DMB at The Gorge

While we were still in New Zealand, Bill saw that Dave Matthews Band was playing at the Gorge at the end of August. They had a “family weekend” thing going on where kids under 10 were free on Friday and Sunday night for lawn seats. We decided to take the kids.

Bill said we need to be there at 3pm so we showed up right about that time. The kids were stretching after the 5 hour drive.

Quick family snapshot of our first concert together.

Heading into The Gorge.

the view is incredible!

After we found a good spot and settled in – we started talking to some people around us who had been there all weekend and said Dave wasn’t coming on until 7pm. OUCH! for some reason he thought they were coming on early. Oh well – we realized we had many hours to burn so Bill and the kids took trips here and there for food and drinks and bathroom breaks. Then the opening act – Brandi Carlile came on and she was great. The kids had fun dancing to her music.

these two were adorable.

there was another little girl near us who came much better prepared. Coloring books, toys, ear protection, younameit. She brought the coloring book and crayons over on her own to share and play with E&C. So cute watching 3 – 3 year olds play together while at a concert.

a panoramic of the scene.

at dusk it was awesome. I had to run to our car to get more towels and warm clothes. it got cold fast!

bill was beyond excited that Tim Reynolds and Jeff Coffin were there.

our kids were naturals with the glow sticks and people were handing them over to the kids like crazy because they thought they were cute.

like any concert there was smoking going on – both pot and cigarettes (remember WA has now legalized pot). But overall it was a pretty tame area that we were in and the kids didn’t even mention the various smells. so glad we took them!!

this was about 9:45pm and we were still going strong. the flash was hard to anticipate though.

this photo took forever to flash and take and it was PITCH black out there so we were a bit stunned by the brightness. The kids and I would occasionally sit down and cozy up for some warmth.

when all the kids started laying down and getting cozy and settling in. It was about 10:30 and we still had a 2 hour drive home. Once the kids started looking like they were going to fall asleep I convinced Bill that we should leave soon. We left about 11pm, which I thought was really good for us. Bill was a bit bummed to miss out on all the rest of the songs and had to check out the set list this morning to see how long they played. I hope we can do this again sometime. It was great fun!

Labor Day weekend at Priest Lake

the week after Bill started work he came home and said “hey, one of the partners invited us to their lake house for the weekend – wanna go?” I said yes without thinking and then as we got closer to going I started thinking – do they have young kids? do they know who they have just invited into their relaxing labor day weekend? what should I bring? Bill didn’t get me too much info so we threw a few things into our bags on Friday night and hit the road around 6:45pm. It is about a 2 hour drive and we thoughtfully gave the kids a little dose of liquid melatonin about 15 minutes prior to arriving to help with a QUICK put down for bedtime. I was VERY thankful for that smart thinking because we walked into dessert time being served with 2 adult couples (who I now realize I am lumped in with – even if they are in their 50s) and some of their awesome college aged kids. Al & Val are the couple who own the house and Al is a partner at Spokane ENT. Doug and his wife Julie were there with their 3 kids. Doug is a well known Ear surgeon out of Seattle and Bill had been put in touch with him before through a mutual friend. Bill was happy to meet Doug in person and both families were very welcoming to some random people. Doug and Al had attended Medical School together.

Saturday morning we woke up to a beautiful – bit chilly – day.  The guys had gone out waterskiing at 6:45am and Val and Al had prepared an amazing pancake breakfast. After chowing down, we headed down to the beach.  Priest Lake is stunning!

Claire.

the water is so clear and at this time of year is warm! Priest is a large lake about 30 miles long and has a lot of little islands inside of it.

it was pretty chilly when the sun went behind the clouds so we spent a lot of time curled up together talking. Val came out and joined us for awhile which was great. Val is OB/GYN doc turned palliative care/hospice doc now.

charlie curled up with me on the swing.

after lunch we took a long relaxing boat ride around the entire lake. Doug, Julie and their family were dropping their middle child off in Spokane at Whitworth College that day.

all three kids took little naps on the boat, which made it extra enjoyable!

I knew I had to get out and ski one of the days since it hadn’t happened in 2 years! I braved the cold on sunday morning.

I don’t really test the limits because I hate wiping out while waterskiing.

a beautiful place to ski!

then bill went out again and showed off his skills.

we arrived back at the dock to find Doug and his 2 kids fishing. Charlie was pumped!

lindsay is 16 and so sweet. Ellie. Claire. Charlie and Al.

Taylor fishing.

the new side braid – we are almost at a full on elsa braid!

Doug and Charlie.

Charlie’s catch!

Claire’s catch.

E&C were most interested in the worms.

the breakfast table. Doug, Taylor, me, Julie and Al – picking his nose like Charlie always is.

We loaded up the car after this and hit the road for The Gorge to see Dave Matthews Band. Overall the kids did great being at a new place. They had a great loft in this house that was full of old toys and the kids LOVED it. the only bummer was there was a 2000 celebration barbie that was in original packaging that they were saving (their daughter had bought it was she was younger) – well guess who saw it and instantly BUSTED it open?!?! E&C! Thankfully crazier people are selling them on ebay for not that much so we snatched one up and will be delivering it to Al and Val’s house once it arrives. The joys of having little ones around!