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These tree vines are everywhere down here. They crowd out the trees and everything else.
image credit: http://www.ars.usda.gov/images/docs/9470_9664/k8958-6.jpg

It's getting crowded. We have used up all our space here at The Importance of Being an Internist and are moving on to less crowded pastures. Come find us at Sweating in the Swamp. Follow the link below if you want to follow us for residency in Florida.

sweatingintheswamp [dot] blogspot [dot] com

Bumping Lake Trip

Our last vacationing activity was a trip to Bumping Lake with my fam. We bundled up for most of the weekend and we were glad Mom & Dad and George & Chelsie shared their trailers so we didn't have to freeze in the tent. The poor, lonely tent sat there empty the whole weekend. :) We will have to break it out again someday when it is warmer. 

playing hide and seek with the boys--they were all giggling like crazy. :)

Darwin liked going for "horsey rides" on this branch. :)

Darwin is flying!

talking on his "phone" (aka flashlight)

Hanging out in the trailer

warming up by the fire!

playing baseball with C-man! :)

C-man had the best pitching stare-down ever! And when he was done giving you the stare-down, he pitched the curve ball and then bent himself over to distract the batter. It was awesome. He's so dang fun! :) Video below of his mad pitching skills. 

Braving the cold to hike to the bat caves

The "out" side of the bat caves. The water runs through it and that's how the cave was created. It was pretty neat to see, but hard to get any pictures. We didn't see any bats, but we did see a mouse--ick.

We are camping!

One day, we went for a drive to Mt. Rainier. We decided to go up to Paradise Visitor's Center and spent a bit of time there. On our way back to camp, this is what we saw. We had a nice long drive around the other way. It was an adventure. Still a fun day. :)

Glow stick wars!

Chelsie and George made an awesome birthday dinner for Michael! They dutch ovened it up with BBQ ribs and cheesy potatoes, and then made this chocolate "turd cake." Nasty looking at first, but it came out okay, huh? :) It was delicious and so thoughtful of them to make it special! Thanks, guys! 

And what family camping trip would be complete without a little car trouble? We parked our car when we got there and other people drove the next few days. When we were packing up and getting ready to leave, we noticed we had a flat tire due to a bolt or nail or screw or something that had been sitting in our tire the whole time. Bummer. But, we have been through this before; it was great to have help this time, too. :) Thanks, Dad and Richard. 

Olympics Trip

Before leaving Seattle, we took a trip to Olympic National Park (aka "The Twilight Zone"). We had no luck convincing the boys to stay in "Jacob's Lair" or "Edward's Mansion," but we loved our cute, cozy cabins! :) (Nice find, Tam!) Here are a few shots of our trip. 

Darwin oooooohing and ahhhhing over the GREEN trees on the Trail of Mosses

love these kiddos!!

Darwin found a good pillow

Nana wanted to make sure no one had to put on a wet swimsuit to go to the hot springs, so she took time to blow dry everyone's suits. :)

Hurricane Ridge

Lulu loves snow!

Beach 2? (I can't remember which beach it was, but we hiked about .75 miles to it, carrying firewood, blankets, food,  cameras, toys, etc. the whole way. It was good motivation to EAT EVERYTHING so we wouldn't have to carry it back up.)

I loved how the water skim reflected the clouds.

And Darwin loved throwing mud.

We saw a bald eagle!

 . . . and several starfish in the tide pools.

Darwin liked splashing!

Ace and Lulu liked climbing the trees when no one was looking and then surprising everyone when we came out of the cabin. :)

Lulu got her Dad big time. She was hiding behind this tree, waiting for a unsuspecting victim, and  I think she legitimately scared her dad. :) She tried again and was shooting for Nana or Papa, but instead, she almost scared some strangers who were passing by. :) 

Darwin loved the beach. It was a little chilly, but beautiful! A perfect day!

So Cal Graduation Trip

Note to all photo booth users: Photo Booths are not meant for 4 people. If you try to cram 4 people into a photo booth, there is a chance the bench will break and you will end up with a crazy film strip as seen above left, and leave the photo booth out of commission for the rest of the night. We're not saying it was us, but this did happen to somebody . . .  The only exception is standing photo booths, in which you can really pack 'em in there, as seen above center and right. That is all.

The photo strips are from Michael's grad night festivities. Nana and Papa graciously watched Darwin for us so we could kick up our heels kid-free--a rare occasion. Thanks! I am sad I can't seem to get the photo strips of Kelly & Sally and Amy on here, but they were there and they are great (the people. and the photo strips, too). 

Some people go to faraway lands for their break between med school and residency. Us? We go to Disneyland, of course! :) Drs. Kelly and Michael donning their Mickey graduation caps. 

Darwin especially loved the parade. Simba was his favorite, we think. When he rolled out, all Darwin could do was yell, "Lion! Lion! Raaaar!" and raise the roof with his hands (or, as Michael like to call it, "Lift up the ceiling!").

After the parade, we met up with Robin and JD and their gang for an Astro Blast-off. They totally smoked us, but they gave us some good tricks for our next trip, too. :)

Checking out World of Color at California Adventure

Dr. Drain-dogg and his groupies :)

Some of the people (in all these pics) that really helped him (and US) get through it

Okay, so I had this awesome idea to get Michael 4-ish balloons, one for every year of med school, or even 21 balloons for every year he's been in school, and then we were going to go to the beach and he was going to be like, "What's with all the balloons?" And we were going to have him just let them all go, fly up into the air and away. It was going to be awesome, like letting all the stress of school float away. But, I went to FIVE different stores that normally have helium balloons, and EVERY STINKIN' ONE was out of helium. So, he got one balloon and we didn't let it fly away on Griffith Park's hill (though that would've been awesome, too); instead, Darwin inherited it as a play thing. Maybe he'll forget about it by the end of residency. :)

The lights of L.A. We love California!

At Santa Monica, we found this great gyros place near the beach. 

The Stink Eye.

On Sunday we went to our old ward in Rancho. It was great to see some familiar, friendly faces and to see how well Michael's boys and "my girls" are doing. We have missed them, and missed Rancho. We were sad we missed Sherri and Bruce, though. :(

Another day, we got to meet up with Mark and Tiffany and their little pum'kin. It was so good to see them and catch up. Mike and Nora, you were missed! :)

We found a great coupon for an inexpensive whale watching trip and so we did it. We are so glad we got to go! We actually saw a whale! It was a blue whale and they said they hadn't seen any in the season yet, and our boat saw that company's first blue whale this year! It was super exciting and something that had been on my mental bucket list for a while. Check. :)

Darwin liked the boat. :)

The blue whale.

We saw a whole pod of dolphins, too. They were pretty fun. It was just like a movie. I had no idea that so many of them all swim together! They liked to "play" with the boat.

Darwin loves the pillows. 

Our last day, we went back to Huntington Beach. It was beautiful and calm and leisurely and just great. 

We never actually made it to Huntington Beach when we lived in California, but we think it might be our new favorite. 

They even had a street fair/farmer's market with live music at night. Perfect way to end our trip. :)