Travel Fun!

My daughter, Ellie, and I went out to see my stepdaughter and her family in Washington State this past week.

I LOVE my stepdaughter, Jackie.

I've known her since she was 3.

I'd rather just call her my daughter, but then I wouldn't be giving credit where credit is due. She has a wonderful mother who's done a great job raising her, and I can't take credit for that.

The kids all call each other brothers and sisters. The "half" is meaningless, as it should be.

"Step-" has so many negative connotations. And, while I know a lot of folks don't like their "step" this or that, our family defies the negatives.

There are so many different types of families these days. It can get pretty crazy and complicated.

We laugh about it.

The only thing that matters is love.

My husband and I may have divorced, but I couldn't imagine for a second not staying connected to my stepdaughter and her amazing little family. And oh - those sweet babies!!

I was still married the first time we went to visit Bodhi a month after he was born. I couldn't keep my hands off that little snuggly bundle of love.

We stayed a week.

On the flight home, I was sitting in a middle seat between my now ex-husband and a stranger.

I cried the entire four hours home.

Seriously.

I think the unknown man sitting by the window thought I was crazy. 

It's hard living so far away from them.

But, I'm a very blessed woman to have such problems, eh?

So this past week, I enjoyed every moment and had a blast visiting and catching up and snuggling with littles.

I'm a little tired from time changing and being short on sleep. I had a photo job early the next morning after we got home, and I'm behind in everything.

I don't care.

It was so worth it.

Friday morning, we all piled in the big van and headed up Chuckanut Mountain to Larrabee State Park.

It was cold and rainy, but as we pulled into the park, the rain eased up, and we took a nice walk down to the beach.

The sun breaking through the rainclouds over the water made for some stunning photos.

But one of my favorite photos was of Ellie and Jackie, arms around each other, looking out at the water.

Sister love.

It melts my heart.

Of course, the little ones utterly capture my heart. But, it's so hard to get photos of the kids.

They never stop moving. 

I tried to get some family photos of Jackie, Zach, Bodhi, and Zoe.

But, as you can see, Bodhi was in a mischievous mood and not cooperating. I liked this particular photo I got of them, though, because there was so much laughter.

Time to get back in the swing of things and on track...

I hope you got some family time with loved ones last week!

Hold 'em tight and enjoy every moment!

And, see you between the raindrops!

xoxo,
Susan