Happy Birthday...

...to the best dad anyone could ever ask for.  

I love you so much.

Flashback

The Beckstead kids, circa 1990.

Bad bangs apparently ran in the family.

Family Weekend

Last weekend my mom, sisters, and nieces came up for a visit and we had so much fun.  It was great to have them here with us - we wanted them to stay much longer than five days!  We had pretty good weather most of the time and were able to do lots of fun things.  Here are about a million pictures of our terrific weekend.

Thanks SO much for coming up, Nana, Madi, Quincy, Iris, Violet, and Lilly!  It meant so much to us to spend time with you.  We love you and we miss you already!

President's Day in Anacortes

On Monday, we decided to get out and do a little home-state exploration.  The San Juan Islands were our destination, but we are kind of spur-of-the-moment people and we didn't plan well enough.  By the time we got out of the house and down to the ferry terminal in Anacortes, it was noon.  The next ferry for Orcas Island didn't leave until 1:40 and the only ferry from the island didn't even leave until 8:45 pm, and it is a two hour ferry ride each way.  We decided to save that trip for another weekend when we could stay there overnight or at least get an earlier start, and we spent the rest of the afternoon in beautiful Anacortes.  

We really loved it there, and found a beautiful beach and park where we could hang out.  It was a sunny day and we had such great views of the San Juans that we didn't even feel bad about the change of plan!  On the way home, we took the scenic route along lovely Chuckanut Drive, and with all the kids asleep after a busy day in the sun, it was a very peaceful and beautiful drive.

I have never been to a playground in a nicer setting than this one.

The kids loved this spinning thing and spent most of the time on it!

It must be so difficult to be so tall and thin that this a constant problem for you...

It's a problem I wish I had!

Point Whitehorn Marine Reserve

We took a Sunday afternoon hike at Point Whitehorn Marine Reserve, on a new trail that was put in about a mile from our house.  It was a beautiful day and we loved spending it together as a family.