Focht Family Blog

I used to think I would never want to live where it snowed. I really love it here and am enjoying the snow! This is the perfect spot. About 20 miles in one way there is a town where there is no snow and 30 miles the other way is so much snow that the pass has been closed because of avalanches the last two days. On Sunday afternoon we decided to drive up to the mountains and take the kids tubing. However, we drove around the parking lots for a long time without finding a spot and ended up going to get some gas and planned to come back and try again at finding a parking spot. This is a HUGE ski area and there were people there to ski and snowboard as well as the tubing. While at the gas station we saw sleds for sale and thought that maybe we would just buy three and find a hill off the road since we saw many people doing this. Another family told us not to bother with the tubing because they only had one size of tubes and the kids would fall through them so that sealed it. They gave us directions to a public sledding hill and we bought three plastic sleds and headed out. Here is a picture of Samantha and Timmy throwing snow at me while we were getting everyone out to go to the hill.

Here is Nathan helping Joshua get his gloves on.

I couldn’t get a picture of us actually sledding since I was sledding with the kids. Timmy and Samantha both took two solo trips at the end but the rest of the day it was one adult with a kid in front of them going down the hill. It was my first time sledding (I feel so deprived). Timmy wants to go skiing so maybe next year we will give that a try. I have been skiing a couple of times. After we were done sledding we took a picture of the kids sitting on the sleds and asked a nice man that was working at the hill to take a picture of all of us.

I almost made it through the day without falling but when we were getting into the car, I loaded the sleds into the trunk and went to close the trunk. I didn’t have any traction with my sneakers so when I pulled down on the door, I slid under the car. My mother-in-law took a picture while Samantha was trying to help me up.

It took me a few minutes to stop laughing so I could get back out from under the car. :)

During the night we had snow falling and didn’t realize it so this is what we woke up to Monday morning.

Samantha took advantage of the snow and built a snow family on one of the sleds complete with a dog.

We were worried that we wouldn’t be able to get out of the campground but by lunchtime we headed out. Nathan had to meet with a client so while he worked we took the kids to the Children’s Museum. I will put that in the next post.

After the Space Needle we walked over to the Pacific Science Center. It is right next to the Space Needle. They have a whole bunch of things in the same area. There is also an amusement park, a children’s museum and a food court in the same area. I am really enjoying our membership to Boonshoft in Ohio. We all got in for free with the reciprocity program. The first building had dinosaurs in it. Both of the boys found a footprint and tried it on for size.

In the second building there were a lot of things that had to do with space. There were displays of soda cans that weighed different amounts and showed what they would weigh on different planets. They also showed how many Earths would fit in one Jupiter and how many Jupiters fit into the Sun. That was humbling to see how small the Earth is in comparison. While in that building, Joshua found a space capsule to play in.

Samantha and Timmy were busy building aliens.

After this building we went into one that had a live bug zoo and a butterfly house. Timmy and Joshua both got to pet a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach. There were also sections where they got to put together bugs. Joshua decided to take his ant for a walk after it was put together.

After the bugs, Nathan helped the kids devise a path to roll a ball down. They had a lot of fun learning what happens you put boards in various places and how it affects the path the ball takes.

The next building had a few more animals. They had some snakes, a display of naked mole rats, and a tide pool area that had starfish, anemones, and sea urchins that the kids could touch. They also had a water area they could play in. We didn’t let them play that long since it was freezing temperatures outside and we didn’t want them wet.

The last area in the science center was an area where you could test your strength and learn about your body and your senses. Timmy ended his day by playing tic-tac-toe with a robot. He thought that was pretty cool. We then went to the food court and headed back to the RV.

I have had a busy week and we have had a visitor for the last few days so I am behind on updating the blog. I am going to try to catch up on our week’s adventures tonight. When we got to Seattle I told Samantha that she needed to work really hard this week to get our schoolwork done because we had a surprise for them at the end of the week. Thursday night after the kids were asleep, Nathan’s mom arrived for a visit. I told the kids that they would have a surprise in the living room when they woke up on Friday. Samantha was up first and when she found grandma in the living room her first question was “Where are we?” Apparently she thought we have driven to GA while she was asleep! :)

The first place we went on Saturday was the Space Needle. It was very cold and windy up top.

After looking outside for a bit the kids and mom decided that watching from inside while eating snacks was a better idea. :)

Nathan, Barbara and I each took a lap around the top so we could see all of the scenery and take some pictures. Unfortunately you cannot see the mountains very clearly but it was beautiful to look out and over the city to see snow crested mountains in the distance. Here are some of my favorite pictures.

I would love to say that Disneyland was wonderful but it was not. It makes me realize how wonderful Disneyworld is. Disneyland was full of rude employees who did not seem to want to be there and on top of that they did not have any double strollers. It was bad enough that I actually wrote a letter to them and I do not usually do things like that. Disneyland was missing the Disney magic.

One of the things I realized is that it is near impossible to take pictures of people on rides when you are also on the ride. The first ride we went on was the Buzz Lightyear ride. I actually think that the Disneyland version is better than the one in Florida because your guns are on cords so you can remove them and aim better, although I still got a pretty low score. :) After the first ride we went to the Blue Bayou restaurant and waited for one of their walk-in tables. Mom wanted to go there because she remembered it and had fond memories. You sit where you can see the boats from the Pirates ride and they make it look like you are sitting out by a dock on the Bayou with lightning bugs all around.

One of the rides that I miss from Disneyworld is the submarine ride. It used to be called 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Now the Disneyland version is called Nemo’s Submarine Voyage. I took a picture of everyone but Josh and I sitting in the submarine waiting for the ride to begin.

Next we went on Autopia. Again I feel like this ride was better than the one in Florida. It has a little off-road section and there is a part where you are driving through a car park. I took a picture of the fountain in the middle of the park and also one that showed a good view of the Matterhorn.

Next we went on the Matterhorn which Josh did not like and Timmy found a little scary. There is a Yeti monster that comes out at you in a couple of places. Next we went on It’s A Small World. It was still decorated for Christmas so that was an extra bonus for us. The rest of my pictures are from this ride. The first picture is of the front of the ride. Every 15 minutes the clock face opens up and a parade of dolls from around the world occurs. I took a picture of the parade while we were standing in line.

The rest of the pictures are from inside the ride. I chose my favorites from the Christmas decorations.

After the few rides I got a wonderfully special meeting with my best friend from when I was Samantha’s age. I reconnected with Amy last year and I wanted to be able to meet with her when we were in town. She has an annual pass to Disney so she met us after she got out of work. I was very honored that she came to meet us since she is 7 weeks pregnant and was very tired. I know when I was at that stage with Samantha, after I worked a full day at work the last thing I would have done is gone out to an amusement park to meet someone. We sat at a restaurant and visited while the kids ate and then went back on the It’s A Small World ride. Unfortunately after that it was getting late and everyone but the kids were getting tired so we decided to call it a day. Maybe we can get back to Disneyland some other time when it isn’t so crowded so we can go on more of the rides.

Thursday we took the kids to Knott’s Berry Farm. They were having a deal this month that if you brought in a can of food you got an adult’s admission for the price of a child’s. This made the day cheaper than the zoo. We spent most of the day at Camp Snoopy. It is a small section that is just for kids, so all of the rides are their size. Here are the kids going into Camp Snoopy.

One of the first rides the kids went on was a envelope that goes up and down. Samantha enjoyed it, Timmy went on it later and enjoyed it but Joshua did NOT like it.

The next picture is of a fun, spinning ride. My mom wanted to go on it but it actually had a height restriction the other way, so Samantha couldn’t go on it either. Here is Timmy and Josh riding it.

After lunch and a few roller-coasters for Samantha and me (nobody else likes them), we went to a show with the Peanuts characters. Samantha and Timmy were both chosen to go up and be part of the band. Here is Samantha playing the washboard and Timmy playing pots and pans.

One of the rides that Joshua liked was the balloon races. We were in little hot air balloons that lift up and spin in a circle. Joshua was with me so I took a picture of my mom with Samantha and Timmy.

One of the last rides the boys went on was one that Samantha wanted to but was too tall for. It was actually work instead of a ride. They were little hand carts that they had to push and pull to make it go around the track. It took Joshua a little bit of time to figure out how to work it but he finally got it. Here is Timmy and Josh pushing and pulling their way around the track.

Friday we went to Disneyland…. that will be next post.