and on we are about done. Gabe will go next weekend and rent a truck to bring the rest of our things. We have already rented our house out and they will move in the beginning of July. For the last 3 months Gabe has traveled to Boise pretty much every weekend, leaving friday right after he gets off work and then returning late sunday night and sometimes monday morning, just in time to put in a 10 hour day at his job. He has been running non stop so needless to say we are both excited to be done. I know Gabe is looking forward to spending more time with his boys! We are grateful for family that has helped by traveling there to give us a hand or in other ways. I also just have to tell you we have some great neighbors that have really helped out. It has been nice to have them look after the place while we are not there, from checking the mail, putting out our trash, feeding us while we are in town, taking us to the airport, and even watering and mowing the grass.

Here is Cade and Ethan enjoying the sun in Idaho; we were there recently for two weeks. We sure haven't been getting very much sun here in WA, in fact this information was passed on to me from Gabes mom. Seattle is colder than Siberia, Oslo Norway and Anchorage. This is the coldest June on record since 1894 and the 1st June in 40 years that we have had snow on the pass.
These are roses from our house in Idaho. My neighbor cut them and put them in a box so I could take them back to WA with me. I have had them for 1 1/2 weeks and am still enjoying them. We have about 15 rose bushes some aren't doing too well but others are just amazing. I wish I would have taken pictures of them in ID but time flew by with painting and many other things.

Lastly I thought I would share a recepie with you that I actually got off a friends blog and I recently tried it and really liked it.

Bruschetta Chicken

1/4 cup Sun-dried tomato dressing (she and I used italian dressing instead)

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

1 medium tomato, finely chopped

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil or 1 tsp dried basil leaves

Place large sheet of heavy-duty foil over half of grill grate; preheat grill to med heat. Pour 2 Tbsp. of dressing over the chicken in resealable plastic bag and seal bag. Turn bag over several times to evenly coat chicken with dressing. Refrigerate 10 mins. to marinate. Remove chicken from marinade. Grill chicken on uncovered side of grill for 6 min. Meanwhile, combine tomatoes, cheese, basil and remaining marindade. Turn chicken over; place cooked side up, on foil on grill. Top evenly with tomato mixture. Close lid. Grill an additional 8 min or until chicken is cooked through.

After I started I remembered my fresh basil in my little herb garden actually had died and I really wanted some fresh herbs so I put a little oregano and parsley and then some dried basil, and it turned out good also! Also I used more dressing than what it called for.

Thank you for your comments!

Blogging 101

2008-05-22T13:08:00.001-07:00

I just sent out an email letting people know that I have started up my blog page again. Many have asked to see pictures of my boys and this is a good way to keep you up to date. Most of you are new to this so I am going to tell you how you can make a comment so then I know people are looking at it! Under what I posted that day you will see what says comment you can click on that and then you will see where you can leave a comment at. You have to choose an identity which you can just do anonymous if you don't have a google account (but then remember to put your name!) If you would prefer you can just let me know every now and then that you are looking at it. A friend from college introduced the blog page to me and it is a good way to keep up with people. Plus this time around I am finding it enjoyable. I will try to keep it interesting! And I am going to try to post at least a couple times a month.

Day at the Beach

2008-05-22T12:50:00.000-07:00

Last week the sun finally came out so we went to the beach!

Tulips of Washington!

2008-05-11T23:40:00.000-07:00

They have a tulip festival in washington and I was trying to look up information on it, and on their website they had a link to this You Tube video. This is really the first You tube video I have seen and well for some reason I enjoyed this and found it intertaining enough to share with you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R7SABXOYTU

Catch Up Time Again

2008-05-07T23:26:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Me bringing Ethan home from the hospital to our new home.
Ethan when he was about 4 months old
Cade and Ethan

It has been close to a year since I have posted anything but my goal is to post once a week. There is so much to catch up on, but I'll do the quick version. Last time I posted we were still living in Washington. Well in September 2007 we moved back to Boise (which for those who don't know, that is where we lived before and where Gabe graduated from). We bought our first house and lived there until January of 2008. Yes, we were only there for four months when Gabe got an incredible job offer in Washington. He is a project Engineer for Charter Construction. This is a field that he was interested in and contemplating on returning to school to get a degree in construction management. But I must say we received a great blessing and he was able to go right into the work. So again we packed up our moving truck and moved back to WA. We still own our house in Boise and plan to rent it out. Literally a few days before the job offer Gabe started into a remodel project on our house that once started he had to keep going. So Gabe is staying really busy and flying back to Boise on the weekends to finish our kitchen remodel and get it ready to rent it out.

More importantly our Second son was born November 18 2007. His name is Ethan Leslie Van Komen. Cade and Ethan are 16 months apart. Ethan is now almost six months old which is hard to beleive. He has been such a joy. He is a very smiley boy who loves attention and Cade is very good at giving him attention. You can tell he is happy to be here on Earth! He is already just starting to sit up on his own, he sleeps good at night, getting up once to eat. He is not much for Naps during the day. He doesn't want to miss out on anything. He will take naps just short and only a few. Which compared to Cade is quite different from what I remember. He is just another bundle of Joy! If you ask what the biggest difference between Cade and Ethan is, today along with many days I will tell you Ethan spits up a lot more than cade did (and I thought Cade was a spitty up baby) Ethan is growing really well but sometimes I wonder how it seams like he spits everything up.

I love being a Mother my boys including Gabriel, give me such joy and happiness in my life. I feel very blessed.

Magazine Picture

2007-06-19T18:55:00.000-07:00

Here is the attempt to get a picture of Cade and his four cousins that are close in age. Although they are not all smiling it is pretty cute! Cade and Harper are wondering what is wrong with Hailey and Rachel I suppose is just minding her own business.

I have the perfect model to photograph

2007-01-25T16:48:00.000-08:00

Not the best lighting conditions but it sure is fun to take pictures of him. I really like the one when he is looking at the bear.

Catch up time!

2007-01-25T16:28:00.000-08:00

I wanted to put up picures of Christmas and other things but I am so behind so I am not going to try to catch up. We have had quite the weather here, before Christmas their was a wind storm that put us out of power for 5 days. We have also had some snow although it was only a few inches because of the hills and the city isn't prepared (no plowing or puting salt down) it really closes down the city. Chrismas was great, we spent it in Virginia with my family. All 4 of my siblings still live in VA and between all of us my parents have 9 grandchildren.
Gabriel got me an early Birthday present which I love. He got me a digital SLR, the Nikon D 80. I am excited to practice photography more.

Squirrel pets!

2006-12-04T17:16:00.000-08:00

When we lived in Boise we always had squirrels in our yard so during the winter we started to feed them peatuts. now here in WA we have noticed the squirrels or at least this one is really friendly to us so we offered it food. The squirrel's in Boise must have passed the message along!

Oh Christmas Tree

2006-12-04T15:59:00.000-08:00

Toes

2006-12-04T15:44:00.000-08:00

Cade recently has been able to touch his toes which he loves to do often.

Christmas Tree Hunt

2006-12-04T15:26:00.000-08:00

On November 24 we went to a Christmas Tree Farm to get our tree! After finding our tree we took a tractor ride!

Thanksgiving Day nap after the big Feast!

2006-12-04T15:18:00.000-08:00

Cade Sleeping with his Grandpa Van Komen!

Gabriel's Birthday!

2006-11-07T22:40:00.000-08:00

Gabe turned 28 on November 5th. His parents and I got him an I Pod for his birthday, he sometimes likes to listen to music as he works.

Pumpkins

2006-11-07T22:17:00.000-08:00

Cade is really under the costume!
Cade and I go to a class/play group that they offer at the hospital. It is once a week and they have speakers that come and talk about all different kinds of things. So this is a picture of Cade and all the other babies. Don't you love the flower costume!
We carved a family of pumpkins and learned that they only last a few days (if that) if you keep them inside a warm appartment. We had to throw them out before halloween.

Halloween

2006-11-07T17:27:00.000-08:00


We carved pumpkins

Friends came to visit

2006-11-07T17:21:00.000-08:00

Katie and her son Marcus came from Boise to visit us for a few days! I met Katie while I lived in UT 5 years ago.

Growing boy

2006-11-02T22:22:00.000-08:00

Day at the Fair

2006-10-24T20:09:00.000-07:00

September 23, 2006 we spent the day at the fair!

Blessing

2006-10-24T19:19:00.000-07:00

September 17 Gabriel Blessed Cade at church.
Cade's middle name is Jan which is Gabriel's middle name and his dad's first name.

Cade 4 - 8 weeks old

2006-10-24T18:29:00.000-07:00

Blessings of Family

2006-10-18T23:28:00.000-07:00

Kristy's mom, dad, and brother Mark came all the way from Virginia to see baby Cade. Cade's is lucky to have his other grandparents living close by.

One Day Old

2006-10-18T22:11:00.000-07:00

Cade Arrived!

2006-10-18T15:42:00.000-07:00

Cade Jan Van Komen was born on July 20, 2006 at 2:22 pm. He weighed 6.11 lb and was 21 in long. He was born at evergreen hospital in WA state. He was born only 30 minutes after we arrived at the hospital (our doctor kept on telling us not to come in yet, but luckily we stopped listening)!