date: Thu 16 Jul 2026 10:54:54 PM PDT subj: another vacation with babes ---------------------------------------------------------- What a day, its been. Started out at seven-o-clock this morning and after a night have packing I thought there would be enough time, for us, but last night as I went through my routine brought to my attention an unexpected issue that I hope isn't getting worse. As I shutting the windows, and going to the garage to make sure things were shut up, I stepped in water. Water is not supposed to be where I stepped. A short mystery had to be solved, but not to side track too far, the freezer with all our food, had been open slightly for over twenty-four hours. All our food has thawed out, and the freezer was working over time. I managed to close the door, but in my mind there it stayed, all the way to the morning. This snagged things a bit for us, our plans for the morning changed just enough. I made the kids breakfast, I got them started eating then mom took over, then I worked on things helped with the kids. Secured the garage, then drank some coffee for a bit. Then clean the cat box. Then it was load up the truck with all our stuff. High chairs, diapers, cooler, luggage, work computer, stroller, everything we decided to bring. All on schedule until I had to go down and check on the freezer. I had to find a way to capture the water leaking. I didn't even know where the leak was coming from until I spent enough time looking carefully and at the right moment seeing a drip forming at the corners of the door. I thought some Tupperware containers would be good enough, with those in place as I write now I only hope they are catching all the water that is dripping and that the dripping stops. That little fix was enough to set us back to be just on time, until I was almost at the ferry. I didn't see the cat, and I had to do it. I had to ask my wife, "did you see the cat?" She said "No." so I had to turn back to make sure the cat wasn't trapped in the basement. My wife's anxiety shot through the roof. We start bickering a bit. I tell her its going to be fine. She is concerned we are going to make are reservation for the ferry. When we arrived back at home I rushed into the house. Looked for the cat in her normal sleeping spots. She wasn't there. I try the main room hoping she was on the couch. As I approach the couch I see her looking at me, probably wondering why I'm doing what I"m doing. I turn after seeing the top part of her face, then rush outside and into the truck , again start heading for our reservation at the ferry. WE did make the ferry. Everything was OK. The long ride put the kids to sleep until we got to Aberdeen WA. There we needed to stop and feed ourselves and the kids. We ate at a nice Mexican food restaurant. The kids were completely mesmerized by the decor. The large murals. The fans on the ceilings, the wonderful Mexican music. My son was grooving to the music in the high chair, it was very cute and entertaining, My daughter loved to point at the fan, and lamps and speak baby babble at everything. We ordered chicken quesadilla with beans as rice for the kids. While we waited for food we fed them bits of tortilla chips, I gave our son tastes of salsa, and he seemed to like it. When the food arrived it was not well received by our children. They threw it on the floor, spit out quesadilla, slapped beans from the spoon. Our son did well with me spoon feeding him beans and rice. Our daughter wanted nothing to do with beans and rice, but ate some quesadilla. The patrons enjoyed our happy children. Our children couldn't stop looking at everyone around them, smiling at them pointing and waving, and just being cute little people, until it was time to leave. It was nice to hear people say our children are cute, and they seemed to make people happy. Eventually we drove on through Aberdeen, and to our destination Ocean shores. A quick stop at the grocery store for some food. The kids and I waited in the truck. They played with a beach ball mom got for them. Probably one of the best car toys yet. Each child passes the ball to the center between their car seats and its deflated just enough for them to grab it and pull it to their car seat. They giggle and play with excitement while mom shops for food. WE find our place down the road. The kids were so happy to see the new place. Just checking everything out. Our son found a switch on the lamps to turn them on and off, and was happy to be able to operate those. He loves switches and buttons. I asked him to turn on the lamp across couch and he was happy to come operate the switch. His sister followed behind looking at it interested, but wasn't able to reach it. I unloaded the truck. Mom setup the pack and plays for them, unpacked and organized their room, as well as the kitchen. WE played with the kids, I fed them some bread, cheese, milk, and pineapple slices. They mom and dad relaxed for while and watched our kids play. It was a nice first day. I'm supper proud of my wife. She planned the entire thing, got all the kids stuff together, did a lot of work to get us to a nice vacation. She is resting beside me as I write this first day vacation log.