Bear the fish

This is just a short post to pass on the very tragic and belated news of Bear the fish's most untimely death. He passed on just one week and one day after we were blessed to welcome him into our home. The cause of death is at this time undetermined, although overfeeding and halloween make-up are probable contributants. He was discovered floating calmly among his plastic fern fronds, his favorite and solitary tank decoration. He was discovered by his grieving fishmother and laid to rest by his fishfather in a larger and more fitting tank of water for his situation. He is survived by his fishparents, 2 fishsisters and 2 fishbrothers, all of whom miss him dearly and are also probable contributants.

RIP Bear

2-14-11 to 2-22-11

The Haugen Family Summer Vacay Extravaganza 2011!!!

So I have been very busy planning this absolutely fabulous vacation for our family this summer. Jeremy is so good at indulging my adventurous insanity. And this will definitely be adventurous AND insane. We're doing this interesting little road trip starting and ending in Kennewick. As a little overview, we plan on hitting Multnomah falls, Astoria, Cannon Beach, Tillamook, Portland, Crescent City CA, Lava Beds National Monument CA, Medford, Crater Lake, Bend, Fossil Beds National Monument, Magone Lake, and finally home. Were going to see beaches, lakes, waterfalls, lighthouses, redwood forests, lava tubes and caves and other awesome geologic formations. Some hiking and camping and LOTS of driving with LOTS of pit stops. Maybe some seals and an air museum just to round things out. At Magone Lake, the tail end of our trip, we will be roughing it for a few days at the Flembriya family reunion. We have lodgings booked, directions and maps printed off, and a rough itinerary. Now comes the REAL planning. To make this work for us and 4 children who will be aged 6 and younger we'll have to have this very well planned. I'm SO excited! I can't wait for our fantastic trip to get here! Then I can start planning the next one...I'm thinking San Juan islands and the Olympic Peninsula, maybe a little Vancouver Canada eh? Okay, I might have to split that up into two trips.

Also currently in the works and coming up much sooner is a little vacay for just the hubby and I. I actually talked my mom into watching all 4 of the younguns! This will be our very FIRST weekend getaway, just the 2 of us. Jeremys work schedule, which has already been a little intense is about to get a LOT intense. Between being out of town and the overtime, it'll be like single mother intense. So I think we'll both really need and appreciate this. We're set in May for memorial day weekend. Since both of our birthdays are in May, I'd say this is a perfect birthday gift for ourselves. Jeremy will be 30 so we should do it big right? We're going to hit Spokane, walk riverfront park, a little window shopping, and The Melting Pot for dinner. I'm really excited, we got tickets all set to see the broadway musical 'Wicked' as well. I've heard it's amazing. This is of course only possible thanks to my very awesome Jeremy and my very awesome Mom. I've planned trips to so many places for you know "the future". This is so great to plan trips that we're actually going to take in the present :)
View Larger Map